In this episode, I chatted to the wonderful Abi Daré about her incredible novel, The Girl with the Louding Voice. We talk about character development, female empowerment, the role of education and what it really means to have a louding voice.

Abi Daré is the author of The Girl with the Louding Voice, which was a New York Times bestseller, a #ReadWithJenna Today Show book club pick, and an Indie Next Pick.  She grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and went on to study law at the University of Wolverhampton and has an MSc in International Project Management from Glasgow Caledonian University as well as an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London. Abi lives in Essex, UK with her husband and two daughters, who inspired her to write her debut novel.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please follow the Diverse Bookshelf on your podcast platform of choice and connect with me on social media. I would really appreciate it if you could rate and leave a review, as it helps more people find the podcast. 

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Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀'s Debut novel, Stay With Me was published in 2017, and is one of those books that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. Her second novel, A Spell of Good Things  is releasing in February 2023, and I can say with full certainty that it was worth the wait.

In this episode we talk about love amid political turmoil, class, power, womanhood, the complexity of relationships and the messy-ness of family relations, among other things. 

TW: We also discuss infertility and baby loss, which is a big theme in Stay With Me, so if this doesn't feel like something you want to think about right now, please come back another time that feels better for you :)

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ has written for the BBC, LitHub, The Guardian(UK) and others. She has received fellowships and residencies from MacDowell Colony, Ledig House, Sinthian Cultural Centre, Hedgebrook, Ox-bow School of Arts, and Ebedi Hills. She holds BA and MA degrees in Literature in English from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. Ayọ̀bámi also has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia where she was awarded an international bursary for creative writing. In 2017, she won The Future Awards Africa Prize for Arts and Culture. She has worked as an editor for Saraba magazine since 2009.

Ayọ̀bámi is the author of STAY WITH ME, which was shortlisted for the Kwani? Manuscript Project as a work in progress in 2013. After it was published in 2017, it was shortlisted for the Baileys Prize for Women’s Fiction, the Wellcome Book Prize and the 9mobile Prize for Literature. It was also longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize. STAY WITH ME was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times and a Best Book of the Year by The Guardian, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications. Ayọ̀bámi was born in Lagos, Nigeria.

Her latest novel, A Spell of Good Things is published by Canongate Books and will be published in February 2023.

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Today, my guest is Sukh Ojla, one of the funniest, warmest and most inspirational women I know. We talk about her novel, Sunny, which I loved. In its pages, I found a character that was SO much like me, but flawed, struggling with life and her mental health, and hilarious, kind and warm. 

In this interview, we talk about the pressure around turning 30, the expectations upon women, difficult relationships with parents, friendships and establishing our identities with a mix of cultures, values and experiences. 

Sukh is a comedian, actor and writer. Her first book, 'Sunny', was released in 2022.

As a comedian, Sukh has performed on many TV shows including, The Big Asian Stand-Up Show (BBC Two), Comedy Guide to Life (Dave), Jonathan Ross’ Comedy Club (ITV), Comedy Central Live and features in Sky’s Dating No Filter.

In 2019, Sukh took her debut solo show ‘For Sukh’s Sake’ to Edinburgh, which received rave reviews including 5* from Funny Women. This year, Sukh returned to her nationwide tour of ‘Life Sukhs’ to critical acclaim.

Television credits include Feel Good (Channel 4), Bridgerton (Netflix), The End of the F**king World (Channel 4), GameFace (Channel 4), Hospital People (BBC1), Black Mirror (Channel 4) and EastEnders (BBC1).

I hope you love this episode as much as I did.

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On this episode, I spoke with Louise Hare about her two novels, This Lovely City, and Miss Aldridge Regrets. We had such a great conversation about London, writing, the Windrush generation, black history, passing and murder mysteries. 

Louise Hare is the London-based author of Miss Aldridge Regrets. Her debut novel, This Lovely City, was published in the UK to wide acclaim, and was a Between the Covers Book Club Pick on BBC Two. She has an MA in creative writing from the University of London.

If you liked this episode, please do leave a review, and connect with me on social media :)

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In this episode, I chat to the lovely Jyoti Patel, author of the Merky Books Young Writer's Prize for 2021. Her debut novel is a stunning, moving coming-of-age story of a British-Gujarati family living in North London. 

