“They got fired for that!” Katharina Volckmer is here to discuss her second novel, Calls May Be Recorded for Training and Monitoring Purposes (Indigo Press) and it was live at the Hyde Park Book Club! Thank you to the Hyde Park Book Club for hosting us and Next Chapter Books for supporting the event. This is the second part of our conversation. Kat…

Katharina Volckmer is here to discuss her second novel, Calls May Be Recorded for Training and Monitoring Purposes (Indigo Press) and it was live at the Hyde Park Book Club! Thank you to the Hyde Park Book Club for hosting us and Next Chapter Books for supporting the event. Katharina’s first novel, THE APPOINTMENT, was translated into over fifteen …

Welcome to the first edition of Rippling Pages: Ask the Host! Over the years, I’ve been asking the questions, but it’s about time I answered some too. So, that’s what I’ve done: I’ve picked out some questions from the Rippling Pages inbox, and answered them! In this episode, I answer: - Where am I from? - Why did I start the podcast? - Who would I …

"She finds herself in London working in a theatre having to touch people!" Elaine Garvey, to discuss her novel, THE WARDROBE DEPARTMENT, published by Canongate Books. It’s 2002. Mairéad Sweeney has moved from rural Ireland to work in London’s West End. While the prestige of working in theatre doesn’t exactly wear off, the long hours and spoiled act…

“It’s my mum’s favourite book that I wrote!” Benjamin Markovits is here to talk about his new and twelfth novel, THE REST OF OUR LIVES, published by Faber and Faber. Tom Layward has made a pact with himself. After his daughter moves out of college, he’s moving out too. His wife had an affair, and he feels like he owes himself a road trip across Ame…

‘The people I like to write about are what I would describe as moderately successful failures.’ Benjamin Markovits is here to talk about his new and twelfth novel, THE REST OF OUR LIVES, published by Faber and Faber. Tom Layward has made a pact with himself. After his daughter moves out of college, he’s moving out too. His wife had an affair, and h…

"Taylor Swift is somebody who has managed to keep reinventing herself to stay relevant." Welcome to Rippling Points, more content and more insights and inspiration into the craft of literature: Marni Appleton is here to talk about her short story collection, I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY, published by Indigo Press. We discuss: - How Taylor Swift's ability to…

"It builds to women and girls choosing to hide their mouths because of the effect of this trend...things just morph and take on different meanings as they're shared in different contexts" Marni Appleton is here to talk about her collection of short stories, I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY, published by The Indigo Press. The modern world Marni presents to us in…

"Being published in English is a big milestone..." Vincenzo Latronico is here to talk about his first novel translated into English - PERFECTION, published by Fitzcarraldo editions and translated from the Italian by Sophie Hughes. Welcome to Rippling Points, more content insights and inspiration into the craft of literature: - How and why he set hi…

“Love is a dangerous topic.” Vincenzo Latronico is here to talk about his first novel translated into English - PERFECTION, published by Fitzcarraldo editions and translated from the Italian by Sophie Hughes. Vincenzo is one of the most distinguished novelists writing in Italian today. He has also translated many books into Italian, by authors such…

“They had one objective - to get rid of certain men” Welcome to the first edition of Rippling Points - bonus content from last month’s episode! A little bit more insight and a little bit more inspiration into the craft of writing! Here, you can hear Pola talking about her delve into the archives to learn more about Argentina in 1970s. You’ll then h…

“I think it’s much more interesting to explore women through their powers.” Pola Oloixarac, one of the most exciting voices in world literature today, is here to talk about her two novels that have been translated into English. Most recently SAVAGE THEORIES and then MONA (translated by Roy Kesey). Both are published by Serpent’s Tail. She was named…

"I think it's a story few people have told before. And it's really about, what does a defender of human rights look like?" Iris Mwanza is here to talk about her novel, THE LION'S DEN (Canongate Books). Iris's novel is about a human rights lawyer, Grace Zulu, whose client Willbess ‘Bessy’ Mulenga, has been arrested for offences ‘against nature. It l…

“The book is me trying to have a conversation with my father and reach a middle ground.” Friða Ísberg is here to talk about THE MARK (Faber and Faber) translated by Larissa Kyzer. The book centres on a referendum in Iceland about whether mandatory tests should be imposed on its citizens. Friða talks about writing over the divide, arguments with her…

“Some people have been, oh these women are so grotesque. I don’t think they are! They’re quite relatable.” Naomi Wood joins me to discuss THIS IS WHY WE CANT HAVE NICE THINGS (Published by Orion) It’s a collection that features the BBC Short Story Prize winner, Comorbidities. We talk about different kinds of intimacy in the stories, and how or why …

"I think their experience in the bookstore is trying to think literary inheritance and spiritual and intellectual experience." Sam sax is here to discuss YR DEAD, their debut novel about Ezra, a queer, non-binary 27-year-old of Jewish heritage, whose life we see in fragments and flashbacks when they self-immolate outside trump tower. We talk about …

