Shirley Hughes: When were you happiest?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Shirley Hughes said elsewhere, not written here

Wandering around with my sketchbook in some lovely Italian town.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 January 2012 source ↗

Others on this question

When I was raising my children.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, May 2019 source ↗

James McAvoy Scottish actor

When I was 15 or 16 - I slept really well then. Now I sleep on a bed of anxiety-tipped nails.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 April 2009 source ↗

Louis Walsh Irish music manager and television personality

I’m always happy. Ask Simon Cowell: he says if I had a tail, I’d wag it.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

Vera Lynn English singer and entertainer

When my daughter, Virginia, was born, in 1946.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 December 2009 source ↗

Not being able to live my life over again with the experience I now have.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 January 2012 source ↗

My sons for their bravery, and my daughter and daughters-in-law for being working mothers and always being able to make me laugh.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 January 2012 source ↗

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