Mariella Frostrup
About
Mariella has firmly established herself as one of the most versatile and talented journalists and TV presenters in the UK. Defying any attempt to pigeonhole her skills and talents Mariella has made her mark on a wide variety of programmes and writes regularly for The Observer, and other publications.
Mariella Frostrup worked as a public relations executive for Phonogram Records, between 1980 and 1990. She marshalled the PR for the Live Aid concert at Wembley in 1985; and, after leaving Phonogram, swiftly broke into television as a presenter and film critic.
Frostrup presented the Channel 4 music show Big World Cafe in 1989 alongside Eagle Eye Cherry and Jazzie B.
She also presented Thames Television’s Video View from 1990 and after Thames lost the London ITV franchise, reprised the role straight afterwards on The Little Picture Show for Carlton Television from 1993.
Frostrup has interviewed many different celebrities, writers and other artists and has presented a variety of different TV programmes.
Frostrup presented the BBC Radio 2 show, The Green Room, and also regularly presents Open Book on Radio 4.
She writes for The Guardian, The Observer, The Mail on Sunday, Harpers & Queen and the New Statesman. She is also an art critic and has been on the judging panels for the Man Booker Prize, the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Evening Standard British Film Awards.
In 2008, Frostrup received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from Nottingham Trent University in recognition of her contribution and commitment to journalism and broadcasting.
In September 2009, the nature film The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos was released in the United Kingdom, for which Frostrup provided the voice-over.
Frostrup has been active in the charity sector for two decades, having worked on Bank Aid and Comic Relief along with various fundraising initiatives for Oxfam, The Children’s Society and Save the Children. Campaigning for women’s rights and gender equality has become her main focus.
In 2010, she created, along with 3 other trustees, The Gender Rights and Equality Action Trust. This foundation aims at fostering gender equality and raising awareness and funds, to support grass roots gender equality projects in Africa and beyond. The GREAT Initiative works in partnership with Femmes Africa Solidarité, an African charity.
Currently she presents the weekly book show on Sky Arts 1 called The Book Show where she interviews her extensive list of guests on their recent works and their “favourite heroes and heroines from fiction”. She also presents the regular BBC Radio 4 programme “Open Book”, interviewing authors and publishers and reviewing new fiction and non-fiction books.
Mariella Frostrup is a superb conference facilitator and awards host, a stalwart of television, radio and journalism.