Libsyn Directory

66: Afraid of the Dark, with Lucy Farfort

Release Date: 10/29/2020

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.

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!

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

More Episodes

Our guest on episode 66 is Lucy Farfort, who’s the illustrator of the gorgeous new picture book Afraid of the Dark, written by Isabel Otter and Sarah Shaffi. It’s a lovely book about moving house, new beginnings, friendship and finding ways to cope with fear. Lucy and I talked about the process of illustrating books, advice for anyone who’d like to get into the field, the importance of diversity in publishing, and more.

You can see Lucy Farfort talking about and showing us her book here.

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Books Mentioned on the Podcast:

Afraid of the Dark, by Isabel Otter, Sarah Shaffi, and Lucy Farfort UK / US / Worldwide

Islandborn, by Junot Diaz and Leo Espinosa UK / US / Worldwide

Billy and the Beast, by Nadia Shireen UK / US / Worldwide

The Bear and the Piano, by David Litchfield UK / US / Worldwide

Holes, by Louis Sachar UK / US / Worldwide

When Life Gives You Mangos, by Kereen Getten UK / US /Wordwide

Failosophy, by Elizabeth Day UK / US / Worldwide