Paul King on directing Wonka, Best non-fiction books of 2023, British pop art artist Pauline Boty

Published: Dec. 6, 2023, 8:06 p.m.

Paddington director Paul King returns with Wonka starring Timoth\xe9e Chalamet in the title role. He talks with Samira about exploring the backstory of Willy Wonka and Roald Dahl\u2019s surprising vision for fiction\u2019s greatest confectioner.

Front Row rounds up the best non-fiction books of 2023 with Caroline Sanderson - non-fiction books editor for The Bookseller and chair of judges for the Baillie Gifford Prize in 2022, Stephanie Merritt - critic and novelist, and John Mitchinson - cofounder of Unbound, the independent crowdfunding publisher and co-presenter of literary podcast, Backlisted.

The extraordinary work of the artist Pauline Boty (1938 \u2013 1966) is explored by the curator of a new exhibition, Mila Askarova, and the art historian Lynda Nead.

Presenter Samira Ahmed\nProducer: Paula McGrath

Front Row non-fiction recommendations for 2023

Toy Fights: A Boyhood by Don Patterson published by Faber and Faber\nThunderclap: A Memoir of Art, Life and Sudden Death by Laura Cumming published by Chatto & Windus\nHow To Say Babylon: A Jamaican Memoir by Safiya Sinclair published by Fourth Estate\nTwelve Words for Moss by Elizabeth-Jane Burnett published by Allen Lane\nThe British Year in 72 Seasons by Kiera Chapman, Rowan Jaines, Lulah Ellgender and Rebecca Warren published by Granta\nRural: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside by Rebecca Smith published by William Collins\nHigh Caucasus: A Mountain Quest in Russia's Haunted Hinterland by Tom Parfitt published by Headline \nEve: How The Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon published by Hutchinson Heinemann\nShakespeare\u2019s Book: The Intertwined Lives Behind the First Folio by Chris Laoutaris published by Williams Collins