Writers in Conversation: David Nicholls

Join Carole Burns for a special Writers in Conversation with local novelist and screenwriter David Nicholls.  

David Nicholls is an author and screenwriter. Born in Eastleigh, Hampshire in 1966, he studied English and Drama at the University of Bristol. He pursued an acting career, training at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, before returning to play small roles in repertory and at the National Theatre. He began working as a script reader, and then a script editor before starting to write himself. He contributed episodes to the third series of ‘Cold Feet’, as well as writing his own original TV dramas.  

His first novel, ‘Starter for Ten’, was published in 2003, followed by five other novels, the latest of which, ‘You Are Here’, was published in 2024. His third novel, ‘One Day’, was an international bestseller, and his fourth novel, ‘Us’, was long listed for the Booker Prize. For the screen, he has written both original dramas and adaptations of his own work as well as novels by Dickens and Hardy. His adaptations of Edward St Aubyn’s Patrick Melrose novels earned him an Emmy nomination and BAFTA awards for Best Writer and Best Mini-Series. More recently, he has written the TV adaptation of Sue Townsend’s ‘Adrian Mole’ and his own novel, ‘You Are Here’, to be broadcast later in 2027.  

Writers in Conversation is a reading series sponsored by the University’s English department in association with Turner Sims. It features some of today’s best fiction writers, poets, non-fiction writers and playwrights reading from their work and talking about their writing – how characters take shape and where ideas come from. Led by Carole Burns, author and associate professor, the evenings aim for an atmosphere that is relaxed and engaging, intelligent yet informal. 

With book sales from October Books.