Field Ramble

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Happy 2024 people! In our first episode of the year we hear from author Ali Millar about her debut novel Ava Anna Ada. Many of you will know Ali from her incredible memoir The Last Days, a courageous and unsparing account of her upbringing in and break from the Jehovah’s Witness Cult. It was an incredible read and is a huge recommend if you’ve yet to get to it

Described by Ali as her 'strange little book,'  her much anticipated debut novel  braids together themes of climate chaos, social collapse, lust and the almost deific role of the screen in our lives. First written in those strange Covid days it is infused with that period’s sleepless fever. This is haunting, unfixed writing that stays with you long after you’ve put the book down. 

In discussion Ali talks about the influence of Ted Hughes, using the real to create the unreal, working with memory and the corners where ghosts hide in a story. 

Ava Anna Ada is published on the 18.01 by the good people at White Rabbit. It is available for pre-order all over the place now and please, please support your local independent book seller if you can. 

Huge thanks as ever go to Ian Hawgood and Huw Marc Bennett for the use of their beautiful music and if you like what you hear please subscribe and leave us a review. 

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Field sees the year out with Mike McCormack and JP McHugh. John's short story collection was the find of the year at Field HQ a beautiful set of stories about the fragility and cut throat business of friendship. If you're doing some last minute Christmas shopping this is a huge recommend.
Mike McCormack needs little introduction. A multi award winning novelist, whose work is thrilling unconfined by genre. Mike's latest novel This Plague of Souls was published in October by Canongate and is part noir, part metaphysical thriller. 
Huge thanks to both Mike and John for taking the time out to talk. 
As ever  thanks go to Ian Hawgood & Huw Marc Bennett for the kind use of their music. The little dash of Christmas at the end is a reworking of the old John Prine classic Christmas in Prison by Emmy the Great and Light Speed Champion. 

Big love and hoping for peace.

Pick up John's book here: https://www.theportobellobookshop.com/9780008490645

Pick up Mike's novel here: https://www.theportobellobookshop.com/9781838859329

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This month Field is joined by novelist Keiran Goddard to discuss his upcoming novel I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning.  The book lovingly traces the relationships between a group of friends who have remained close since childhood. Central to the novel are thoughts on lost opportunity and fragmented community. Why is success measured by leaving the place we love? Why do those early relationships continue to exert such a grasp? And where can we still find hope?  Keiran talks about finding inspiration in surprising places, the responsibilities he felt when building the fictional community of the book and the paramount importance of remembering that ‘you just never know’. I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning is published by Abacus Books in February 2024 

The episode begins with a beautiful reading from poet Alycia Pirmohamed of her poem Where The Light Goes, which also happens to be the opener to this month's issue of the magazine. Huge congratulations to Alycia for being the very worthy winner  of this year's Nan Shepherd Prize.  Poet Nasim Rebecca Asl closes the episode with a reading of her wonderful poem AfterLight.  Do follow the links below to find out more about their work. 

https://alycia-pirmohamed.com/books/
https://www.nasimrasl.com/
https://www.keirangoddard.com/

As ever, huge thanks  to Ian Hawgood for the use of his beautiful music. 
https://bandcamp.com/tag/ian-hawgood

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This month Field is joined by novelist Daisy Johnson from the depths of her writing shed to talk ghosts, hotels and the Fen. If you get to this time of year and fancy swimming in darker waters then look no further than Daisy's short story collections. From the opening line these are stories that beguile,  disorientate and terrify. There are things in the walls of Daisy's buildings, her characters are rarely who we assume and her houses and hotels  are definitely not places to hang about.

Also -  another killer publication from Dead Ink Books! Matt Hill’s Lamb -a  road trip through an England of the near future. A crumbling, menacing place where boundaries between memory and the land and the individual are all collapsing.  Matt tells us about the inspiration behind his latest novel.

Get hold of your copy here: https://deadinkbooks.com/product/lamb/

Listen to The Hotel here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000qhh8

As ever, huge thanks go to Huw Marc Bennett and Ian Hawgood for the use of their beautiful music. 

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This month’s episode of Field Ramble is a conversation I’ve been looking forward to for so long. Wendy Erskine needs little introduction. Author of two incredible collections Sweet Home and Dance Move, she is an unbelievable story teller and my go to when I’m asked for a book recommend. Wendy writes through the voices that surround her in her East Belfast home. In them we soon slip beneath the surface of day to day lives to meet abandoned children, paramilitary death squads, extortion, lost love, false accusations, obsession and murder. If you’ve yet to read either of her books get them on top of the pile. Both are collections to be savoured, each filled with characters that live on long after you’ve put the book down, characters you’ll care deeply for within just a few pages.

