The question
What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?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.
When I first met Richard, in 1992, on a British Council writers’ tour of Adelaide. We were drinking Australian lager while parakeets squawked rudely in the neighbourhood gumtrees.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 April 2022 source ↗
I am a happy person. I am happy every day. But if I had to pick a time it would be the first time I fell in love.
Now. When I see my two children enjoying each other's company.
Each time I gave birth.
Right now. I think I was born in my early 30s and I am finally catching up to my age. It’s fine to be a bit like Frasier now, but it’s probably not ideal when you are 12.
Meryl Streep. For all her truthful and perfected offerings that have taken me to an “elsewhere”, in which my mind could feel both soothed and stimulated.
Talking in cliches. We have the most economic, resonant and versatile language in the world, yet so many people use it in a dull and boring way.
A cream suit from Chanel that cost almost as much as a small car.
The film of Restoration. A beautiful cast. An award-winning designer. A massive budget. A dog’s dinner.
Working as the assistant to an agony aunt on a women’s magazine. When we didn’t get enough heartbreaking letters, we made them up.
Like coming home.
Jo Nesbø, James Patterson, Richard Osman, Fern Britton, Nadine Gordimer, Paterson Joseph
Search the directory for somebody in particular.