Welcome to Conversations with Authors, where I – Alison Thompson, AKA The Proof Fairy – meet amazing authors and find out what inspires them to write and what advice they can offer other aspiring writers.

My guest today is Lawrence Bradby, a British author living in Portugal who I first met when we were both paddle boarding on the Rio Alva last summer! Lawrence has collaborated on two very unusual books: The Day of the Duck, with artist Helen Stratford, and How to Play with MK, which Lawrence wrote jointly with his wife and children during a two-year residency as artist family in residence in the UK city of Milton Keynes.

We talk about taking time out to find creative inspiration, turning real life projects into fictional works, and book launch events. Lawrence also talks about his experience of working directly with printers, we discuss joining a writers’ group versus having a trusted circle of supporters and we even touch on duck rights!

More About Lawrence Bradby

Between 2003 and 2019 Lawrence Bradby was part of Townley and Bradby, a collaborative family practice with artist Anna Townley and their three children. The publication How To Play With MK (2020), jointly written by the whole family, presents their two-year artist residency as a series of fictional encounters with a location that is both magical and threatening.