Luke Davies on going from starving poet to one of the most in-demand scriptwriters in Hollywood

Featuring filming Catch 22 in Italy, the allure of Paris, how Lion was career-changing, a dinner with Philip Seymour Hoffman, how not to be pigeonholed and working with Woody Harrelson on The Most Dangerous Man in America. Luke Davies, poet, novelist and screenwriter, adapted his semi-autobiographical novel Candy for the screen in 2006. His other novels are Isabelle the Navigator and God of Speed which was inspired by the life of Howard Hughes. He’s written five volumes of poetry, the latest, Interferon Palms, won the Prime Minister’s Literary Award in 2012. Luke has written screenplays for film and television in both the US and Australia. His feature films include Life, Beautiful Boy, Angel of Mine and Lion, which went on to win BAFTA and AACTA awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Luke is also the creator of TV series Catch-22 and is currently working on The Most Dangerous Man in America. It was recently announced that Luke will write the next script for Steven Spielberg’s Amblin, adapting Colum McCann’s novel Apeirogon (this was one of the things we couldn't talk about at the time the episode went to air).

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The Secret Life of Writers is a series of rambling conversations with some of the world’s most interesting and visionary writers and creative icons about how they got where they are, what they’re working on now, and how they balance art and life. These warm and personal interviews take you behind-the-scenes of the writing world. Hosted by Jemma Birrell, formerly of the Sydney Writers' Festival and Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and now the Creative Director at Tablo. Subscribe to hear a new episode (released on a Thursday every few weeks). For writers, readers and anyone who loves great life stories.