Great Writers and the Cats Who Owned Them

In a silent study, a cat is the perfect authorial companion – it doesn’t need walks yet is there for comfort.

Writers and cats have long enjoyed a curious companionship – one of quiet inspiration, eccentric rituals and, occasionally, literary immortality.

This talk explores the lives of 17 celebrated authors through the eyes of their feline friends, uncovering the ways these creatures padded their way into poetry, prose and personal histories. From Dr Johnson’s dignified Hodge to Colette’s adored Chartreux, from Edward Lear’s famously unprepossessing Foss to Ernest Hemingway’s brood of 20, these stories reveal how cats have shaped creativity, comforted their humans, and sometimes even altered the course of literary works.