"I'd done a lot of clay-making...you can spend a lifetime and only get good at one technique!" Jennifer Lucy Allan joins me to talk about her second book, CLAY: A HUMAN HISTORY (White Rabbit Books). After Jennifer's exploration and writing about sound in The Foghorn's Lament (White Rabbit Books), Jennifer has, quite literally, turned her hand to a …

"This book is begging to be written...It has this a frontier-ness to it..." Bruce Omar Yates is here to discuss his upcoming novel published by Dead Ink Books, THE MUSLIM COWBOY . In a contemporary and entertaining novel set in aftermath of the Iraq war, a man who is obsessed with old Western movies dresses in double denim and roams a lawless lands…

"The smotheringly neutral voice" Claire Carroll is here to talk about her new and debut collection of short stories THE UNRELIABLE NATURE WRITER. A truly candid insight into the workings of craft and being a writer from one of the most exciting and upcoming fiction writers today. THE UNRELIABLE NATURE WRITER is published by Scratch Books - more her…

"The garden is a co-author" Marchelle Farrell is here to talk about her essay in a new anthology from Daunt Books, BY THE RIVER: ESSAYS FROM THE WATER'S EDGE. I've wanted to talk to Marchelle since the publication of UPROOTING: FROM THE CARIBBEAN TO THE COUNTRYSIDE - Canongate Books), so it was great to have her here when she's part of an anthology…

"I wanted to be talking choice in a way that was routed in a social context, and that was true to the particularity and intimacy that I shared with my mum at the end of her life." Marianne Brooker is here to talk about her Women's Prize for Non-Fiction shortlisted essay, INTERVALS, published by Fitzcarraldo Editions. Marianne talks about her life a…

"That whole question of the invisible life...that there's something going on we cannot see that determines our health and the future of the planet." Dawn Garisch, one of South Africa's most pre-eminent writers, joins the Rippling Pages to talk about Breaking Milk, published in the UK by Heloise Press. Shortlisted for the prestigious Sunday Times So…

"Wounds, whilst they open us to the world...they can be points of infection." Welcome to 2024 and a new episode of the Rippling Pages. Rachel Mann is a poet, scholar, novelist and Anglican priest. She is Rachel Mann is here to talk about her new collection, Eleanor Among the Saints (Carcanet), which takes inspiration from the life of Eleanor 'John'…

"Kathy had a documentary impulse that is teaching us now." Jo Scott-Coe returns to the Rippling Pages to talk about her latest book, UNHEARD WITNESS: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF KATHY LEISSNER WHITMAN (University of Texas Press) Jo is a previous guest of the podcast, joining us in Series 2 to discuss MASS (Pelekinesis), an account of Charles Whitman, the…

"It's not confessional...but it's absolutely full of concrete details of things that I've observed or really happened." Charlotte Eichler joins the Rippling Pages to discuss her new collection, SWIMMING BETWEEN ISLANDS, published by Carcanet Tickets to Tom Branfoot launch that I'm hosting here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/boar-book-launch-ticket…

"There was a lot of solitude quiet and silence, and I believe poetry exists in relation to silence." Baron Wormser, a former National Endowment for the Arts and Guggenheim Fellow, is here to talk about his eleventh collection of poetry, THE HISTORY HOTEL, and THE ROAD WASHES OUT IN SPRING , an account of a poet living life off the grid. Tickets to …

"it took a lot of courage to keep going and channel that sadness and melancholy into pictures of such joy and exuberance " Leslie Smolan, widow and creative partner of the photographer Rodney Smith is here to talk about a new book celebrating his life and work. A LEAP OF FAITH, with essays from Paul Martineau, Rebecca Senf, and Graydon Carter, is a…

"We live in a world where we increasingly want to control everything...I hope that in fictional spaces, the effort of trying to keep up becomes so much you eventually say, hey, let's go." Nii Ayikwei Parkes is here to discuss his second novel, Azúcar, published by Peepal Tree Press. How do we grow in... Fictional spaces: understanding when we're no…

"I hate judging characters - you have to have respect for people's origins." James Clarke is here to talk about his new novel, Sanderson's Isle, published by Serpent's Tail (buy here) Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points Ebullient characters…

'I wanted to write a queer love story, Blackpool is crying out for literary renditions and I'm obsessed by Ulysses.' Helen Palmer is here to talk about her Ulysses inspired queer love story, Pleasure Beach which is published by Prototype (more info here!) Enjoyed today's episode? Leave a tip!: https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points Corrie and…

"There is a genuine search for something - much of the time it turns out to be distraction." Duncan Wiese joins me from Denmark to discuss his new collection of poetry based on Virgil's Eclogues, Tityrus: A Pastoral. Published by Lolli Editions (more info here!), the poems were translated by Max Minden Ribeiro (Pelle Hvenegaard’s Dear Zoe Ukhona an…

"I was interested in stories with stories and how the family used folklore to approach conflict" Soraya Palmer joins me from Brooklyn to discuss her debut novel, recently released in the UK, The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts, published by Serpent's Tail (more info here!). We speak about hauntings, family narratives, an…

