London Review Bookshop Podcast
Episodes
Outlaws: Javier Cercas and Paul Preston
23 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Javier Cercas rose to fame in the English-speaking world with The Soldiers of Salamis which won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2004 and was ...
The Novel; A Biography: Michael Schmidt and Michael Wood
20 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Quoting from the letters, diaries, reviews, and essays of novelists and drawing on their biographies, Schmidt’s The Novel – A Biography (Harvard) ...
Sally Potter: Naked Cinema
28 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
'The tutored and passionate eye of the director holds the space, which otherwise would be without boundary, indiscriminate and endless.' Since making ...
Telex From Cuba: An evening with Rachel Kushner
15 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Following the hugely enjoyable launch event last year for [*The Flamethrowers*][1], Rachel Kushner returned to the shop to mark the UK publication (by...
Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism: David Harvey and Owen Jones
10 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
In his new book, 'Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism' (Profile), David Harvey unravels the paradoxes at the heart of capitalism – it...
The Bloomsbury Cookbook
08 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate the publication of The Bloomsbury Cookbook (Thames & Hudson), we held an exclusive evening at the Bookshop, a stone’s throw away from t...
Walking the Woods and the Water: Nick Hunt and Artemis Cooper
03 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
In 2010 Nick Hunt set out on an epic walk in the footsteps of Patrick Leigh Fermor, across the whole European continent ‘from the Hook of Holland to...
CB Editions: Will Eaves and May-Lan Tan
21 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
May-Lan Tan and Will Eaves joined us at the Bookshop for the launch of their respective books, Things to Make and Break (since shortlisted for the Gua...
Carcanet New Poetries V: A Reunion
19 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Since their last appearance at the LRB Bookshop, the poets of New Poetries V have been busy: five debut collections (and one forthcoming), prestigious...
In the Wolf's Mouth: Adam Foulds with Andrew Motion
12 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Foulds’s latest novel, In The Wolf’s Mouth (Jonathan Cape), expands on the themes of violence, conflict and the distortions of history that h...
A Sense of Direction: Gideon Lewis-Kraus, Sheila Heti and Christian Lorentzen
28 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Gideon Lewis-Kraus’s memoir A Sense of Direction is an account of three pilgrimages – the Camino de Santiago, a tour of Buddhist temples on the is...
A Finger in the Fishes Mouth: The Legacy of Derek Jarman
19 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener and author Derek Jarman died on 19 February 1994. To mark the 20th anniversary of his death, ...
Whale Cultures: Philip Hoare and Jessica Sarah Rinland, with John Burton
12 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
To mark the paperback publication of Samuel Johnson Prize-winning author Philip 'Leviathan' Hoare’s acclaimed new book The Sea Inside, we held an ev...
Jonathan Lethem: Dissident Gardens
29 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
'The past is a mosaic; we make it out of present materials.'Jonathan Lethem’s latest book Dissident Gardens (Cape) tells, in a ‘torrent of potent ...
Will Self on Guy Debord
23 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Will Self was at the shop to discuss the work of Guy Debord, and in particular The Society of the Spectacle, a 1967 work which offered an eerily accur...
Linda Colley: Acts of Union, Acts of Disunion
14 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
In a year that might well see the beginning of the end of the United Kingdom, one of our foremost historians of national identity provides an analysis...
The New English Landscape: Ken Worpole in conversation with Rachel Lichtenstein
28 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
In his second collaboration with landscape photographer Jason Orton, Ken Worpole – ‘for many years one of the shrewdest and sharpest observers of ...
American Smoke - Iain Sinclair and Gareth Evans
21 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
In American Smoke (Hamish Hamilton), the third part of a loose trilogy of topographical ruminations that began with Hackney: That Rose-red Empire and ...
Ian Nairn: Words in Place. With Gillian Darley, David McKie and Owen Hatherley
19 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Gillian Darley and David McKie’s study of Nairn - Ian Nairn: Words in Place – published by Five Leaves, reintroduces to a new generation an archit...
Jacek Dehnel in conversation with Antonia Lloyd-Jones
15 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Polish poet, novelist, painter and translator Jacek Dehnel appeared at the shop in conversation with his translator Antonia Lloyd-Jones.Antonia Lloyd-...
