The Writer’s Room: The Hidden Worlds That Shape the Books We Love
What is it that so fascinates us about the places where writers live and create?
Why does a remote cabin, ramshackle shed or library garret, strewn with papers and piled with books, so capture our imagination?
___
The rooms of certain writers are mythologised almost as much as the works themselves: the Brontës’ study in the parsonage; Virginia Woolf’s garden room; Sigmund Freud’s study, with its famous couch. They are preserved in writers’ houses or recreated in museums, pictured and described in newspaper columns and on Instagram.
And yet writers, old and new, have worked in all kinds of places: in bedsits and boarding houses, at libraries, in bathrooms and while on the move. From Emily Dickinson’s hidden writing pocket to Lauren Elkin typing on her phone on the bus, Maya Angelou in hotel rooms and Ernest Hemingway in Parisian cafés to the founders of Women of Color Press around their kitchen tables, Katie da Cunha Lewin dismantles the familiar furniture of the writer’s room and opens it up.
The Writer’s Room takes us on a fascinating journey through the hidden worlds that shape the books we love. It is the perfect gift for the reader in your life.
__
‘If you have ever felt preoccupied with visiting, snooping and uncovering the desks, shelves and habits of the greats, this book was made for you.’ Penny Wincer, author of Home Matters
‘A reverie – part pilgrimage, part personal reflection – on the places where writers find the right words.’ Clare Hunter, author of Threads of Life
READER REVIEWS:
‘Literary, sharp, and utterly addictive’
‘Thoroughly researched, thoughtful, and full of detail.’
‘A beautiful read from start to finish’
‘A book about valuing and protecting the act of writing, wherever it takes place.’
-
‘A reverie – part pilgrimage, part personal reflection – on the places where writers find the right words. Katie da Cunha Lewin takes us on an intriguing journey through time and technology to reveal the public and private worlds of writers, past and present.’
- Clare Hunter, author of Threads of Life -
‘Hand in hand with the question ‘what do writers do all day?’ is ‘…and where do they do it?’. Katie da Cunha Lewin’s book is an intimate delight and radical demystifier, making the conditions, rituals, and set-ups required for writing to happen individual, multiple, and political.’
- Jen Calleja, author of Fair: The Life-Art of Translation -
‘The Writer’s Room taps into our deep obsession with the spaces associated with creating great works of literature, in the most delightful way. If you have ever felt preoccupied with visiting, snooping and uncovering the desks, shelves and habits of the greats, as well and creating your own, this book was made for you.’
- Penny Wincer, author of Home Matters -
‘Katie Da Cunha Lewin’s brilliant book The Writer’s Room is like a matryoshka: each room visited is also a visit to a life, to a work, to a genius’s subjectivity and its many obsessions. Da Cunha Lewin successfully attempts to unravel that exact mix of solitude and companionship, protection and exposure, silence and conversation that writing requires. A book of rare skill and complexity for all those who love literature and wonder about it.’
- Guadalupe Nettel, author of Still Born -
‘The Writer’s Room is a delightful book, brimming with warmth and insight. In an age when making a living by the writing life — Woolf’s requirement for ‘money and a room of her own’ — feels more far-off than ever, it offers a heartening reminder that writers, and writing, have always persisted. Whether we sit at our dream desk or not, we have always carved out spaces to create whole new worlds in words.’
- Review31 -
‘This is the perfect little book to inspire and fascinate, with photos and descriptions of writer’s shacks, sheds, studies, desks and bookshelves.’
- Manx Independent -
‘Literary, sharp, and utterly addictive. The Writer’s Room offers an insider glimpse into the world of words, ambition, and hidden rivalries. Katie da Cunha Lewin promises complex characters, clever observations, and plenty of drama behind the scenes. A must-read for fans of books about books, creativity, and the messy world of writers.’
- Netgalley reviewer -
‘Thoroughly researched and thoughtful, this book delves into the spaces that our favourite authors wrote in and the connection between the writers desk and the story being written.’
- Netgalley reviewer -
‘This book made me want a beautiful desk in a room overlooking the countryside, surrounded by nature, books, and old photographs; a quiet space to read and write in peaceful solitude. But it also challenged that idea. It explores the evolving concept of the writing room, and what it even means to be a writer today. Does writing have to be done alone? In a set place? Or can it happen anywhere, woven into daily life? … Thoroughly researched, thoughtful, and full of detail.’
- Netgalley reviewer -
‘[Katie’s] exploration of financial stability and on gender and racial divides as factors in the writing process was done with such care and self-awareness. Katie da Cunha Lewin takes what could have easily been a niche deep dive that excluded many people into one that is a unpretentious and quiet celebration of artists and creativity in its essence. A beautiful read from start to finish — Katie da Cunha Lewin’s prose is introspective and invites the reader to sit at the table and participate too.’
- Netgalley reviewer -
‘It’s not a book of writing advice, but a book about valuing and protecting the act of writing, wherever it takes place.’
- Netgalley reviewer