Tom Rob Smith became an international bestselling author with his debut, Child 44 , but he's not a writer to rest on his laurels. His new novel, Cold People , is a piece of speculative fiction which sees the human race adapting to survive in the most inhospitable part of the planet: Antarctica. We spoke with him about alien invaders, human tenacity and what the future might really hold....
Shooting to stardom with his debut Less Than Zero aged just 21, courting controversy with his bestseller American Psycho , Bret Easton Ellis returns with his first novel for 13 years, a fusion of fact and fiction called The Shards . We spoke with the author about notoriety, being a teenager and the similarities between writers and serial killers....
After almost two years where book events had to take place online only, we take a moment to celebrate the return of in-person events with a trip to the Cheltenham Literature Festival and our flagship shop in London Piccadilly. We speak with Ian Rankin , Malorie Blackman , Anna James and Geena Davis about connecting with readers, the questions that come up, and why you should always meet your heroes....
When E. H. Gombrich's seminal work of art history, The Story of Art, was first published in 1950 it featured precisely zero female artists. Even today its latest edition features only one. Luckily Katy Hessel has produced The Story of Art Without Men, a timely corrective that puts women centre stage as we have too in this episode of the podcast which sees Katy in conversation with artist and illustrator, Lizzy Stewart , whose latest graphic novel, Alison, follows her heroine's creative awakening...
Featuring Bonnie Garmus , Tess Gunty , Louise Kennedy , Sequoia Nagamatsu , Eloghosa Osunde and Tara M. Stringfellow . A unique opportunity to hear all six authors shortlisted for the inaugural Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. With a prize celebrating debut novels across genres it's no surprise to find such variety amongst our six nominees. Social commentary, science fiction, family sagas, spirituality, great characters and unforgettable lessons in life from the most exciting new voices in ficti...
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good podcast, must be in want of four historical fiction writers ready to entertain listeners with their insights on why the nineteenth century has so much to tell us about today, how to balance research with storytelling, and why history’s habit of erasing women’s significance is all the invitation they need to set the record straight. Luckily we had Susan Stokes Chapman , Gill Hornby , Karen Joy Fowler and Sophie Irwi...
As we mark Mental Health Awareness Week and its theme of loneliness, we speak with four writers who know the importance of talking about difficult things and why conversation is at the heart of better mental health. Marian Keyes and Candice Carty-Williams share the personal stories that fed into their fiction, whilst Dr Julie Smith brings her clinical expertise to a wider audience and broadcaster Nihal Arthanayake shows how a career based on dialogue has taught him what can help us all to have b...
Consequences brings together two books that seemed to have one thing in common and then turned out to be connected in entirely different ways. Sam Knight 's The Premonitions Bureau is a fascinating look at the work of psychiatrist John Barker and a network of psychic visionaries in the 1960s. A Terrible Kindness is the debut novel from Jo Browning Wroe which shows how compassion and sacrifice can shape a life and how hard it can be to change course. In a fascinating discussion we discover more a...
All books respond to the world we live in but in this fascinating episode we speak to three incredible authors who have all written books which speak to something absolutely of this time and very often beyond it. How much has the pandemic changed the way we view the world and each other, what about the impact of technology, and what does the future hold? Featuring The Candy House by Jennifer Egan , Our Country Friends Gary Shteyngart , How High We Go In The Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu and Companio...
Cosy crime has been popular for over a hundred years now but with a surge in popularity recently we speak to three authors who've all done something slightly different with the genre to discover the reasons for its enduring appeal, the techniques they use to build up their stories and why we as humans have a fascination with the dark side of life. Featuring Janice Hallett , Nita Prose and the Reverend Richard Coles ....
Derek Owusu 's debut novel was the first fiction to be published by Stormzy 's fledgling imprint #Merky Books and went on to win the Desmond Elliot Prize in 2020. In this episode we hear from Derek about the mental health crisis that first encouraged him to put pen to paper, from his editor Tom Avery about changing the mainstream and from chair of judges Preti Taneja , herself a previous winner of the prize, about why this book is so special. Featuring: Derek Owusu , Tom Avery, Preti Taneja...
It was during a lockdown tidying spree that Stephen Fry reacquainted himself with his substantial tie collection. It will come as no surprise that a man who had over 40 ties by the age of 15, now had a collection in the hundreds. What was surprising was how easily the memories associated with those ties came back to him and so after sharing some of the stories on Instagram we now have a gorgeous book version, Fry’s Ties. To celebrate it we took a walk with Stephen along Jermyn Street, home to bo...
Marlon James became the first Jamaican-born writer to win the Booker Prize in 2015, when his multi-voiced epic, A Brief History of Seven Killings triumphed amongst a strong shortlist. In this episode we hear from the author about how the novel took its shape, from the publisher about what makes the book such a compelling read and from one of the judges about why it emerged as their unanimous winner. Featuring: Marlon James , Juliet Mabey, Sam Leith ....
We Are Not Like Them shows the impact of a police shooting of an unarmed black teenager from a different angle. Two close friends, Jen and Riley, one white, one black, one the wife of the police officer responsible, one the news anchor charged with covering the story. A premise made all the more intriguing as it was written by not one author but two, Jo Piazza and Christine Pride , one white, one black, both working together to create an unflinching novel that will start conversations. Featuring...
Some debut novelists arrive fully formed and as we’ll discover in this episode, Karina Lickorish Quinn is one such novelist; an Anglo-Peruvian writer who has drawn on family memories and the wider history of Peru to create a novel about home, injustice and ghosts that recalls Faulkner’s famous line, ‘The past is never dead. It's not even past.’ Coming from a publisher that has already chalked up multiple Booker Prize wins in recent years you’ll want to know why this year, for them, This Is The B...