The Great War: Joe Sacco in conversation with David Boyd Haycock
28 Oct 2013
Contributed by Lukas
With Safe Area Gorazde, Palestine, and Footnotes in Gaza, graphic novelist Joe Sacco introduced to his chosen genre a politically charged seriousness ...
Simon Critchley: The Hamlet Doctrine
21 Oct 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Philosopher Simon Critchley took on Shakespeare's Hamlet, and our abiding preoccupation with it, via a series of classic interpretations, notably thos...
Anne Carson: Red Doc>
28 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
In a rare UK performance Canadian poet Anne Carson read from her recent verse novel Red Doc, a sequel to her 1998 Autobiography of Red. Hosted on Acas...
Concerning Frank Kermode
19 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
The inaugural discussion of a new series to commemorate Frank Kermode's highly influential work saw Jacqueline Rose and Michael Wood, among others, ra...
Multiples: Adam Thirlwell with Tash Aw, A.S. Byatt, Joe Dunthorne, Adam Foulds, Ma Jian and Francesco Pacifico
11 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
What would happen if a story were successively translated by a series of novelists, each one working only from the version immediately prior to their ...
Rachel Kushner: The Flamethrowers
22 Aug 2013
Contributed by Lukas
"Kushner isn’t only a novelist. She is also a regular contributor of sharp criticism to such free-thinking American publications as Artforum, and ho...
Joshua Cohen and Brian Dillon: ATTENTION!
23 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Author Joshua Cohen came to the shop celebrate the publication of Attention! a (short) history' (Notting Hill). He was joined by writer and critic Bri...
Edith Grossman In Conversation With Daniel Hahn - World Literature Series 2012-13
24 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Distinguished critic and translator Edith Grossman was in conversation with Daniel Hahn of the British Centre for Literary Translation. Hosted on Acas...
China Miéville in conversation with The White Review
15 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
China Miéville read from his work, and discussed some of the issues raised by it with Ben Eastham, co-founder and editor of The White Review. Hosted ...
How Should a Novel Be? Sheila Heti with Adam Thirlwell
30 Apr 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Sheila Heti was in conversation about writing, life and the future of fiction with the critic and experimental novelist Adam Thirlwell. Hosted on Acas...
Ben Marcus talks to Christian Lorentzen about his novel The Flame Alphabet, as well as previous works The Age of Wire and String and Notable American Women. Topics covered include online fiction magazines, mathematics, creating a religion, why writing cou
23 Apr 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Marcus talks to Christian Lorentzen about his novel The Flame Alphabet, as well as previous works The Age of Wire and String and Notable American ...
Kaya Genç In Conversation With Maureen Freely - World Literature Series 2012-13
19 Apr 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Turkish writer Kaya Genç discussed with Maureen Freely how his writing reflects and interacts with literary traditions, as well as Turkish culture, h...
Drysalter: Poetry, Faith and Doubt - Michael Symmons Roberts in conversation with Jean Sprackland
18 Apr 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Symmons Roberts has been described by Jeanette Winterson as ‘a religious poet for a secular age’ and by Les Murray as ‘a poet for the ne...
James Wood: The Fun Stuff
19 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
James Wood visited the Bookshop to talk about his new collection of pieces, The Fun Stuff, and to discuss life, literature, and the role of the critic...
Live Translation - Translating Sex with Adriana Hunter and Polly McLean
08 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Translators Adriana Hunter and Polly McLean shared their versions of a specially-commissioned short story by the French writer Emma Becker, with Sarah...
László Krasznahorkai in conversation with Colm Tóibín
05 Dec 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Our first Literary Friendships event brought together Colm Tóibín with his friend the writer László Krasznahorkai. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/...
Glyn Maxwell: On Poetry
22 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Glyn Maxwell offers us a guide to reading poetry in seven chapters: ‘White’, ‘Black’, ‘Form’, ‘Pulse’, ‘Chime’, ‘Space’ and ‘...
Live Translation with Eduardo Halfon, Ollie Brock, Thomas Bunstead and Daniel Hahn
26 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Our first Live Translation event of the 2012-13 season explored the work of Guatemalan author Eduardo Halfon, named one of the best young Latin Americ...
Jarvis Cocker
22 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
To mark the publication of the paperback edition of Mother, Brother, Lover, Jarvis Cocker joined us at the shop for a conversation with the novelist J...
