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If you love reading books from hilarious women, then we have some very good news for you: Katherine Ryan is currently writing her debut memoir. Set for release in September, The Audacity will share her journey from working as a Hooters waitress in Canada to becoming one of Britain’s most recognisable faces in comedy. The writer also promises to impart her wisdom in chapters like How To Potty Train Your Baby At 10 Months, How To Cut Off Your Racist Aunties and How To Co-Parent When You’re A Single Mum. And make us laugh a lot, of course.
‘I'm reading Lily Allen’s book right now - My Thoughts Exactly - and I just love it, love it, love it,’ Katherine tells Grazia. ‘I like when women are confessional with me, I love when I feel like it's a friend. And so I had always considered writing a book one day,' she adds. 'But I think I needed to get to a place where I had enough of a wealth of experience so I could write such a thing. I mean, you can't really write a memoir in your 20s,’ she pauses, before adding in her typical style, ‘it's a little bit ridiculous to write one in your 30s - but.’
So why The Audacity? ‘I just thought it was a perfect title,’ she says. ‘I think it encapsulates me, my journey, my childhood and my career now perfectly because I've always been a little bit different.’ And working in comedy and the entertainment industry, ‘audacity’ is a word she’s used to hearing. ‘In my work, when women specifically are honest and provocative and passionate, then we just get labelled audacious,’ Katherine adds. ‘And I'm fine with that. I think that I've lived my life, and continue to do so, in exactly the way that I think is correct. And I know that a lot of people find me audacious.’
One of the things Katherine is most looking forward to sharing in the book is relationship advice. Now, the comedian lives with her daughter, Violet, and her partner Bobby Kootstra - it was a chance meeting, the childhood sweethearts were reunited when she returned to her hometown while filming an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? - but she’s first to admit things haven’t always been so rosy.
‘I’ve been on a tumultuous journey with relationships throughout my life,’ she says. ‘I was making bad choices. And I can see now, in retrospect, where those choices came from and how much I've grown. I always value the struggles that I've had because I come out of it with great lessons. But I'm really hoping I can help people avoid making some of the mistakes I have.’
Along with Lily Allen, Katherine lists her other inspirations as celebrity autobiographies like Katie Price’s Being Jordan, and other comedians like Tiffany Haddish, Tina Fey and Amy Schumer. But there’s a particular reason she enjoys reading celeb memoirs. ‘I love it when the lawyers have to get involved,’ she says. And lawyers, she adds, will need to sift through her own book. ‘I'm just going to put it all on the page. I'm not going to try to be my own legal team. I'm just going to be as honest and completely transparent as I can be. And then I warned Bonnier [the publishers] early. I was like, I just need a really good team of lawyers to comb through it and take out everyone's name.’
Katherine might have more time to write because of lockdown, but she says the opportunity has arrived at a perfect time in her life. ‘I'm at a time in my career where I'm allowed to be more long form and more sincere,’ the 37-year-old adds. ‘People expect me to be really caustic and spiky and punchy. And then I get compared to Joan Rivers a lot, or people think I'm really mean and I'm like, “Oh hang on…” I’m really looking forward to being able to get some of these more long form stories out.’ One thing’s for sure, we can’t wait to read them.
The Audacity is set for release on September 30 2021{
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