The Artistic Awakening of Posey Simmonds

Kirsty Young's castaway this week the cartoonist, writer and illustrator Posy Simmonds. Her social observation and sharp wit gained a loyal following in The Guardian where - among their stripped pine, lentils and patchwork - she depicted the lives of prototype woolly liberals Wendy and George Weber. Since then she's gone on to create highly acclaimed children's books and also graphic novels Gemma Bovary and Tamara Drew.

Posy says she started drawing as soon as she could pick up a pencil and as a child was making magazines and little comics with titles like How to Turn Yourself Into an Up-to-Date Ted and How to Make Love and Be Loved in Four Easy Lessons. She remembers drawing as the perfect thing to do, because she could sit on her own and talk to herself.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: The opening of the prelude from Cello Suite No 1 in G Major by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Four volumes of the London Telephone Directory Luxury: The Crown Jewels.