Huge thanks go to Huw Marc Bennett for the use of his music (Y Gwydd.) Find all of Huw’s music on band camp - his latest album Days Like Now is an absolute killer. 

Please share the episode if you enjoyed it and give us a follow to get each episode dropped directly into your feed.

@fieldzine 
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This month Field sits down with author Rachelle Atallato discuss her latest novel Thirsty Animals as well as her new radio series Invasive Species , currently unfolding on Radio 4. Both are fantastic pieces of speculative story telling that pose compelling what ifs which live on long after you've put the novel down or turned the radio off. 

Rachelle has also contributed a wide ranging essay on dystopian fiction to Dead Ink Books latest collection Writing The Future. (Following on from Writing the Uncanny it's another great book for writers working in the genre but also just a really good read.) We got to chat with editor Dan Coxon about bringing the project together and some of his favourite speculative fiction published in the past year. 

Huge thanks to Huw Marc Bennett for the use of his beautiful music on this episode. 
 
Get your copy of Writing the Future @ https://deadinkbooks.com/product/writingthefuture/

Get your copy of Thirsty Animals @ https://www.theportobellobookshop.com/search

Get Huw's music @ https://huwmarcbennett.bandcamp.com/

Help Field grow @ https://www.patreon.com/fieldmagazine

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This month's pod is devoted entirely to an extended interview with author Guy Gunaratne, discussing  his latest novel Mister Mister. Many of you will know Guy from his incredible debut In Our Mad and Furious City and Mister Mister is another  compelling and provocative read (& a huge favourite at Field HQ.)

If you've yet to read it, don't push that Amazon button! Just click on the link below and head to the wonderful Hastings Bookshop where Charlie has kindly sorted a discount for all Ramblers.

Till next month, Big love x

https://hastingsbookshop.co.uk/products/guy-gunaratne-mister-mister 

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This month Field goes for a swim with David Roberts to discuss the rather beautiful  The Way The Day Breaks and sits down with Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi to hear all about The Centre her incredible debut novel which is out this month. 

We also have a performance from Syrian poet Dua Al Bostani Al Fattohi to start the show and of course more gorgeous soundscapes from musician Ian Hawgood.  

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Two more great interviews with two wonderful writers.  Field heads to France to talk  with Laurent Petitmangin about his latest novel What You Need From The Night.  L 'Obs calls the book 'A tragedy of Unconditional Love' & Le Parisien 'As sublime as it is painful.'

Then we head to Charleston Festival on a sunny evening  to talk Kim Moore about her incredible Forward Prize winning collection All the Men I Never Married. 

Music on this episode is by Huw Marc Bennett. (Such a bassline.) Find him on Bandcamp at Albert's Favourites. And of course the beautiful sounds of Ian Hawgood are here too. Just search Home Normal and check out the  beaut that is @_handstitched on instagram. 

Tracks used on this episode were taken from the albums:
Huw Marc Bennett - Y Gwydd
Ian Hawgood - Field - Upward Eyes EP

If you like what you hear find out more about Field at www.fieldzine.com

You can subscribe and support Field's work via patreon at www.patreon.com/fieldzine. UK and Ireland just £5 per month. 

Our goal,  to be a platform for new and exciting writers and poets across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

@fieldzine 
www.fieldzine.com
www.patreon.com/fieldzine

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Two more great interviews with two wonderful authors.   We talk to Martin Macinnes about his stunning, epic  In Ascension. And the wonderful Kerri ní Dochartaigh about her incredible lockdown chronicles Cacophony of Bone. 

Our beautiful music on this episode is all by Ian Hawgood. Find all his music on Bandcamp by searching Home Normal and check out the  beaut that is @_handstitched on instagram. 

Tracks used on this episode were taken from the albums:
Fields - Upward Eyes EP
For Distance Brings Us Closer - Upward Eyes EP
I'm Not Sure We Belong - Mysterious Shapes and Remembered Rhythms

If you like what you hear find out more about Field at www.fieldzine.com

You can subscribe and support Field's work via patreon at www.patreon.com/fieldzine. UK and Ireland just £5 per month. 

Our goal,  to be a platform for new and exciting writers and poets across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

@fieldzine 
www.fieldzine.com
www.patreon.com/fieldzine