DAY
Elizabeth

• 1. Career
• 1.1. Journalism
• 1.2. Podcast
• 1.3. Books
• 1.4. Television and radio

Elizabeth Day is an English novelist, journalist and broadcaster. She was a feature writer for The Observer from 2007 to 2016, and wrote for You magazine. Day has written six books, and is also the host of the podcast How to Fail with Elizabeth Day.

Career

Journalism

After graduating, Day initially intended to obtain a master's degree in journalism, but was instead offered a job for the Evening Standard on the Londoner's Diary feature by Max Hastings. Day remained at the Standard for a year before joining The Sunday Telegraph as a news reporter, initially on a three-month trial. While working for the Telegraph, Day won the Young Journalist of the Year Award at the 2004 British Press Awards. After leaving the Telegraph, Day wrote features for Elle and The Mail on Sunday.

From 2007 until 2016, Day was a feature writer for The Observer, gaining a commendation in the "Feature Writer of the Year (Broadsheet") category at the 2012 Press Awards.

Podcast

In 2018, Day began her own podcast series, How to Fail with Elizabeth Day, in which she interviews guests who discuss what their failures taught them. The first episode featured Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and subsequent interviewees have included Gloria Steinem, Kelly Holmes, Nadiya Hussain, Bernardine Evaristo and Adam Buxton. The podcast won the Rising Star Award at the 2019 British Podcast Awards.

Books

Day's first novel, Scissors Paper Stone, was published in 2012 and won the Betty Trask Award for debut novels by writers under the age of 35. The book, recounting the impact of sexual abuse by a family patriarch, received mixed reviews, with Melissa Katsoulis of the Sunday Telegraph describing Day as "a thoughtful and conscientious new voice in fiction", while conversely Catherine Taylor of The Guardian stated Day's writing style "ultimately disengages the reader".

Day's second novel, Home Fires (2012), details two connected women responding to the aftermaths of the First World War and the conflict in South Sudan, respectively, as well as the impact of the ageing of loved ones. Viv Groskop in The Observer praised Day's writing and described the book as "a beautifully written novel whose quietly discomfiting tone stays with you for a long while afterwards".

Day's third novel, Paradise City (2015), received positive reviews internationally, including praise by Charles Shafaieh of The New York Times, who called the novel's depiction of life in contemporary London as a "testament" to Day's skills as a writer, in addition to a positive review by Amanda Craig in the Daily Telegraph.

Day's fourth novel, The Party (2017), was described as a "slow-burner of a literary thriller" and a "gripping page-turner" by Lucy Scholes of the Observer.

Day's fifth book and first work of non-fiction was How to Fail: Everything I've Ever Learned From Things Going Wrong, a tie-in with her podcast which was published in 2019 and received a positive review from The Sunday Times.

Day's sixth book was also a non-fiction tie-in with her podcast; Failosophy: A Handbook for When Things Go Wrong (2020), featuring lessons she had learned from her own life as well as those of her readers, listeners and podcast guests.

Day's seventh book, Magpie, which explores the issue of infertility, was released in September 2021. It was Day's fifth novel, her first work of fiction since the publication of The Party in 2017. Day explored the issue of motherhood not being possible by choice and society's perspective of failure with Dr Rangan Chatterjee on BBC Radio 2 show.

Television and radio

In 2020, Day was announced as the co-host of Sky Arts Book Club Live alongside Andi Oliver. The first series of six episodes aired that year.

In 2021, Day was announced as one of the new hosts of Open Book, Radio Four's book programme, alternating with Johny Pitts. Day hosted her first episode on 17 January.

Both her novel The Party and her memoir How to Fail are being made into TV shows, the former by World Productions and the latter by Sky.