"We live in a world that deserves unicorns," says Katherine Rundell.
If you haven't come across Rundell's work yet, you will soon. She's written over a dozen books, including an award-winning biography of John Donne and the children's fantasy series Impossible Creatures - a copy of which every Year 6 child in the country will receive this Christmas. Disney has just signed a seven-figure deal for the screen adaptation.. Rundell is being touted as the next JK Rowling.
When she's not writing Rundell works on Renaissance literature as a fellow of Oxford University.
Two themes recur throughout her work: fantasy and animals. And as you might guess from her feelings about unicorns, the two are rarely far apart.
On this episode she joins Tanjil Rashid, following the publication of her new essay collection Napolean's Orangutang to talk about what humans should learn from animals, the connection between religion and fantasy, and - in her words - why wonder is political.
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