The Brit Lit Podcast

On episode 61, we hear from Rosanna Amaka, whose debut novel The Book of Echoes came out in the now long-distant era of February this year, though I spoke to her just before her publication date. The Book of Echoes is a powerful novel that encompasses several different points in history, including the slave trade and the Brixton Riots. Rosanna Amaka talked about her long and winding path to publication, how Brixton has changed over the years, and more.

On Episode 60, our guest today is Clare Pooley, who’s known for her blog Mummy Was a Secret Drinker. She's the author most recently of the heart-warming novel The Authenticity Project.  Clare Pooley and I talked about up lit, the importance of community, how writing a novel compares to writing a memoir, and more.

59: Everything I Know About Love, with Dolly Alderton

On episode 58, we hear from Erin Somers, the American author of the novel Stay Up with Hugo Best. From time to time on the podcast, I interview people who are not British, for their take on UK books and culture, and it was great to chat to Erin about what differentiates British humour from American humour in particular. We talked about the American institution that is the late night show, the challenge of writing humour, the ridiculous tradition of book blurbing, and more.

Our guest on episode 57 is Talia Hibbert, who’s the author of many romance novels including, most recently, Get a Life, Chloe Brown. We talked about the illustrated cover trend, how she got her start writing novels, what it’s like to get picked as a Book of the Month author, and more.

On episode 56, we hear from Kate Young, who’s the author of The Little Library Cookbook and The Little Library Year, collections of recipes inspired by books. Kate Young is Australian but has lived in the UK for ten years, so I think we can claim her as one of our own. We talked about her journey writing about books and food, the process of creating recipes, Australian authors who deserve to be better known elsewhere, and more. 

Our guest on episode 55 is Fiona Collins, who's the author of several novels including, most recently, You, Me and the Movies, a story about bumping into a long-ago love and the feelings it reignites. It's out now as an ebook and will be coming out in paperback on Boxing Day. Fiona Collins and I talked about audiobooks, one of my favourite American authors, and film adaptations -- including the perennial debate of which screen version of Pride and Prejudice we prefer.

54: Our Child of the Stars, with Stephen Cox

53: All The Books, with Liberty Hardy

We hear from Owen Nicholls, author of the debut rom com Love, Unscripted. If you liked High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, Love Unscripted is definitely one for you to pick up. Owen Nicholls talks about some underrated rom coms, a little known film he recommends to us all, the breathtaking speed of the publishing industry (!) when compared to film making, and more.

From time to time on the podcast, we speak to someone who is not British, so that we get an outside perspective on UK books. Helen Cullen is Irish, though she has lived in London a long time and her debut novel, The Lost Letters of William Woolf, is set there. Helen talked to me about the lost art of letter writing, some of her favourite epistolary novels, why she loves London, and more

50: Our Stop, with Laura Jane Williams

I’ve got a great interview for you today that’s both fascinating and more than a little mouth-watering. Olivia Potts is the author of A Half Baked Idea, a memoir which tells the story of how baking became first her comfort and then her profession in the aftermath of her mum’s passing away. We talked about Olivia's time at culinary school, how she came to make what sound like amazing artisanal donuts, her favourite food magazine, and much more.

48: Bonnie and Stan, with Anna Stuart

47:The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, with Abbi Waxman