Maggie O'Farrell was born in Northern Ireland in 1972. Keen to move away from The Troubles, her father took a job at the University of Wales and the family moved to Bridgend when Maggie was a child. At the age of eight she was hospitalised with encephalitis. She didn't attend school during this time but instead she discovered literature. The family then moved to Scotland. After her A' Level's, Maggie O'Farrell travelled south to Cambridge University to study, what else, English Literature. In her twenties she became a journalist working at the Independent on Sunday but her ambitions...
Opens the player: the full transcript, every word clickable, with translation and flashcards.
Is this episode right for you?
B1 · Intermediate
Fine if you can follow simple news
- 93% of the words are B1 or easier.
- 159 words a minute: a natural pace.
- 64 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.
Try it: tap any word
Real sentences from the start of this episode. Every word is marked with its level.
. .
For maximum listening pleasure, we respectfully suggest that you enjoy this programme without your
Tap a word to see its meaning in your language.
Do you know these words?
8 harder words from this episode. Tap one to see what it means, then mark it.
Mark a few words and we'll tell you how this episode fits your level.
Is this episode right for you?
B1 · Intermediate
Fine if you can follow simple news
- 93% of the words are B1 or easier.
- 159 words a minute: a natural pace.
- 64 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.
Transcript
The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.
harder words (B2+)
Thanks for downloading Profile. This week's presenter is Stephen Smith. For maximum listening pleasure, we respectfully suggest that you enjoy this programme without your phone. That's right, get off the socials and TikTok kids. Today we're talking about books and reading, a real contact sport of concentration. We present a profile of best-selling author,
Maggie O'Farrell, the woman responsible for Hamnit. The animal inside her flexes itself restlessly, starts to scrape at her innards with its needling claws. BBC data scraping reveals that most of you are second screening while this programme's
on. God knows I would. But today's an opportunity to immerse ourselves in language, writing. quality prose courtesy of Mazzo Farrell whose new novel Land is published this week.
That was the opening. The rest of the episode (14 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.
Continue in the playerAutomatically generated from the audio. May contain errors. Audio belongs to its publisher and is played from their feed. Rights holders can request removal — copyright & takedown policy
