Born in Kent in 1987, author and academic Katherine Rundell grew up in London, Zimbabwe and Belgium. She studied English at Oxford University and in 2008 became a fellow of All Souls College, where she works on Renaissance literature. Her books for children include Rooftoppers (2013), The Wolf Wilder (2015) and The Explorer (2017), winner of the Costa children’s book award. Earlier this year she published The Golden Mole, a catalogue of extraordinary endangered animals, and Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne, which won the Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction earlier this month.
1. Book
The Little Virtues by Natalia Ginzburg
My friend [the novelist] Eleanor Catton told me to read this; I am so grateful to her. The book, which contains 11 essays about politics, motherhood, vocation, writing, shines with a stark clarity; its boldness is in its simplicity. The title essay, The Little Virtues, argues that children should be taught not the little virtues but the great ones – “not caution but courage and a contempt for danger… not a desire for success but a desire to be and to know.” I loved it more than any essays I’ve read for years.
2. Film
The Quiet Girl (dir Colm Bairéad, 2022)
This Irish-language film, based on Claire Keegan’s beautiful novel Foster, has a hush and a precision and a generosity that is remarkable. Set in 1981, it follows the story of a girl from a neglectful home, who is sent to live with her middle-aged cousin in County Waterford. Slowly, the girl unfurls, but there are bleak family secrets that she has yet to learn. It’s profoundly sad, and rigorously unsentimental. It feels like a salute, to love and to care.
3. Music
Lizzo’s voice is one of the wonders of the living world. She has a poet’s gift for distillation in her lyrics – I love the bite and wit of them. Her range is incredible; you can hear in her work the influence of Mike Jones, the Mars Volta, Detroit gospel soul, classical flute. She sings about injustice, race, body politics, and also has space for jokes. There is such discipline and technical virtuosity behind her gorgeous performances. Her work gives me such joy.
4. Restaurant
Chilli Cool, London WC1
This Sichuan restaurant, just up the road from the British Library, was one of the things I missed most during the lockdowns. I longed for mapo tofu, and their dry fried green beans, and hotpots so spicy they set your whole face alight. The seats are hard, but the food is worth it. Many of the dishes have long, thin enoki mushrooms, like small gifts in a bowl of soup; and the aubergine with fresh chopped chilli is wonderful.
5. Activity
Night climbing
Sometimes, very rarely, I put on warm clothes and go climbing up old buildings late at night. I started as an undergrad in Oxford, where there’s a long tradition of climbing rooftops. I’m not unafraid of heights, but the pleasures are very great: of seeing the world from a different angle, alone, up high. A few years ago, I climbed one of the towers of Battersea Power Station, and saw its gargantuan beauty up close. I have my eye on a skyscraper.
6. Fashion
The new Vivienne Westwood collection by Andreas Kronthaler
When the new Vivienne Westwood collection by Andreas Kronthaler came out in Paris, Vogue wrote, of its inspiration, “The book that hit him hardest was Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne”. The show notes quote from my book’s chapter on Donne’s fashion sense: “Donne knew that when we get dressed, we ask something of the world.” The collection is an ode to the Renaissance – many of the shapes echo bodices; male models wore embroidered underpants, and one model had a ruff covering their whole head. I hope this will be the dominant look at everyone’s Christmas party this year.