It's a Catalan Literature in Translation Special! I'm delighted to welcome Mara Faye Lethem and Tiago Miller to discuss two recently released books from Catalonia Irene Solà's When I Sing, Mountains Dance has has been re-released in paperback translated by Mara for Granta Josep Maria Argemí's The Angel of Santa Sofia has been newly released and tra…

"I was fascinated by the idea of what is real and what isn't real what people perceive to be real and not real" Welcome back to Series 4 of the Rippling Pages. And Seraphina Madsen is here to talk witches, the occult and different realities! Aurora is Seraphina's second novel and is published by Dodo Ink Read an extract here Enjoyed this episode - …

"I don't think poetry should be giving a lesson to anyone" Caitlin Stobie is here to talk about THIN SLICES, her new collection from Verve Press (Pre-order here ) Caitlin examines culture's need for 'origin' myths, as well as asking what is a language for the pre-lingual? We recorded this episode in the run-up to Caitlin's appearance at Ilkley Lite…

Both writer and translator of SALT CRYSTALS, Cristina Bendek and Robin Myers, are here to discuss this shape-shifting and history-searching novel. A book about a woman, Victoria, who explores her own and the island she's from, San Andrés's, history. Find out more about the book here Rippling Points: A momentaneous piece or peace? How can we write a…

"It's a quest to try to collect all of the Picadors..." Nicholas Royle is here to talk about White Spines: Confessions of a Book Collector, and his journey to find Picador books. You can buy the book here Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points…

"All this wouldn't have happened without that experience of cancer..." Caroline Clark is here with one of the most tender and moving books due to be released this year: Own Sweet Time. Caroline's book is about the "hardest thing she's been through physically" and the "hardest things she's found mentally. Find out more book here: Enjoyed this episod…

"As humans, we're really scared of forgetting..." Welcome back for another episode of the Rippling Pages – I’m delighted to speaking to Sarah Schofield, author of the short story collection, SAFELY GATHERED IN (Comma Press - you can find here) Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https…

"Song is very powerful...it's not a truth teller, it's a state-changer." Richard Price joins today's show to discuss his collection of 'Three Inuit Stories Retold.' Published by Carcanet, the book was a Scotsman Book of the Year in 2021, and Richard joined me to discuss the challenges of retelling these tales. You can buy the book here: https://www…

"The first thing that came to me? A woman, alone with the sea, and in charge of her own destiny?" Welcome back to the Rippling Pages and Series Three: Beneath the Surface. We have Erica Mou and Clarissa Botsford here to discuss Thirsty Sea. Erica is a successful musician with six albums to her name. Her novel is translated by Clarissa and published…

"It's nice to see my imagination dressed with my words...It's very interesting to see a universe in other words." What a pleasure have both Emilio Fraia and Zoë Perry to discuss with me the writing and translating of Emilio's novel Sevastopol (Lolli Editions - buy here) Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the runnin…

'You can't just have a greatest hits collection, there has to be a flow of ideas.' Charlie Baylis, poet, critic, and editor joined me to talk about his latest collection, Santa Lucía, published by Invisible Hand Press - available here Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.…

"It seemed to be a flashpoint moment, it was saying more than we thought it was saying." Jo Scott-Coe joins me to talk about Charles Whitman, the man known as the 'Texas Tower Sniper'. In this discussion which touches on some challenging subjects, Jo discusses her book and the journey behind the writing of the book MASS: A Sniper, a Father, and a P…

'All the way through the book, it should feel like there's going to be some kind of ending which will enable a potential future' What a pleasure to welcome Jessie Greengrass to talk about the High House! (Buy here). We talk about the climate crisis and writing about the end times. Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with…

"The thing I learned last year is that the product is sometimes the problem" Jeff Chon joins me to discuss his novel, Hashtag Good Guy with a Gun, published by the exciting Sagging Meniscus press (buy here) Please be advised we recorded this conversation earlier this year and discuss issues of a sensitive nature with some instances of strong langua…

'The south is a living breathing thing in this book. it's a personality.' Really excited to have American poet, Khalisa Rae, join me for series two, episode two! Khalisa is here to talk about Ghost in a Black Girl's Throat, published by Red Hen Press (buy here) Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! …

Welcome Back! Series Two: Horizons is here with Polly Barton. "I wanted to give people tools they could then forget about for the rest of the book." Polly Barton is here to talk about Fifty Sounds, winner of the Fitzcarraldo Essay Prize 2019. (BUY HERE!) Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank y…

"The sense we don't have to trample on each other, to amplify each other, we can heal and nurture each other." Jacqueline Bishop is here to talk about her collection of interviews, The Gift of Music and Song: Interviews with Jamaican Women Writers (Buy here!) It's a perfect way to conclude the 'Finding Room' series - promoting the voices of some fa…

"I knew from the age of 13, 14, I needed to write poetry, I just didn't fully understand why." It's part two of our Flipped Eye 20th birthday special, and I'm joined by Samatar Elmi talking about his debut collection, Portrait of Colossus. Thank you Katherine and Samatar for joining me. Two exciting, upcoming poets. Buy Portrait of Colossus here. E…