Christie Watson is a nurse turned bestselling author who went back to frontline nursing during the Covid-19 pandemic. But if you were to call her a 'hero' she would refuse the label - and during the course of this interview, she tells me why.
Watson left school at 16 and volunteered at a charity before training to become a nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital. She spent the next 20 years in hospitals in various disciplines and mainly in paediatric intensive care.
Alongside that, she built up a successful writing career. Her debut, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, won the Costa First Novel Award and in 2018, she published a memoir - The Language of Kindness: A Nurse’s Story, which has been translated into 23 languages. Her most recent book, The Courage To Care, is just out in paperback.
She joins me to talk about failures in nursing, motherhood and, in an especially enlightening conversation, she tells me what happened when she thought she was having a breakdown only to be diagnosed as peri-menopausal. Every woman (and man) should listen. [WARNING: contains mention of clambering into fishfinger freezers].
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The Courage To Care is out now and available to buy here.
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My new novel, Magpie, is out on 2nd September. I'd love it if you felt like pre-ordering as it really helps authors! You can do that here.
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How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted by Elizabeth Day, produced by Naomi Mantin and Chris Sharp. We love hearing from you. To contact us, email howtofailpod@gmail.com
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Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
How To Fail @howtofailpod
Christie Watson @christiewatsonwriter
S9, Ep7 How to Fail: Nadiya Hussain
S9, Ep6 How to Fail: Failosophy Special
S9, Ep5 How to Fail: Ovie Soko
S9, Ep 4 How to Fail: Ruby Wax
S9, Ep3 How to Fail: Annie Nightingale
S9, Ep2 How to Fail: Mohsin Zaidi
S9, Ep1 How to Fail: Adam Buxton
S8, BONUS EPISODE! How to Fail: Gloria Steinem
S8, Ep8 How to Fail: Bernardine Evaristo
S8, Ep7 How to Fail: Siena Castellon
S8, Ep6 How to Fail: Glennon Doyle
S8, Ep5 How to Fail: Julia Samuel
S8, Ep4 How to Fail: Scarlett Moffatt
S8, Ep3 How to Fail: Matthew Syed
S8, Ep2 How to Fail: Samantha Irby
S8, Ep1 How to Fail: Jessie Ware
SPECIAL EPISODE! How to Fail: Daisy Edgar-Jones on being the star of Normal People, the lockdown television hit everyone is talking about
SPECIAL EPISODE! How to Fail: Henry Holland on business failure in the time of Covid-19
SPECIAL EPISODE! How To Fail: Listeners share their Coronavirus stories
SPECIAL EPISODE! How To Fail: Alain De Botton on embracing vulnerability in the age of Coronavirus
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