Tony Parsons is Heathrow's New Writer-in-Residence

Posted on August 12, 2011

Heathrow Airport has a new writer-in-residence. Tony Parsons, author of Man and Boy, will be Heathrow's writer-in-residence this summer. Parsons will write a collection of stories, called Departures: Seven Stories from Heathrow, based on his experience and observations at the airport.

Heathrow says Parsons will roam the terminals at the airport to "unearth the stories of the people that pass through its doors, with the events inspiring the plotline and the passengers its characters." Parsons will also be able to meet airport staff, including pilots and air traffic control officers.

Parsons says, "Airports are places of extreme emotion where people come and go and experiences begin and end. Often when we travel we find ourselves in such a hurry to get to our end destination that we fail to appreciate the individual stories and moments happening before us. Having grown up reading Arthur Hailey's novel Airport it feels like an incredible opportunity to live at Heathrow and write about the people whose lives are touched by it. I am looking forward to sharing these experiences and to reviving the airport fiction genre with my first short story collection."

Heathrow's unique writer-in-residence program began in 2009. Author Alain de Botton was the first author to spend a week in the airport.