Never Had A Dad: Adventures in Fatherlessness with Georgie Codd

Join us for an adventurous evening of twists, turns, dads and daughters, in conversation with Georgie Codd on her book 'Never Had a Dad' and the journey to find a father figure.

Georgie Codd grew up without knowing her dad. But in 2018, a stranger's practical joke inspired her to embark on a weird, one-off mission like no other. Aged 31, she started advertising (or 'dadvertising’) in newspapers and magazines, on an international search for her perfect father figure.

 escribed by the Times as a 'dating quest with a difference', Codd's latest book Never Had a Dad (William Collins, 2024) tells the remarkable story of what happened next, and is already under option for a TV series.

'Georgie's the type of person who gets very creative when she tries to solve a problem' - This American Life

‘A tale of fathers, daughters and missing pieces’ - BBC World Service

'So interesting, so funny, so moving... I am raving about it to people' - Katherine Angel, 'Daddy Issues'

'What a wonderful idea and what a wonderful project... Everybody needs to get hold of a copy of this book' - Jo Good, BBC Radio London

Georgie Codd has worked behind the scenes at a funeral parlour, taught English in a Himalayan nunnery, edited publications for the Tibetan Government in Exile, and shadowed drug dealers in Florida City. Her first book, We Swim To The Shark – a nonfiction adventure about the sea, scuba diving, and the roots of fear – was published by Fleet in 2020, sparking coverage from BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, ABC Melbourne, TLS and more. That spring, in partnership with Wasafiri Magazine, Georgie created the lockdown-inspired ‘antiviral’ literary festival BookBound 2020, which raised funds for mental health charities and won a Time Out Award by public vote. Her second book, Never Had a Dad – a personal quest to find a father figure by ‘dadvertising’ in newspapers and magazines – caught the attention of the hit US radio show This American Life, and was previewed to millions worldwide www.georgiecodd.co.uk