Anthea Bell in conversation with Daniel Hahn
28 Sep 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Our International Translation Day event celebrated the distinguished career of Anthea Bell, who was in conversation with Daniel Hahn of the British Ce...
Will Self: On the Digital Essay
06 Sep 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Will Self leads a panel discussion about questions thrown up by new technology, with special reference to ‘Kafka's Wound’, the digital literary es...
Teju Cole and Max Liu: Open City
30 Aug 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Teju Cole came to the Bookshop to discuss his first novel, Open City. The book, which follows a young Nigerian-German psychiatrist in New York City fi...
To the River, To the Sea: Olivia Laing and Jean Sprackland
23 Jun 2012
Contributed by Lukas
'To the River' is the story of the Ouse, the Sussex river in which Virginia Woolf drowned in 1941. One midsummer week over sixty years later, Olivia L...
Robert Macfarlane: The Old Ways
14 Jun 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Macfarlane, perhaps the most accomplished exponent of the ‘New Nature Writing’, was at the Bookshop to describe his journeys, and to discus...
Women Writing Women: Helen Simpson and Michèle Roberts
31 May 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Two of Britain’s most eminent female writers discussed literature, fiction, women, the short story and much else besides. Hosted on Acast. See acast...
Live Translation - World Literature Weekend 2011
19 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Two translators – Shaun Whiteside and Mike Mitchell – went head to head with their versions of a previously untranslated work. Novelist Daniel Keh...
Crime Fiction: Reading Scars - Karin Alvtegen and Håkan Nesser - World Literature Wee
19 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Award-winning Swedish crime writers Karin Alvtegen and Håkan Nesser, chaired by Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen, lecturer in Scandinavian Literature at UCL, ...
Daniel Kehlmann and Benjamin Markovits - World Literature Weekend 2011
19 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Novelists Daniel Kehlmann and Benjamin Markovits share interests in their work in biography, genius and failure, charisma and the question of how to g...
Manuel Rivas - World Literature Weekend 2011
18 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Writing in El Pa’s, Jordi Gracia described Os libros arden mal as 'a novel that could have been history or biography, but is instead a work of liter...
Ramsey Nasr and Ruth Padel - World Literature Weekend 2011
18 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Prize-winning poet, essayist, dramatist and actor Ramsey Nasr was voted Poet Laureate of the Netherlands in 2009. Nasr was in conversation with prizew...
Javier Cercas: The Anatomy of a Moment
18 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
The Anatomy of a Moment is a patient dissection of a key episode in recent European history – the attempted coup in Spain in 1981. In his meticulous...
Catalonia: Place of a Language - World Literature Weekend 2011
17 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Catalan novelists Najat el Hachmi, Carles Casajuana and Teresa Solana, chaired by Peter Bush, discussed their work and the experience of being Catalan...
Cees Nooteboom and A.S. Byatt - World Literature Weekend 2011
17 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
One of the Netherlands' most distinguished living authors, Cees Nooteboom discussed short stories, death and translation with A.S. Byatt. Chaired by J...
Ali Smith: There but for the
08 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Ali Smith read from her novel There but for the (Hamish Hamilton) and discussed her work with the audience. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...
Richard Sennett: The Foreigner
03 May 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Sennett came to the Bookshop to discuss The Foreigner, a pair of essays in which he explores displacement in the metropolis through two vibran...
Faber Poets: David Harsent; Jo Shapcott; Don Paterson
10 Feb 2011
Contributed by Lukas
An evening of poetry was held at the Bookshop to celebrate the publication of David Harsent's collection, *Night*. Jo Shapcott and Don Paterson joined...
Patti Smith: the Bloomsbury Reading
26 Jan 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Patti Smith's reading, drawn from her extensive body of work, including Just Kids, and alongside those writers she has long loved and advocated, was p...
C - Tom McCarthy in conversation with Lee Rourke
06 Sep 2010
Contributed by Lukas
On the eve of its confirmation as one of the six Man Booker shortlisted books for 2010, Tom McCarthy's ambitious and exhilarating novel C was the subj...
On Vassily Grossman - Yekaterina Korotkova-Grossman and Robert Chandler - World Liter
20 Jun 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate, described by Le Monde as the greatest Russian novel of the 20th century, was regarded as so dangerous to the Soviet s...
