By The Book

Some writers become emblematic not just of a particular type of writing, but of a whole era and culture. Joan Didion - who passed away on Dec 23, 2021 - was one such writer. While best known for her journalism and non-fiction writing, Didion also wrote numerous novels, screenplays, and plays. But more than that, her writing provided an incisive look at American culture and politics over several decades starting in the 1960s. We look back at and pay tribute to her life and work.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're kicking off the year by looking back at some of our favourite books and long reads of the year that was (2021), and looking ahead to some of our most anticipated publications of the year to be (2022). And then in Footnotes, we discuss our reading resolutions - what we'd like to continue, what we'd like to be better at, and perhaps some habits we're planning to kick to the curb.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For our final book club of the year, we're discussing Hamnet, Maggie O'Farrell's imagining of the love story between Agnes Hathaway and William Shakespeare, and the tragedy of the loss of their child, Hamnet. Playing with themes of agency, grief, and the undercurrents that connect life and art, it's a deeply poetic and emotional book. We're joined by theatre practitioner, Anne James, to talk about the experience of reading Hamnet, and the way it reframes the Bard's life, and makes Agnes (Anne) Hathaway our protagonist and narrator. And then in Footnotes, we pay tribute to Anne Rice after her passing on December 11th 2021.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From The Jungle Book and Just So Stories, to The White Man's Burden, Rudyard Kipling's literary legacy is a complicated one. While his skill as a writer and storyteller is widely agreed upon, his love of empire and conservative politics makes him an interesting figure to discuss in the post-colonial context. In this episode of Bibliography, we dive into the life and times of Rudyard Kipling, and the events that shaped his worldview and writings. And then in Footnotes, we discuss our favourite adaptations of Kipling's work.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is it like being the daughter of Malaysia’s longest-serving Prime Minister? More specifically, what was it like for her to chart her own path that was often at odds with his, while also acknowledging the huge role he plays in her life? In her memoir, Marina Mahathir attempts to answer these questions with her own lens, taking us through events both personal and political from her childhood all the way to present day. We speak with Marina about writing the book, and the unique challenges of telling this story.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paolo Bacigalupi's 2010 novel The Windup Girl takes place in Bangkok in the 23rd century, in a world which has been ravaged by climate change, food scarcity, gene modification, and a dominance of companies owning the patents to seeds that can become much-needed crops. Add to that a plot with intrigue, betrayal and action, and you get a complex, dense read that has biopunk, dystopian overtones. We get into the story and science of The Windup Girl with Kenneth Chai, co-founder of Parti SAINS. And then in Footnotes, we unpack what it means when genre fiction engages in references and tropes.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With our borders slowly opening up, and travel becoming a possibility again, we discuss the pleasures of travelling via the pages of a book - whether through travel guides, the more personal travel memoir, or fictional accounts of travel. In Footnotes, we discuss the 2021 Booker Prize for fiction.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the second year running, the George Town Literary Festival is taking place primarily online, with podcasts, videos and events taking the place of in-person events in Penang. We catch up with the festival's director Pauline Fan, to find out what they have in store, and how the lineup explores the theme of 'Mikro-cosmos'. And then in Footnotes, we discuss some feature articles we've enjoyed recently.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Has there been one single author who has shaped as many young readers as Enid Blyton? With Children’s Day just past, we’re dedicating this month’s Bibliography to the life and works of possibly the best-known children’s author of our time. We discuss her tumultuous life, her approach to writing, the various criticisms levelled her way over time - and of course, our own childhood attachments to Blyton’s books.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In conjunction with Halloween, we're celebrating all things spooky, chilling and horror-filled. To do this, we asked six readers to tell us what their favourite scary reads are, and the answers range from Japanese classics, Stephen King, and books that have their roots in social fears and anxieties. And then in Footnotes, we discuss gory books and stories, and how they contribute to tales of horror.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.