Julia Webster Ayuso is a Spanish-British freelance journalist based in Paris. She has written about arts and culture for The Guardian, The New York Times, Time magazine and Monocle among others.
She speaks English, Spanish, Catalan, French and Italian.
Get in touch at juliawebsterayuso[at]gmail[dot]com
Selected Writing
Books
Power of words: We join Belgium’s national poet, Lisette Lombé, for a stroll in Liège - Konfekt (2024)
A Boom in Comics Drawn from Fact - The New York Times (2024)
France has an august tradition of homegrown comic-book heroes but its rising stars now are Japanese - Monocle (2022)
People like her didn’t exist in French novels. Until she wrote one. - The New York Times (2021)
Closure of an iconic Paris bookshop alarms French bibliophiles - The Guardian (2021)
Literary lockdown: how translating a Dan Brown novel made for a thriller plot - The Guardian (2020)
The thin, white lie: challenging the ‘French women’ stereotype - The Guardian (2020)
Culture & Climate
The Growing Appeal of Sanctuary Forests - Atmos (2024)
Why All Great Thoughts Are Conceived by Walking - Atmos (2023)
Sweden is one of the world’s biggest consumers of saffron. We meet the farmers growing the spice at home. - Konfekt (2023)
How our cities’ lost rivers are being revived - Time Out (2022)
What Paris must do to be a world leading cycling capital - The Local (2020)
Stonehenge has attracted summer solstice visitors for centuries, but some historians worry about its future - Time (2019)
Music
What Italian-Egyptian Mahmood’s success says about Italy - Time (2019)
Singer Serge Gainsbourg promoted incest and pedophilia. Now he’s being honored. – The Daily Beast (2022)
In Barcelona, City of Mega-Festivals, Small Venues Struggle - The New York Times (2023)
‘I don’t know why our boobs are so frightening’: why musicians in Spain are going topless as a radical gesture - The Guardian (2023)
Film
In memoriam Marius: film unpicks ethics behind Danish zoo’s controversial giraffe killing - The Guardian (2024)
‘It’s still relevant today’: How cult 90s film La Haine reflects France’s social issues - BBC Culture (2024)
France’s First ‘Intimacy Coordinator’ Shares Sex Scene Battles - The Daily Beast (2024)
Dress for success: When it comes to the outfits that appear on screen, Spanish company Peris Costumes is the sartorial star of the show. - Monocle (2023)
Galician noir: how a rainy corner of Spain spawned a new TV genre - The Guardian (2021)
Syncing feeling: As TV shows capture imaginations worldwide, dubbing has become something to shout about. - Monocle (2021)
Art & design
Industrial action: On the outskirts of Barcelona, an arts festival and influx of creatives work to bring about cultural change. - Monocle (2024)
Dancing in the Louvre like Beyoncé and Jay-Z - Art Basel (2024)
Raising a stink: The Odeuropa research project has encouraged art institutions to add an olfactory element to their displays - Monocle (2024)
Away from the French capital, creatives head to the Med to a slower, more affordable way of life. - Monocle (2022)
A behind-the-scenes quest is underway to preserve the world’s largest collection of art and antiquities that are now at threat from climate change. - Monocle (2021)
Wrapped Arc de Triomphe unveiled in Paris - Icon (2021)
Labour of love: Nowhere captures the spirit of Gio Ponti more than a secluded villa the architect constructed for his friend. - Monocle (2021)
Politics & Society
Can a Comma Solve a Crime? - The Dial (2024)
‘We are French’: Muslims in France fear being stigmatised once more - The Local (2020)
The future of Radio Radicale divides the Italian government - Time (2019)
A new rape case reignites debate over Spain’s sexual assault laws - Time (2019)