Sometimes all you need is a one sentence pitch to immediately get excited about a book. And when publisher Knights Of announced earlier this year that they would be publishing Empress & Aniya, a YA novella from Candice Carty-Williams which would be South London’s answer to Freaky Friday, you could almost hear the whoops and squeals across social media. In this episode we’ll hear from author, publisher and early readers about why, particularly if you’re a teenage girl, This Is The Book. Featu...
The rich mythology and linguistic skills on display in Yuri Herrera 's Signs Preceding The End Of The World had been thought by some to make it untranslatable but in this episode we hear from the author about the mythical basis for this modern tale of border crossing, from translator Lisa Dillman about meeting the challenges of bringing the Spanish text to an English readership, from cultural critic and commentator Maya Jaggi about what makes the book so special and from publisher Stefan Tobler ...
Publisher And Other Stories have spent the last decade bringing bold new voices to English readers and in their anniversary year they continue to break new ground. Interdisciplinary artist Tice Cin takes the reader inside the Turkish men's clubs and households of North London for a unique perspective on the heroin trade that spans generations and borders. In this episode we hear from those around the publication about what makes Cin so exciting as an artist and she shares some of what she has ha...
When Susanna Clarke 's magical vision of an alternate Georgian England arrived it became an instant bestseller but as we discover in this episode, the book's journey was far from certain. Clarke shares how a writer's confidence can wax and wane and we discover how secret support behind the scenes helped her writing come into the light. Featuring Neil Gaiman and voices from publishing and bookselling, this is the inside story of an 'instant' classic. Featuring: Susanna Clarke , Neil Gaiman , Alex...
In 2014 a book with a striking bird on its cover appeared in bookshops but what kind of book was it? Was it a memoir about grief, or a book about training a goshawk? Was it a biography of T. H. White, or was it nature writing? Or was it perhaps a melding of all of these things? And how did this hybrid book go on to become an award winner and international bestseller? In this episode we hear from Helen Macdonald about turning grief into almost a new genre of writing and from the team at publisher...
Being a small, independent publisher doesn't mean thinking small, and with prize-winning successes already under their belt, Galley Beggar Press took on the challenge of publishing a novel consisting of a single sentence that ran for more than a thousand pages. Ducks, Newburyport went on to win prizes too as well as Booker recognition and in this episode we hear from Lucy Ellman about how you write a stream-of-consciousness novel on this scale and from those involved in publishing it about the c...
With perfect timing, our episode telling the inside story of A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll arrives just as we announce that it has been chosen as the overall winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2021 . We speak to those involved about the serendipity of how it came to be published, why it's important to get the right people in the room when it comes to publishing and why this book is not just important but also one of the best books for children of the last decade. Featuring: Elle ...
As a bowler for the West Indies, Michael Holding was well known for his measured run up and devastating fast bowling, an approach he has taken into his punditry where he is always calm and controlled but also frank and honest with his opinions. So when rain delayed the start of play and conversation was steered to the impact of racism in cricket in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, Holding spoke with a clarity which forced everyone watching and those who caught up later to take notice of h...
After a few years working at one of the most established publishers in New York, Zakiya Dalila Harris was inspired to write a novel which would turn its gaze on the world of publishing itself and set up one of the most intriguing literary thrillers of the year. She spoke to us about the encounter that provided the novel's seed and the experience of working both inside publishing and outside it as an author. We also hear from editor Alexis Kirschbaum about this book's unique qualities and fellow ...
The Vanishing Half , our current Fiction Book of the Month was first published last year, as the impact of lockdown hit us all and, over in America, the murder of George Floyd stirred up debate and protest. With the book now available in paperback we hear from Brit Bennett about the impact of that but also what came before it, from her editor about the battle to get to publish her and from early readers about why this tale of twin sisters living such separate lives has resonated with so many rea...
As an independent publisher that consistently punches above its weight, with Booker Prize shortlisting and other notable successes, we speak to Sam Jordison and Eloise Millar, the two people behind Galley Beggar Press, about their latest publication, Insignificance by James Clammer. We also hear from James about the world of the working class, his own past as a plumber, and the emotional journey of his protagonist, Joseph. Featuring James Clammer, Sam Jordison, Eloise Millar
The novel that cemented the reputation of David Mitchell as one of the most exciting and innovative writers of his generation is also a masterclass in structure. In this episode of the podcast we get to hear about the painstaking work that went into its construction but also the happy accidents that emanated from that to help make the novel such a rich and rewarding reading experience. We also hear about how his background as a Waterstones bookseller helped to make him the novelist he is today! ...
Not many books make a big fanfare about their 42nd anniversary but fans will know why this year is important for Douglas Adams 's comic masterpiece. To celebrate its enduring legacy we speak with long-time friends, colleagues, collaborators and fans to try and put our finger on why the universe he created remains so popular today. From his famed struggles with deadlines to the legendary tales that surround his ideas we take a look at what made him so funny and still so very much missed by all. F...
The first in a new series that discovers the story behind books which went on to become prize-winners, trail-blazers, or are now seen as modern classics. We speak exclusively with Dame Hilary Mantel and her editor, Nicholas Pearson, about Wolf Hall, the first part of her Cromwell trilogy which not only won the Booker Prize but set up a series of books that went on to become a unique cultural moment at their conclusion. We hear how plans for one book became three, what it felt like to win the Boo...
After two critically acclaimed novels it has been a long wait for Leone Ross 's third but you know what they say about all good things. Fifteen years in the making, This One Sky Day transports us to Popisho, a fantastical island archipelago, where every resident has some kind of magical ability. Food, politics, satire, sex and magic combine in this rich and evocative novel and we hear how pain, hard-work and healing combined to make such a delicious dish. Featuring Leone Ross , Niki Chang, Louis...
