78: Murmuration, with Blake Auden
The Brit Lit Podcast
Our guest on episode 78 is poet Blake Auden, who has almost 300,000 Instagram followers and is known for speaking openly about mental health. He also has four collections of poems out in the world, and the most recent is Murmuration, which came out in October.
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Bonus episode: The Idea Of You, with Robinne Lee
The Brit Lit Podcast
My guest in this special bonus episode is Robinne Lee, the author of my favourite read of 2021, The Idea Of You. She's not British, but I loved this book so much that I wanted to bring you this interview anyway!
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77: The Party Crasher, with Sophie Kinsella
The Brit Lit Podcast
I’m so excited to bring you an interview with none other than Sophie Kinsella, who’s known to many as the queen of British chick lit and the author of the mega-bestselling Shopaholic series.
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76: Careless, with Kirsty Capes
The Brit Lit Podcast
This month’s guest is Kirsty Capes, author of the novel Careless. We talked about why she wanted to write about female friendship, what it was like to study with Bernadine Evaristo, why it's especially important for kids in the foster care system to see themselves reflected in books, and a whole lot more.
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75: The Roxy Letters, with Mary Pauline Lowry
The Brit Lit Podcast
This month’s guest is Mary Pauline Lowry, who wrote . Mary is married to a Brit, and she had lots of fascinating insights about the cultural differences between the countries, and I loved talking to her back about Bridget Jones and Jane Austen too. The Roxy Letters was one of my favourite reads of 2020. It was really fun and just what I needed. It’s out now in paperback. Mary and I talked about why we love epistolary novels, took a bit of an accidental deep dive into books about Hollywood, chatted about the difference between...
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74: The Summer Job, with Lizzy Dent
The Brit Lit Podcast
Our guest on episode 74 of the Brit Lit Podcast, is Lizzy Dent, who wrote The Summer Job, and who’s also a YA author -- as Rebecca Denton, she wrote This Beats Perfect, among other books.
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73: Star-Crossed, with Minnie Darke
The Brit Lit Podcast
Our guest on episode 73 of the Brit Lit Podcast is Danielle Wood who, as Minnie Darke, wrote one of Claire's very favourite books of recent years, called Star Crossed. Among other things, she discussed what makes One Day by David Nicholls such an amazing novel, and gave some recommendations for books by Tasmanian authors.
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72: Who's Loving You: Love Stories by Women of Colour, with Sareeta Domingo
The Brit Lit Podcast
Our guest today is Sareeta Domingo, who’s the author of both adult and young adult fiction, and most recently the editor of the collection called Who's Loving You: Love Stories by Women of Colour. She talks about romantic reads she loves, the process of putting together an anthology, why books by British authors of colour are important, and more.
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71: Exciting Times, with Naoise Dolan
The Brit Lit Podcast
Today, we hear from Naoise Dolan, who’s an Irish author and the writer of the Women’s Prize longlisted novel Exciting Times. She and I talked about cultural and literary differences between the UK, the US, and Ireland, what we both think about the idea of “likeable” characters, some great Irish authors, and more.
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The Most Fun Job, with Laurie Gillman of East City Bookshop
The Brit Lit Podcast
Happy Independent Bookstore Day! I work part-time in a lovely bookshop on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, and in this bonus episode, I interview my boss, Laurie Gillman, who founded the shop five years ago, to talk about what goes into starting and running a bookshop.
info_outlineOur guest on episode 63 is Robert Webb, who, as well as being a writer, is an actor, best known for the hit British comedy Peep Show. He’s the author most recently of the novel Come Again. He describes that novel like this: Middle-aged widow time travels back to 1992 and tries to save future dead husband when he is an annoying student. Grief, nostalgia, jokes, car-chase, new love, renewal, joy. He and I talked about 90s nostalgia, the unusual structure of his book, and the emotional toll of time travel.
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Books Mentioned on the Podcast:
Come Again, by Robert Webb
The Innocent, by Ian McEwan
Feel Free, by Zadie Smith
Sweet Sorry, by David Nicholls
One Day, by David Nicholls
Under the Volcano, by Malcolm Lowry
A Star is Bored, by Byron Lane
Wishful Drinking, by Carrie Fisher
The Golden Rule, by Amanda Craig (UK, 2nd July, literary fiction)
Hearts and Minds, by Amanda Craig
How Do We Know We’re Doing It Right? by Pandora Sykes (UK, 9th July, essays)
The Hungover Games, by Sophie Heawood
My Best Friend's Girl, by Dorothy Koomson
All My Lies Are True by Dorothy Koomson
In Case You Missed It by Lindsey Kelk
Note to Boy, by Sue Clarke
Older and Wider, by Jenny Eclair (UK, 2nd July, non-fiction)
Unscripted, by Claire Handscombe
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Get your first two audiobooks for just $14.99 with the code BRITLIT on Libro.fm.
Want to help the Brit Lit Podcast survive and thrive? Here are some painless ways.
Sign up for Book of the Month and get your first book for just $9.99 with the code BRITLIT!
In the US, buy your hardbacks and paperbacks from Bookshop.org to support the podcast, as well as independent bookshops!
In the UK, and for paperbacks and hardbacks published in the UK and not available elsewhere, head to Blackwells.
Buy Claire’s novel, Unscripted.
I encourage you, now and always, to buy some of your books from Black-owned bookshops in London and in the UK more generally.
Questions? Comments? Need a book recommendation? Email Claire at [email protected]
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