Diana Evans is the author of the novels 26a, The Wonder, Ordinary People and A House for Alice. She was the inaugural winner of the Orange Award for New Writers for 26a, which was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel, the Guardian First Book, the Commonwealth Best First Book and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Ordinary People won the 2019 South Bank Sky Arts Award for Literature and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Rathbones Folio Prize, the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, for which A House for Alice was also a finalist. A former dancer, she is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, her journalism and nonfiction appearing in Time magazine, the Guardian, Vogue and the Financial Times among others. She lives in London.
ABOUT HAY FESTIVAL BOOK CLUB
Timeless titles to offer you a break from the day to day. Can't decide what to read next? Follow your curiosity and join Hay Festival on a journey to imagine the world anew through great literature. Unconstrained by genre or form these are our monthly picks of great books worth reading (or re-reading) right now.
Throughout the month, we'll share interesting links and articles relating to our selection on Instagram channel (@hayfestivalbookclub) and invite you all to get involved with your questions and comments. Each selection will also be marked with a free online event.
If you'd like to recommend a book for consideration, get in touch via bookclub@hayfestival.org.
Happy reading!
Hay Festival Book Club – I Want to Talk to You
Diana Evans talks to Irenosen Okojie
– Free Online
As a young journalist, Diana Evans was catapulted overnight into the role of culture editor, going on to interview a roster of stars including Lauryn Hill, Viola Davis, Alice Walker and Edward Enninful.
In these portraits of contemporary icons, the author remains the observer. Alongside them, in pieces collected here for the first time, we also see her turning the lens on herself. We watch as she dances on stages in London and travels through Cuba. We sit beside her desk as she develops her voice as a writer, shaped by her love for Jean Rhys, James Baldwin and Toni Morrison. We walk by her side as she navigates the world – her family and the midlife sandwich, reflections on fashion, yoga, the British monarchy and lockdowns, and the lasting impact of George Floyd and Grenfell.
Crafted over 25 years, I Want to Talk to You invites you into a conversation about literature, art and music, identity, grief and everything in between – an endlessly rewarding read.
I Want to Talk to You is winner of the Jhalak Prize 2026.
Join the conversation as we revisit this modern classic for this month.
Read it? Loved it? Let us know what you think over on our new Instagram page, @hayfestivalbookclub.
Further reading
‘Pleasure and invigoration’: Diana Evans wins UK’s Jhalak prose prize, The Guardian
‘When a woman needs more than ever to take care of herself, she is pulled away in two directions’: Diana Evans on the ‘sandwich generation’, The Guardian
About the author
Supported by Unwin Charitable Trust
