Nicola Twilley

How did you become a writer? I have always loved reading. I used to create newspapers as a kid, illustrating and handwriting every story. I didn't think writing was going to be something I made a living doing, but then, when I was in my twenties, my husband, writer Geoff Manaugh, started a blog. I thought what he was doing looked like fun, so I started a blog of my own, and built a career from there.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.). Geoff has been a huge influence. Michael Pollan has been a mentor and supporter as well as an inspiration. I have learned an enormous amount from brilliant editors like Leo Carey at The New Yorker and Anthony Lydgate, who is now at Wired. I love reading novels—a few of my favorite authors are Hilary Mantel, Ali Smith, Rachel Cusk, Tessa Hadley, James Meek, and Gwendolyn Riley.  

When and where do you write? I write at my desk, on my laptop connected to a large monitor. I have a tendency to hunch over my screen otherwise, and the large monitor helps me put my shoulders back and breathe. I write in the morning and the evening, but that's mostly because I'm working on my podcast, Gastropod, all day.

What are you working on now? My most recent book, Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves, came out a couple of months ago, so I'm writing a few articles and short pieces connected to that. I'm also working on a new New Yorker feature, and I'm beginning to tinker with a couple of new book ideas. 

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? Not really. I do procrastinate, which has a lot to do with not wanting to ruin the illusion of what my brilliant book/article/essay aspires to be with the disappointments of reality. (This quote resonates through my mind on a regular basis: "A book is whittled down from hope.") I also do a lot of preliminary reporting, research, organization, and structuring, which can feel like procrastination, but I've found that until I know what I want to write, I can't sit down and write it. It will likely change as I'm writing it, but I need the sense that I have a map to get started.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received? Michael Pollan told me I'd have to go back and rewrite the first chapter of my book after I finished it. He was right (though it took Helen Thorpe to help me figure out how to do it). Geoff Manaugh, my husband and co-author for my first book, Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine, helped me see that I can't just build an argument and let the reader arrive at the conclusion on their own, I need to cap it off with a sentence that feels like a polished nugget, to hold the insight.

What’s your advice to new writers? Read as much as you can, and make sure you read good writing. I sometimes see journalists only read other journalism, or science writers stick to science writing, and I think that's a mistake. Literary fiction might seem irrelevant, but it's not: stepping into an imaginary world filled with fully realized characters and stakes is not only deeply enjoyable, it's also giving you the chance to absorb the rhythms, structures, and language that are necessary to bring nonfiction to life, too. 

Nicola Twilley is author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves(Penguin Press, June 2024), and co-host of the award-winning Gastropod podcast, which looks at food through the lens of history and science, and which is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network in partnership with Eater. Her first book, Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine, was co-authored with Geoff Manaugh and was named one of the best books of 2021 by Time Magazine, NPR, the Guardian, and the Financial Times. She is a contributing writer at The New Yorker and the author of Edible Geography. She lives in Los Angeles.