A Mind of My Own

‘One of the misconceptions about working-class life is that it is all grey skies and kitchen-sink misery. Burke’s memoir has its painful moments, but the joy radiating from it is palpable and invigorating’ * Guardian *‘Remarkable’ * Financial Times *‘A delight’ * Stylist *‘Glorious, very funny and no-nonsense, just like Kathy Burke’ – Jo Brand‘Funny, heartbreaking, passionate and triumphant. This is a disarming testimony by one of Britain’s greatest working class heroes and artists’ – Steve McQueen‘A cracker’ – Dawn French‘Beautiful, heartbreaking and whipsmart. An absolute belter’ – Roisin Conaty‘Brilliant stories … Peter Cook once called her a genius and it’s hard to dispute by the end of the book’ * Irish Times *‘From feral five year old to foul mouthed National Treasure, Kathy takes us through the downs and ups of her extraordinary life … I’ll probably get a bollocking for this!’ – Paul Whitehouse“I went into the book expecting to like Kathy Burke and came out with a great deal of affection for this generous, unpretentious and shrewd person. Above all, what I really enjoyed about A Mind of My Own was Burke’s fiery spirit, which shines through in every chapter, including the one detailing her interactions with frontman of The Pogues Shane MacGowan. The singer only ever greeted her by saying, “Alright, stupid?” She was not cowed, though, answering, “Yes, thanks for asking, prick.” A mind and mouth of her own.” – The Independent * Books of the Month *

Kathy Burke began her career as an actor in 1982. In the 1990s, she became known for recurring roles on French and Saunders and The Harry Enfield Show as both Waynetta Slob and the beloved Perry.

In 1997, she won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her work in Gary Oldman’s Nil By Mouth, and in 1999, she starred in the BBC sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme.

Bored of acting, she took a break to focus on directing, which has been her main job for the past twenty years. Her theatre credits include Out in the Open by Jonathan Harvey, The Quare Fellow by Brendan Behan, born bad by Debbie Tucker Green, and Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde.

Her short film, Better Than Christmas for Sky Arts, led to her writing a four-part semi-autobiographical mini-series, Walking and Talking. She directed a four-part TV drama, Holding, based on the novel by Graham Norton, and has presented three Channel 4 documentaries.

As an actor, she has returned to the screen occasionally, for her role in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and most recently in Steve McQueen’s Blitz. She has hosted 100 episodes of the podcast Where There’s a Will There’s a Wake.

Born and bred in Islington, she still lives there today. A Mind of My Own is her first book.