#207: Clair Wills, author and academic
Rachel and Simon speak to the author and academic Clair Wills. She is the Regius Professor of English Literature at the University of Cambridge and the author of several non-fiction books. "That Neutral Island: A History of Ireland During the Second World War", published in 2007, won the PEN Hessell-Tiltman History Prize; "Lovers and Strangers: An Immigrant History of Post-War Britain" (2017) won the Irish Times International Non-Fiction Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. Her latest book, "Missing Persons, Or My Grandmother's Secrets" (2024), won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. We spoke to Clair about combining an academic career with writing for a broad audience, her insider/outsider perspective on Irish culture, and writing about her family and Ireland's Mother and Baby Homes in "Missing Persons".