Elizabeth Day

Elizabeth Day is an award-winning author and broadcaster. Her chart-topping podcast, How To Fail With Elizabeth Day, is a celebration of all of the things that haven’t gone right. In 2019 it won the Rising Star Award at the British Podcast Awards and in 2020, Elizabeth was given a prestigious Harper’s Bazaar ‘Women of the Year’ award for ‘bringing solace to the nation with her sensitivity and wit. She has written two books off the back of the podcast: How To Fail: Everything I’ve Ever Learned From Things Going Wrong, and Failosophy: A Handbook For When Things Go Wrong. To date, Elizabeth has written five novels and three works of non-fiction which collectively have gained her a Betty Trask Award, Observer Book of the Year, and a Richard and Judy Summer Book Club pick. Her fifth novel, Magpie, became an instant Sunday Times bestseller and was described as ‘the most gripping psychological thriller of the year’. Her most recent work of non-fiction, Friendaholic: Confessions of a Friendship Addict, entered the Sunday Times bestseller charts at number one. Her work has been translated into several languages. Elizabeth is currently developing her first screenplay – a fictionalised adaptation of How To Fail. Two of her novels have also been optioned for screen.

Alongside her writing, Elizabeth is an adept broadcaster. She has presented the Sky Arts Book Club Live, BBC Radio 4’s Open Book and shows on Classic FM. Elizabeth grew up in Northern Ireland and her first job was for The Derry Journal. Since graduating from Cambridge University with a Double First in History, she has worked for the Evening Standard, the Sunday Telegraph and the Observer where she was a staff feature writer for eight years. She won a British Press Award in 2004 for Young Journalist of the Year and was Highly Commended as Feature Writer of the Year in 2013. She has written for numerous publications since then, including The Times, Guardian, New York Magazine, the Observer, Vogue, Grazia, Elle and Vanity Fair.