‘Meet the Writer: Olivia Laing’

Olivia Laing is a widely acclaimed British writer who does not write novels in the traditional sense. Rather, she employs lyrical language to explore the themes of connection, belonging, identity and loneliness. Her best-selling book The Lonely City is a blend of personal memoir with social and cultural commentary. Critics have often likened her to a non-fiction tradition that includes Joan Didion and other writers whose hybrid prose is both reflective and analytical. 

Laing is also a cultural critic for The Guardian and The New York Times. She’s written catalogue essays on a variety of artists, including Andy Warhol, Derek Jarman and Chantal Joffe. During the pandemic Olivia Laing took part in the Bozar online talks Repairing the Future. This fall, she is back to discuss her latest book The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise (2024). 

She will be interviewed by writer and journalist Annelies Beck.