I am sitting in bed next to Mariah Carey. She's wearing a pair of tiny boxer shorts and a
belly-airing vest. 'You can lie down if you want ' she says. 'I mean it's fine be
comfortable.' So I lean further back into the pillows feigning being comfortable. As a young
magazine intern Diana Evans was catapulted overnight into the role of culture editor and so
began her career as a journalist writing about musicians dancers and artists interviewing
the likes of Viola Davis Alice Walker and Edward Enninful. In these portraits of contemporary
icons the author herself remains distant - always the observer. Alongside them in essays and
pieces collected here for the first time we see her turning the lens on herself. We watch as
she dances across stages in London and travels through Cuba. We sit beside her desk as she
develops her voice as a writer shaped by her love for Jean Rhys James Baldwin and Toni
Morrison. We walk by her side as she navigates the world - her family and the midlife sandwich
reflections on fashion yoga the British monarchy and lockdowns and the lasting impact of
George Floyd and Grenfell. Crafted over twenty-five years with the intelligence and
sensitivity for which Diana Evans is celebrated I Want to Talk to You invites you into a
conversation about literature art identity and everything in between.