On Exile and Language - World Literature Weekend 2010
19 Jun 2010
Contributed by Lukas
This event took place in association with English PEN, which exists to promote literature and its understanding, uphold writers' freedoms around the w...
Yang Lian with Brian Holton and Iain Sinclair - World Literature Weekend 2010
19 Jun 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Yang Lian's poems collapse distances by combining a deep attention to the particular with the allusiveness of classical Chinese poetry, in which a wor...
Traduction en Direct - World Literature Weekend 2010
19 Jun 2010
Contributed by Lukas
How can the same thing be said in a different language, when the language carries the assumptions of a whole culture with it? How do you balance spiri...
Alain Mabanckou with Helen Stevenson - World Literature Weekend 2010
18 Jun 2010
Contributed by Lukas
An important champion of francophone literature, Mabanckou is both a writer engage, and a very engaging man. Teaching at the time in the French litera...
Elias Khoury in Conversation with Jeremy Harding - World Literature Weekend 2010
18 Jun 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Edward Said described Elias Khoury as an artist who gives 'voice to rooted exiles and trapped refugees, to dissolving boundaries and changing identiti...
Peter Campbell and Julian Bell
24 Mar 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Julian Bell and Peter Campbell talked about things that painters can and can't do, in particular about the relationship painters have had to old art a...
Chronic City - Jonathan Lethem in conversation with Tom McCarthy
07 Jan 2010
Contributed by Lukas
In conversation with the novelist Tom McCarthy, Jonathan Lethem read from Chronic City and discussed, inter alia, Manhattan's virtuality, the inspirat...
Alan Bennett - The Habit of Art
07 Dec 2009
Contributed by Lukas
With his new play about Auden and Britten, The Habit of Art, playing to packed houses at the National Theatre, Alan Bennett visited the Bookshop to re...
Writing Family History with Jeremy Harding, John Lanchester, Nicholas Spice and Mary-
15 Nov 2009
Contributed by Lukas
LRB editor Mary-Kay Wilmers, and contributors Jeremy Harding and John Lanchester, discussed the pleasures and pitfalls of writing family histories, un...
A.S. Byatt with Adam Thirlwell: The Children's Book
17 Sep 2009
Contributed by Lukas
A.S. Byatt and Adam Thirlwell both talked about their work, and discussed European literature and the art of the novel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...
Wolf Hall and Sacred Hearts - Hilary Mantel and Sarah Dunant
30 Jun 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah Dunant and Hilary Mantel read from Sacred Hearts and Wolf Hall, their respective latest novels, and discussed the particular challenges of writi...
Ma Jian and Flora Drew with Boyd Tonkin - World Literature Weekend
20 Jun 2009
Contributed by Lukas
A few days after the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Ma Jian discussed his Tiananmen novel Beijing Coma with the Independent's lite...
Translation: Making a Whole Culture Intelligible? World Literature Weekend
20 Jun 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Four past winners of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize gathered in the Paul Hamlyn Library to discuss the difficulties of selling translated liter...
Faïza Guène and Sarah Ardizzone - World Literature Weekend
20 Jun 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Faïza Guène discussed immigration in France, her success as a writer and what the French papers made of it all, the pleasures of writing in the firs...
Hanan al-Shaykh with Esther Freud - World Literature Weekend
19 Jun 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Launching the Bookshop's inaugural World Literature Weekend, Hanan al-Shaykh gave a lively reading from her memoir of her mother, The Locust and the B...
Faber Firsts - Sarah Hall and Clare Wigfall
09 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
As part of Faber & Faber's 80th anniversary celebrations, the London Review Bookshop welcomed two Faber authors to read from and discuss their first w...
Iain Sinclair - Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire
11 Mar 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Iain Sinclair's appearance at the Bookshop always heralds a frantic scramble for seats. This event was no different, an opportunity to hear a reading ...
Alastair Crooke - Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution
24 Feb 2009
Contributed by Lukas
A veteran of peace initiatives across the Middle East and beyond, Alistair Crooke provides an account of the wellspring of Islamist movements, a defen...
Hanif Kureishi in conversation with John Sutherland - Something To Tell You
29 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
In conversation with John Sutherland, Hanif Kureishi expanded on and discussed his cogitation on psychoanalysis, Something to Tell You. Hosted on Acas...
Jenny Diski - Apology for the Woman Writing
20 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Jenny Diski was at the London Review Bookshop to be cheered up, apologise, and read from her latest book, Apology for the Woman Writing, a story drawn...
