The Writer's Table: Famous authors and their favourite recipes

by Valerie Stivers, Katie Tomlinson (illustrator)

From Ernest Hemingway’s perfect hamburger to Beatrix Potter’s home-made gingerbread, The Writer’s Table presents 50 of the world’s best-loved authors’ favourite recipes.

In the style of books including A Room of One’s Own and Writer’s Letters, The Writer’s Table provides a glimpse into the daily lives, routines and eccentricties of famous creatives. Each recipe is accompanied by a short introduction to the dish and its author, and provides practical instructions and up-to-date ingredients for you to make the dish yourself. Small, accessible and giftable, it’s the perfect collection for lovers of food and literature.

Writers and recipes featured to include:
Harper Lee’s Crackling Bread
Anna Tolstoy’s Russian Mint Cookies
Sylvia Plath’s Tomato Soup Cake
Emily Dickinson’s Coconut Cake
Allen Ginsburg’s Cold Summer Borscht
Nora Ephron’s Crab Dip
Edgar Allen Poe’s Egg Nog

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

Published October 7, 2025

Reviews

[Alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you had a chance to invite your favourite author to dinner ,who would it be?
Have you ever thought about what you'd cook and what drinks you'd serve ?
If those are the kind of questions that interest you, then you have to check out 'The Writers Table '.
It's a brilliant book,beautifully illustrated, and packed with interesting recipes, facts about different authors' favourite foods, and even some of their peculiar habits.
Honestly, I love this book. And with the festive season rapidly approaching, it would make a perfect gift for any book lover. No thanks necessary 😉

[A Bookworm Crafts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my stop on the book tour for The Writers Table by Valerie Stivers.

This beautiful coffee table book features a series of essays on famous writers and their relationship to food, each accompanied by a recipe and an illustration by Katie Tomlinson

I really enjoyed reading about the food that some of my favourite authors enjoyed and can see this being a book that I would regularly dip into. I haven't tested any of the recipes yet but feel like I definitely need to make Roald Dahl's frozen chocolate kit kat cake! It is probably worth pointing out that this feels more like an essay book with illustrative recipes rather than a recipe book featuring essays, as I'm not sure all of the recipes would appeal to modern taste buds!

Thank you to Randomthingstours and Quarto for providing me with a physical copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

[Jenny K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the author chose at least half of her authors based on their s*xual appetite rather than they were actually foodies.
Also most of the “recipes” in here are not things anyone would/could cook now.

[Chelsea-anne Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations in this books are gorgeous, and I think Kate Tomlinson did a great job with those. This book is about different authors and recipes that matches their stories. It was an interesting mix of authors from different locations and time periods. Its a short fun read and would make a great gift for a foodie in your life.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gorgeous book. I keep picking it up and reading a bit more. This is a perfect coffee book table for anyone but especially any book lover or cookery fan. Lucky for me I’m both! The author started collecting these stories and recipes in 2017 for a series of articles for The Paris Review, some recipes are the featured authors own, or from one of their works, and others made up by this books author herself. Not every authors entry includes a recipe, some just discuss food they liked or included in their books.

A few little snippet to whet your appetite-
George Orwell considered butter and marmalade the only acceptable toast topping;
Gerald Durrell and his family ate a lot of Indian dishes;
Roald Dahl loved sweet stuff with a recipe for Frozen Chocolate KitKat Cake included that is probably the highest calorie cake recipe ever!

All of this is beautifully illustrated throughout with lots of mini titbits, eccentricities and food loves of authors. My favourite recipe is probably Colette’s Cherry Clafoutis although every time I pick the book up I see something new. This is a fascinating and charming book and would make a perfect present, I would certainly have been thrilled to be gifted this.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is quite possibly one of the most beautiful books that I own. The illustrations are stunning, it's the kind of book that you can pick up at any time and discover something new.
I honestly think this book was made for me, I'm an avid recipe book collector and reader, and of course, I love fiction and anything to do with literature. A combination of food created and loved by famous authors, or featured in their books is just perfection.
Katie Tomlinson's illustrations are stunning. Her style is quite simple line drawings with plenty of colour and expertly portray each of the authors and recipes.
Valerie Stivers writes a column called 'Eat Your Words' for the Paris Review and in 2017 she began to collect these stories and recipes for her coloumn.
There is a chatty, friendly feel to the book as she features some authors discussing their various food likes, or things that they've included in their works, instead of an actual recipe.
From Jane Austen’s White Soup to Truman Capote’s Chicken Hash and Colette’s Cherry Clafoutis, this exquisite literary cookbook features 50 favourite recipes from renowned authors, showcasing the meals that shaped their lives and work, and will make an ideal gift for both food and book lovers. Highly recommended

[The Book Elf · Rating 4 out of 5]

A celebration of food and creativity, The Writer’s Table invites you to feast upon the dishes that fuelled great writing. Did you know that Laurie Colwin was known to wash dishes in the bath and that Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton’s favourite drink was an Extra-Dry Martini? In fact, the friends were known to enjoy a three martini lunch. The Writer’s Table brings together 50 favourite recipes from the world’s most beloved authors, offering a glimpse into their kitchen rituals. Each recipe is paired with an introduction to the author and dish, alongside clear instructions and modern ingredients. Some draw from the historical record, others from cookbooks written by the writer, as well as some contemporary recreations of dishes from their work. With beautiful illustrations and gems of knowledge throughout, the book is a treat for the eyes as well as the table. Featured writers and recipes include: Jane Austen’s White Soup, Ernest Hemingway’s Fried Trout, Joan Didion’s Parsley Salad, Franz Kafka’s Hard Pretzels with Caraway Seeds and Emily Dickinson’s Coconut Cake

This is a “food” book with a difference. Valerie looks at different authors in each chapter giving us an insight into either recipes that were mentioned in one of their books or what they would have eaten at the time.

[Unbridled Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book combines two of my most favorite things to read about: writers and food. Each writer's profile starts with a recipe and then a two-page summary of their writing and how food (or more specifically, the recipe) fits into their writing. The variety of authors is varied: men, women, living dead, from every continent.

This is one of those reads that was fun. I perused the pages over dinner and tea and my morning coffee. And also, can we talk about the illustrator Katie Tomlinson? Her sketches and color schemes are soft and 'messy' and looked very familiar to me. I looked her up and she is an artist based in Antwerp, but I didn't recognize any of her previous work. Honestly, her art transformed this from a book to a piece of art that can be displayed as a coffee table book.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

From A-Z, across several centuries, and all over the globe, Stivers writes about authors through the lens of food. Each mini-biography starts with a recipe representing the author, either something he or she wrote down as part of a story, were known to cook or bake, or a dish that reflected the author's life. Food is an important part of any life, and Stivers shows how each author's relationship with food shaped and was reflected in their writing.

[afra · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the books I’ve enjoyed the most recently - short, fun, and delightful. Featuring famous authors and recipes for each, this is a book everyone should give a chance.

This is an ARC review. I appreciate receiving this physical copy from the publisher in return for an honest review.

[Tracy Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little collection of meals, snacks, and drinks that famous writers enjoy (making or eating, or both). I didn't see anything I'd really like to make, but it was definitely fun learning about some of the people's favorite items!

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my favorite birthday present this year!