Christina Patterson

Christina Patterson is a writer, broadcaster and columnist. She writes about politics, society, culture, travel, books and the arts. She has interviewed writers and artists ranging from Martin Amis to Eddie Izzard and Werner Herzog, and did the first interview after he left office with Gordon Brown. A former director of the Poetry Society, and literary programmer at the Southbank Centre, she has written for the Observer, the Sunday Times, the Guardian, Time, the Spectator and the New Statesman. She’s a regular commentator on radio and TV news programmes, a regular reviewer on the Sky News press preview, and a regular guest on The Review Show. She has campaigned to improve standards in nursing in a series of articles in the Independent, by speaking at conferences, and in programmes she has made for Radio 4 and The One Show. Christina is the only woman on the shortlist for the Orwell Prize 2013. She has now left The Independent, but can be contacted via her website, www.christinapatterson.co.uk .

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Independent Crossword
Ephron said that women should be the 'heroine' of their lives and not the victim

Christina Patterson: Can we have what she had? Nora Ephron's legacy

The writer who lived her life to the full

Christina Patterson: The painful truth is that we have too many hospitals

If you're very fat or have diabetes or dementia, what you need is GPs and support workers

Who you looking at? Director Sam Neophytou and Andy Luca rehearse a scene from 'Chicken' set in a Bronx apartment

A new plan for theatre: show the real face of the country on the stage

Director Sam Neophytou aims to bring multicultural Britain to the West End with his latest play

Christina Patterson: Tony Nicklinson's agonising plight shouldn't change the law

If the law that makes him sad makes most people safer, then that sadness may be a price worth paying

Alicia Vikander and Mads Mikkelsen in A Royal
Affair

A queen, her lover and John Locke

Two centuries ago, an affair sparked a Danish Enlightenment. Now a film takes up the amazing story.

Missing Out: In Praise Of The Unlived Life, By Adam Phillips

Are you getting enough? Probably not: you're human. Frustration and disappointment track our path through life.

Christina Patterson: This gentle muddle of Church and State may be as good as it gets

Gay men and women will soon be able to get married in this country, and so they should

On the case: 'Manchester Lines' is set in a lost property office

A journey to the heart of Manchester

A new play, set in an office block, reveals the city's secrets

Lap of luxury: One of the pools at Lefay Resort

Italy: Wowed by the waters at Lake Garda

A luxury spa with lakeside views provides plenty of healing opportunities for a 'tired and frazzled' Christina Patterson.

All the world's a stage: members of the Habima theatre company from Israel rehearse 'The Merchant of Venice' at the Globe Theatre

Lost in translation: The Globe's Shakespeare season offers a surprising insight into different cultures

It starts with a whistle. It starts, in fact, with a very sturdy Afghan policewoman pointing fiercely at the crowd. She's at Kabul airport. She's also in Ephesus. She's also on the stage at the Globe. There aren't, it's true, all that many Afghan policewomen in Ephesus. There aren't all that many in Afghanistan either, where they make up less than 1 per cent of the police force.

Day In a Page

The price of pacifism: Refusing to go to war is finally being recognised as a brave act

The price of pacifism

From the Second World War refusenik to the 19-year-old Israeli, Holly Williams talks to five people who risked shame and suffering to take a stand as conscientious objector.
'It was mass hysteria': Jason Isaacs on groupies, theatre bores and snogging James Bond

Jason Isaacs: Groupies, theatre bores and James Bond

To millions, Jason Isaacs is one of Harry Potter's arch enemies – but his wife prefers him as a Scottish TV detective.
Notes from a small island: Is Sealand an independent 'micronation' or an illegal fortress?

Sealand: 'Micronation' or illegal fortress?

Thomas Hodgkinson spent a week at the tiny platform off the Suffolk coast to find out.
Not a bad bone: Mark Hix cooks with cutlets and ribs

Mark Hix cooks with cutlets and ribs

If you ignore cutlets and ribs, you'll risk missing out on some delicious and easy meals, says our chef.
Sir James Dyson’s latest project: Cleaning up hospitals

Sir James Dyson’s latest project: Cleaning up hospitals

Doctors are hailing the revamp of a Bath neonatal unit, where babies sleep more and feed better, as the model for patient care
One man returns to Argentina's town that drowned

One man returns to Argentina's town that drowned

Epecuen was submerged under 10 metres of water in 1985. Now the floods have gone – and 83-year-old Pablo Novak has moved back in
The real thing? Historian publishes Coca Cola's 'secret formula'

The real thing?

Historian publishes Coca Cola's 'secret formula'
Gordon Ramsey's worst nightmare: A restaurant he cannot save

Gordon Ramsay's worst nightmare: A restaurant he cannot save

The pugnacious chef finally met a shambolic restaurant he couldn't save. John Walsh on when TV makover refuseniks fight back
Join Ryanair! See the world! But we're only paying you for nine months a year

Join Ryanair! See the world! But we're only paying you for nine months a year

Glamorous myth of the flight attendant lifestyle undermined by angry employee's claims of 'exploitation'
Braising saddles: Did the recent furore scupper sales of horse meat? Neigh, far from it!

Braising saddles: How to cook horse meat

Did the recent furore scupper sales of horse meat? Neigh, far from it! Will Coldwell hoofs it to the kitchen.
Why bitters are back on the bar: A few little drops pack a big punch in cocktails

Why bitters are back on the bar

A few little drops pack a big punch in cocktails. No wonder we're learning to love them again...
The 10 Best barbecues

The 10 Best barbecues

Whether you're cooking on gas or are a convert to charcoal we've got the perfect way to cook when the sun is out.
Style icon David Beckham calls time on his long retirement

Style icon calls time on his long retirement

David Beckham never disgraced himself but former England captain ceased to be a major player years ago. Remember him at his United peak
Steve Harper: My darkest times

Steve Harper: My darkest times

As the popular Newcastle goalkeeper bows out after 20 years at the club, he tells Martin Hardy about the private battle with depression that threatened his career
Sir Torquil Norman has designed a flat-pack OX truck for the developing world

The flat-pack truck with big ambitions

After making a fortune from Polly Pocket and a doll's house shaped like a teapot, the entrepreneur has turned his creativity to a transporter truck for the developing world. Simon Usborne meets him.