Ourshelves

How can we write a life unexpected?

Author of seventeen novels, fourteen plays, theatre-maker, co-director of Fun Palaces and Stonewall writer of the year Stella Duffy OBE is an inspiration of hard-won wisdom and appetite for learning new things. She joins Lucy Scholes for a conversation about living without children in a pro-natalist society, how existentialism and yoga inform her writing and the time she met Patricia Highsmith - as well as why Bridgerton is brilliant.

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What do monsters do for us? 

Join Lucy Scholes for a powerful conversation with Riva Lehrer, artist, activist and author of Golem Girl, her beautifully illustrated memoir about living with disability. From the history of freak shows to the power – and limits - of politicisation, they confront the way monsters violate boundaries and give us permission to live differently.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you balance motherhood and creativity?

In this episode of OurShelves Lucy Scholes interviews Daisy Johnson, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of Fen, Everything Under and Sisters, on rewriting the haunted house, why women are expected to use personal lives in fiction, and how books on motherhood are creating a feminist conversation.

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How do you overcome criticism?

In this episode of OurShelves Lucy Scholes interviews Sigrid Nunez, author of The Friend and What Are You Going Through. Lucy and Sigrid discuss the music of Odetta, the comfort of creatures, and Sigrid's friendship with Elizabeth Hardwick.

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Whose narrative do you believe?

In this episode of OurShelves Lucy Scholes interviews Melatu Uche Okorie, author of This Hostel Life. Lucy and Melatu discuss Milkman by Anna Burns, Rosa Parks and the importance of challenging the narrative.

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Do you have the courage to try again?

In this episode of OurShelves Lucy Scholes chats to Irenosen Okojie, author of Butterfly Fish; Speak Gigantular, Nudibranch and contributor to the short story collection Hag, about the wonder and power of short stories, finding joy in activism and literary legend Toni Morrison.

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What is the first book you saw yourself reflected in?

In this episode Lucy and Liv discuss short storytelling, bingeing I May Destroy You and creating spaces where people can hold truth to power.

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How can we reconsider failure?

In this episode of OurShelves Lucy Scholes interviews Linda Grant, a multi-award-winning author whose latest novel, A Stranger City, is out now in paperback. In this episode Lucy and Linda discuss Barbara Pym, Mrs. America and the importance of recalling our failures as well as our successes.

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Does nostalgia change the way you feel about the past?

In this episode of OurShelves Lucy Scholes interviews Margaret Atwood, two-time winner of the Man Booker Prize and author of more than forty works, including fiction, poetry and critical essays. From the medieval inspiration for Game of Thrones to editing out mosquitos from your memories, this episode is a goldmine of facts, guilty pleasures and a little bit on the joy of Hercule Poirot.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.