‘Here is a wasteland / of parched aesthetics / patched up with modern tubes’ – Rachael Allen’s long-awaited second collection, God Complex, is a long narrative poem describing the breakdown of a relationship against a backdrop of environmental degradation and toxicity. In this episode, she reads from the collection and was joined in conversation with the poet Lucy Mercer, whose first collection is Emblem (Prototype, 2022).
Buy God Complex: lrb.me/godcomplexpod Find more events at the Bookshop: lrb.me/eventspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rachael Allen & Lucy Mercer: God Complex

Listen to the latest literary events recorded at the London Review Bookshop, covering fiction, poetry, politics, music and much more. Find out about our upcoming events here https://lrb.me/bookshopeventspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

Books

Within the British music scene, recent years have borne witness to underground genres emerging from the inner cities, going on to become some of the most popular music in the nation. In Where We Come From, journalist Aniefiok Ekpoudom travels the country to explore the dawn, boom and subsequent blossoming of UK rap and grime. Taking us from the heart of south London to the West Midlands and South Wales, he explores how a history of migration and an enduring spirit of resistance have shaped the current realities of these linked communities and the music they produce. These sounds have become vessels for the marginalised, carrying Black and working-class stories into the light. Ekpoudom was joined in conversation with Gary Younge, journalist and author of Dispatches from the Diaspora.
Buy the book: https://lrb.me/ekpoudompod Find more events at the Bookshop: https://lrb.me/eventspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aniefiok Ekpoudom & Gary Younge: Where We Come From

Laleh Khalili’s new book The Corporeal Life of Seafaring (Mack) draws on her own experiences to describe with care and imagination the material and physical realities of contemporary commerce at sea, detailing (in the words of Steve Edwards) ‘the labouring bodies – hands, legs, and eyes; flesh and soul; suffering and solidarity – that make the world go round. In the process, the connections and divisions of the world economy come into view.’ Khalili was in conversation with LRB contributing editor James Butler, the co-founder of Novara Media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laleh Khalili & James Butler: The Corporeal Life of Seafaring

Fleur Adcock’s sly, laconic poems have been delighting audiences since her 1964 debut The Eye of the Hurricane. Her Collected Poems draws together the work of sixty years; as Fiona Sampson writes, ‘Informality and immediacy are good ways to remake a world; and Adcock’s style has not dated in the half-century since her debut.’ Adcock was joined in conversation at the Bookshop with her publisher, Neil Astley, and read from her Collected Poems.
Find more events at the Bookshop: lrb.me/eventspod Buy Fleur Adcock’s Collected Poems: lrb.me/adcockpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fleur Adcock: Collected Poems

Holly Pester discusses her debut novel, The Lodgers, with Nathalie Olah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rachael Allen & Lucy Mercer: God Complex

Download our free app to listen on your phone