Benjamin Black (John Banville) - The Lemur
02 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
In his first public appearance as Benjamin Black, John Banville read from Black's new novel The Lemur, and discussed the experience of writing as two ...
Janice Galloway - This Is Not About Me
24 Sep 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Having confessed to the audience her apprehension about speaking in public, Janice Galloway displayed no trace of it in her accomplished reading from ...
Tariq Ali - The Duel
11 Sep 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Tariq Ali's sold-out event at the Bookshop presented an insightful picture of Pakistan's long and complex reationship with the West, and in particular...
Rory Stewart on International Intervention
09 Jun 2008
Contributed by Lukas
For the first time since being labelled a 'snakeoil salesman, an ingrate and a hypocrite' for his opinions on the international presence in Afghanista...
Sebastian Barry and Richard Mason - The Secret Scripture and The Lighted Rooms
01 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Sebastian Barry and Richard Mason shared their own versions of what it is to be a lonely and possibly mad old woman, reading from their newly-publishe...
Anne Enright - Taking Pictures
06 Mar 2008
Contributed by Lukas
On the day of publication of Taking Pictures, Anne Enright confessed to a full house at the Bookshop that 'I can't tell you how relieved I am not to b...
Nick Davies: Flat Earth News
21 Feb 2008
Contributed by Lukas
In Flat Earth News (Chatto & Windus), Nick Davies exposes the reality of daily life in the Fleet Street news factory and makes a passionate appeal for...
Slavoj Žižek - Violence
10 Jan 2008
Contributed by Lukas
In typical full-throttle style, eieek takes the opportunity to hit back at criticisms of Violence published in the LRB and elsewhere, and to expand on...
London, City of Disappearances
26 Oct 2006
Contributed by Lukas
In London: City of Disappearances, Iain Sinclair turns away from official versions and approved histories, and with the help of a host of contributors...
Mourid Barghouti
18 Oct 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Although best known in the English-speaking world for his autobiography I Saw Ramallah, Mourid Barghouti has published 14 volumes of poetry. After tre...
Andrew O'Hagan - Be Near Me
13 Sep 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Shortly after its publication, Andrew O'Hagan reads from Be Near Me, his powerful third novel on cultural clash between an English priest and Scottish...
Iain Sinclair - Edge of the Orison
18 Oct 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Iain Sinclair spirals outwards from the centre of London as he reads from and discusses Edge of the Orison, examining family history and the disintegr...
David Hare - Obedience, Struggle and Revolt
06 Oct 2005
Contributed by Lukas
David Hare free-associates on politics, theatre and writing, inspired by his collection Obedience, Struggle and Revolt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...
Betsy Blair - The Memory of All That
20 Apr 2005
Contributed by Lukas
The actress and political activist Betsy Blair discusses Hollywood in the 1950s, her marriages to Gene Kelly and Karel Reisz, her tangles with the Bla...
Michael McClure - Beast Language
03 Aug 2004
Contributed by Lukas
One of the original Beats, Michael McClure was back in London for the first time in thirty years and gave an exclusive reading at the Bookshop. Hosted...
Robert Chandler - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
15 Jul 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Chandler reads from his newly-published translation of Nikolay Leskov's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk on which the libretto of Shostakovich's opera i...
Don Paterson
24 Jun 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Don Paterson read from his 2004 collection Landing Light (Faber), which won both the Whitbread Prize for Poetry and the T.S. Eliot prize. Hosted on Ac...
Alan Bennett - The History Boys
19 May 2004
Contributed by Lukas
On the day following press night at the National Theatre, Alan Bennett spoke at the London Review Bookshop about The History Boys. The play asks quest...
New York Poets - An Anthology
25 Mar 2004
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate the publication of Carcanet's new anthology of the New York School poets, editor Mark Ford, poets Lee Harwood and Sarah Maguire, and tran...
Terry Castle: The Literature of Lesbianism
10 Feb 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Terry Castle, editor of The Literature of Lesbianism: A Historical Anthology from Aristo to Stonewall, explored the emergence of and transformation of...
The Alhambra vs the Parthenon
21 Jan 2004
Contributed by Lukas
In one of the first events held at the London Review Bookshop, Mary Beard and Robert Irwin squared up to each other to debate the relative greatness o...