Podcast
Inklings Book Club
Hosted by Jack Edwards · EN
The internet's resident librarian, Jack Edwards, presents... Inklings! The Inklings Book Club is a community for book lovers, championing storytellers from around the world. Subscribe for weekly author interviews and our spotlight monthly book club chat, where we'll be grilling authors on their writing process, inspiration, and future projects. To be involved with the group-read, search Inklings on the Fable app or join us on Instagram.
26episodes
Episodes
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Charlie Porter: Nova Scotia House
May 101:03:49Tap to summarizeThis month we have been reading Nova Scotia House by Charlie Porter. I totally fell in love with this book which follows a gay couple called Johnny and Jerry in the 90s, as Jerry lives his final days. He is a victim of the AIDS crisis, and this book is both a celebration of his life. We continue to follow Johnny in the present day after Jerry has passed, with a few appearances from Gareth, Jerry’s best friend. We see what Jerry’s life could have been like if he had survived, like Gareth, and what his life could’ve been like if we was born a generation later, like Johnny. It’s moving and it’s so heartfelt, but also experimental in its writing style. For me, this book was a total triumph, I utterly adored it and I’m thrilled to be talking to Charlie Porter, its author today. Charlie is also a fashion journalist and the author of two non-fictioj title. His book Bring No Clothes explores the clothing choices of the Bloomsbury Group from a philosophical perspective, while What Artists Wear examines the clothes of various artists. Nova Scotia House is his debut novel, so please welcome to the Inklings Book Club, Charlie Porter! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Seán Hewitt: Open Heaven
Apr 2901:00:55Tap to summarizeToday we’re joined by poet, lecturer, and literary critic Seán Hewitt. Seán is the author of three original poetry collections, a memoir, and several curations of other poets’ work, from wood engravings to tales of love from the ancient world. His debut novel, Open, Heaven, was published last year and I utterly adored it. A man returns to the small village in which he first fell in love, which summons up memories of the charismatic and impulsive Luke. There’s gorgeous nature writing, and plenty of yearning, but also that perfect literary alchemy that happens when a poet writes a novel. I interviewed Seán at Waterstones with a bunch of you wonderful people – so, here’s what happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Charlotte McConaghy: Wild Dark Shore
Apr 2100:41:48Tap to summarizeLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Benjamin Wood: Seascraper
Apr 1500:40:42Tap to summarizeBenjamin Wood is the author of five novels, the first of which – called The Bellwether Revivals, was shortlisted for the 2012 Costa Book Awards and Commonwealth Book Prize. His fifth novel, Seascraper, won the Nero Book Award for fiction and was longlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Walter Scott Prize. Seascraper is a portal to the seaside where we follow a young man called Thomas who works a pretty archaic job as a seascraper, which his family rely on him to do. He dreams, however, of becoming a folk singer, and longs to perform at his local pub. One day he comes home to find a man called Edgar waiting for him – Edgar is a Hollywood producer who wants to shoot a film on the beach, and asks for Thomas’ help and expertise. The book is atmospheric and moving, at times capturing the isolation and monotony of the work and his aspirations to be anywhere else, and at other times fast-paced and intense – reminding us of the extreme danger of such a job. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Kaveh Akbar: Martyr!
Apr 1101:05:42Tap to summarizeHello and welcome back to the Inklings Book Club podcast and our March book of the month!!! This month we read Martyr! By Kaveh Akbar, and I’ve loved reading all of your insights on the Fable app. You sent in thoughtful, astute, and perceptive questions, and today I had the privilege of posing them to Kaveh Akbar, the author of Martyr! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Rachel Khong: Real Americans and My Dear You
Apr 700:48:35Tap to summarizeRachel Khong started out as the executive editor of Lucky Peach Magazine, before turning her eye to novel writing. Her debut, Goodbye, Vitamin, was released in 2017 and won the California Book Award for First Fiction. Her second novel, Real Americans, became an instant New York Times bestseller, following three generations of a family, spanning 80 years. It explores themes of Chinese-American identity, genetic engineering, inheritance, and the way that our heritage shapes our lives. Today we’ll mostly be discussing her new short story collection, My Dear You, which uses supernatural elements to explore human concerns around race, destiny, and mortality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Julia Armfield: Our Wives Under The Sea and Private Rites
Mar 3100:50:56Tap to summarizeToday we’re joined by the incredibly talented novelist Julia Armfield. Julia wrote one of my favourite books ever, called Our Wives Under The Sea. It’s about a woman who returns from a disastrous deep-sea dive, and her wife who is now looking after someone she barely recognises. It’s so lyrical and beautiful, she is such a talent. We met to discuss her debut, as well as her newest release Private Rites, a similarly wet novel. In Private Rites, the world is drowning after so much rain. Three sisters are navigating love and loss in this new reality, and the book is actually a reimagining of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Unfortunately we don’t have the video for this episode, the footage somehow got lost, so this episode is audio-only. Please welcome to the Inklings Book Club, Julia Armfield. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Claire Foy & Nicola Coughlan: The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
Mar 2700:46:51Tap to summarizeToday we have a very special episode where we’ll be talking about Enid Blyton’s classic series of children’s books The Faraway Tree, co-hosted by Ruby Granger! Ruby will be chatting with Claire Foy, Nicola Coughlan, Phoenix Laroche, Billie Gadsdon, Delilah Bennett Cardy, Simon Farnaby, and Ben Gregor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Susie Dent: Guilty By Definition
Mar 2600:45:10Tap to summarizeLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Andy Weir: Project Hail Mary and The Martian
Mar 2000:36:17Summary readyAndy Weir is the king of sci-fi. His first novel The Martian follows Mark Watney, an astronaut mistakenly presumed dead and abandoned on Mars by his crew during a dust storm. Stranded with limited supplies, he uses his botany and engineering skills to survive while NASA figures out how to rescue him. His next novel was Artemis, following a woman living in the first city on the Moon. Then came Project Hail Mary. We follow science teacher Ryland Grace as he wakes up on a spaceship with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory slowly returns, he discovers he is the last surviving person on a mission into space to understand a substance called astrophage. Astrophage is causing the sun to die out, and scientists have discovered a distant planet that might hold the key to destroying it. Ryland Grace has to use his scientific training to finish the mission alone, and meets an unlikely ally in space. It’s a story of friendship, communication, understanding, and resilience. It’s both laugh out loud funny and cry your eyes out heartbreaking, a modern sci-fi classic. Now it’s been turned into a film. In our last episode I met with star of the film Ryan Gosling and filmmakers Lord and Miller. And now, we’re chatting with the author himself Andy Weir. I really hope you enjoy this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Summary