The Things That We Lost s told from the perspectives of 18-year-old Nik and his British Indian mother Avani, flitting between the past and present as Nik searches for answers surrounding the circumstances of his father’s death. An extract of the novel was selected as the winning submission out of over 2000 entries for the 2021 #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize.

Earlier this month, Jyoti was selected as one of The Observer's 10 Best New Novelists for 2023. She is also a graduate of the Creative Writing Prose Fiction MA from the University of East Anglia and she joins us today from London. 

In this episode, we talk about family dynamics, secrets, mental health, identity, language and being asked where we're from.

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In this episode, I talk to the lovely Melissa Fu about her debut novel, Peach Blossom Spring. We talk about the origins of the story, finding home, confused identities and the constant longing for belonging, acceptance and self-love.

Melissa Fu grew up in Northern New Mexico and now lives near Cambridge, UK, with her husband and children. She graduated from Rice University, cum laude, with a double major in Physics and English and went on to earn a Masters in Condensed Matter Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Masters in English Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.  She has worked in education as a teacher, curriculum developer, and consultant.

Her first novel, Peach Blossom Spring, was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick in the UK and a 2022 Indies Introduce title for the American Booksellers Association. It is available in English, Dutch and Italian.  Hungarian, Romanian and German editions are forthcoming.

Peach Blossom Spring is her first novel.

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In this episode, I talk to the lovely Tasneem Abdur-Rashid about her debut novel, Finding Mr. Perfectly Fine. We talk about the struggles of modern dating for young Muslims, finding love, writing and the stories we wish we had while growing up. 

Tasneem Abdur-Rashid is a British Bengali writer born and raised in London. A mother of two, Tasneem has worked across media, PR and communications both in the UK and in the UAE. Today, Tasneem spends her days writing novels and her nights co-hosting the award-winning podcast Not Another Mum Pod – and in between, she’s busy trying (and often failing) to be super mum, super wife and super chef. Having recently completed a Master’s in Creative Writing with distinction, Tasneem’s debut rom-com Finding Mr Perfectly Fine was published by Zaffre/Bonnier in July 2022.

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In this episode, I chat to the lovely Jendella Benson about her debut novel, Hope & Glory.

We had a great chat about her writing, the messiness of family life, love, south London, class, gentrification and growing up with immigrant parents.

Jendella is author of the novel Hope & Glory and Head of Editorial at Black Ballad – the award-winning digital platform for Black British women. She is also the host of the podcast Black Ballad Presents: The Survival Guide.

She has written for The Sunday Times STYLE Magazine, Metro Online and Independent Voices, as well as previously been a columnist for Media Diversified, MTV UK, and Christian Today.

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Sabba Khan is a born and bred East Londoner. Originally trained as an architect at Central Saint Martins and The University of Westminster, Sabba frames her minimal architectural comics through the lived experience of her working class, second generation immigrant upbringing.

Sabba’s debut graphic novel ‘The Roles We Play’ has won the Jhalak Prize ’22, and Broken Frontier’s Break Out Talent ’22. Nominations include the Ignatz prize, RSL’s Ondaatje Prize, and AOI’s World Illustrations Awards, as well as being nominated for best books of 2021 in the Guardian. Collaborators for Khan’s comics work include The British Council, SOAS, NHS, London Borough of Newham, JCWI and The British Library. The Roles We Play is available in the US under the title ‘What is Home, Mum?’.  

On this episode, we had a really insightful conversation on graphic novels as a form of literature, identity, belonging, Kashmiri experiences and unpacked notions of space, belonging and identity. I loved speaking to Sabba, and hope you find much to take away from our conversation.

You can buy The Roles We Play here:

https://uk.bookshop.org/a/5890/9781912408306

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I read Shahd Alshammari's memoir, Head Above Water, a few months ago and was blown away from the first page! Shahd writes so beautifully, in a way that is poetic, raw and open. She gives us an insight into her life, living with Multiple Sclerosis. In this conversation, we talk about her diagnosis, how her illness has affected her life, what she wishes more people knew, and the field of academia. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed chatting to Shahd.

Dr. Shahd Alshammari is a Kuwaiti-Palestinian author and academic. She is the author of Notes on the Flesh (Faraxa Press, 2017) and Head Above Water (Neem Tree Press, 2022). 

Alshammari teaches literature and has written numerous stories and creative nonfiction. Her research areas include illness narratives and disability studies.

Buy 'Head Above Water' here:

https://uk.bookshop.org/a/5890/9781911107408

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