Harriett Sarah Gilbert (born 25 August 1948) is an English writer, academic and broadcaster, particularly of the arts and book programmes on the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

. Besides '' World Book Club'' on the World Service, she also presents '' A Good Read'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. Before the programme was cancelled, she also presented the BBC World Service programme '' The Strand''. She is the daughter of the writer Michael Gilbert.

Biography

Born in Hornsey, London, Gilbert studied at the French Lycée in London and at a succession of boarding schools. "Growing Pains" was her contribution to ''Truth, Dare or Promise: Girls Growing Up in the Fifties'' (1985), a collection of autobiographical writing. After graduating from drama school, she worked as an actor, as well as a nanny, a waitress, an artist's model and a clerk-typist. She began to write in her twenties. She nominated '' A High Wind in Jamaica'' by Richard Hughes, first read to her by her father when she was eight, as a life-changing book. The one piece of advice her father, the writer Michael Gilbert, gave her about writing was: "For God's sake, don't use adverbs."

Career

From 1983 to 1988, she was the literary editor of the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' and, before that, of ''

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'' (1981–83). She has also contributed to '' Time Out'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. From 1992, she lectured in the Department of Journalism at the City University, London, where until 2008 she was also the programme director of the MA Creative Writing (novels) course. She wrote two short animated films, directed by Marjut Rimminen: ''The Stain'' (1992) and ''Many Happy Returns'' (1997). Gilbert presents one programme on BBC World Service radio: '' World Book Club'', broadcast on the first Saturday in each month. About presenting for the World Service, Gilbert has said: "I think I'm doing the dream job, I just love it, and I can't think of anywhere else I'd like to be." Gilbert has introduced the World Service arts documentary series ''Close Up''. In 2008, she stood in as presenter of the arts programme ''The Ticket''. She previously presented the World Service's dedicated book programme '' The Word''. Besides this, she has also presented arts programmes for

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

and

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

television. In 2011, she replaced

Sue MacGregor Susan Katriona MacGregor (born 30 August 1941) is a British broadcaster. She is best known as a former presenter of BBC Radio 4's ''Woman's Hour'' and later the ''Today'' programme. Early life MacGregor was born in Oxford. Her parents were Sc ...

as presenter of the Radio 4 book programme '' A Good Read''. Writer and broadcaster Michael Rosen called her "one of the very best presenters of arts programmes on radio or TV". The ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' said of her, "the splendid Harriett Gilbert ..painfully shows up certain would-be arty Radio 4 colleagues". She is the author of six novels, including ''Hotels With Empty Rooms'' and ''The Riding Mistress''. Her non-fiction books include ''A Women's History of Sex'' and ''The Sexual Imagination from

Acker Acker is a surname from German or Old English, meaning "field". It is related to the word "acre" and is the root of the surname Ackerman. People with this surname include: * Alex Acker (born 1983), American basketball player * Amy Acker (bor ...

to Zola''. She scripted the short animated film ''The Stain'' (1991). As of 2009, although she has not published a novel since 1983, she hoped to return to writing. She was a judge of the 2011 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

Personal life

She comes from a family of writers: her father Michael Gilbert wrote crime fiction; her paternal grandfather, Bernard Gilbert, was a poet, novelist and playwright; her paternal grandmother, Berwyn Cuthbert, was a journalist; and her younger brother, Gerard Gilbert, is also a journalist. Harriett Gilbert lives in London with her painter husband, Robin Hazlewood.

Bibliography

*''I Know Where I've Been'' – Harper and Row (USA) (1972). *''Hotels With Empty Rooms'' – Harpercollins (1973). *''An Offence Against the Persons'' – Hodder & Stoughton (1974). *''Given the Ammunition'' – Harper and Row (1976). (published in the UK as ''Tide Race'' – Constable (1977). ) *''Running Away'' - Harper and Row (USA) (1979). – a novel for young adults *''The Riding Mistress'' – Constable (1983). *"Growing Pains" in Liz Heron (ed.), ''Truth, Dare or Promise: Girls Growing Up in the Fifties'' – Virago (1985). – autobiographical essay *''A Women's History of Sex'' – Pandora (1987) (illustrated by Christine Roche). *''The Sexual Imagination: From Acker to Zola – A Feminist Companion'' – Jonathan Cape (1993). (published in the US as ''Fetishes, Florentine Girdles, and Other Explorations into the Sexual Imagination '' – Harpercollins (1994). ) *''Writing for Journalists'' – Routledge (1999) (with Wynford Hicks and Sally Adams).

References

External links