The Literary Edit Podcast

For the twenty-first episode of The Literary Edit podcast, I was joined by poet, writer and author, JJ Bola. I absolutely adored my conversation with JJ, and of all the guests I’ve had on my podcast, speaking to him about not only his love of books – but the stories behind them - really reminded me of why I started my podcast in the first place. You can read his list of Desert Island Books here, and the ones we discuss in the episode are:

 

Season of Migration to the North by Tayib Saleh

We Real Cool and Will to Change by bell hooks

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Some

Songs from Under the River by Anis Mojgani

Basketball (And Other Things) by Shea Serrano

Two Thousand Seasons by Ayi Kwei Armah

 

Other books we spoke about included Behold the Dreamers by Imbole Mbue and A Little Life by Hanya Yanigaraha.

 

If you’d like to buy any of the books we discussed in the episode, please consider doing so from the list I created on Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. If you’re based in Australia, please consider buying them from Gertrude & Alice, who deliver all over the country.

 

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For the twentieth episode of The Literary Edit podcast, I was joined by Sylvester Onwordi, the son of the late, great Buchi Emecheta. A psychologist, medical anthropologist and publisher, you can read his list of Desert Island Books here, and the ones we discuss in the episode are:

 

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

Nightwood by Djuna Barnes

2001 Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke

In the Ditch by Buchi Emecheta

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carol

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Fictions by Jorges Louis Borges

 

Other books we spoke about included Second Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta, The Stranger by Albert Camus, Nostromo by Joseph Conrad and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

 

If you’d like to buy any of the books we discussed in the episode, please consider doing so from the list I created on Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. If you’re based in Australia, please consider buying them from Gertrude & Alice, who deliver all over the country.

 

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For the nineteenth episode of The Literary Edit Podcast, I was joined by Australian author, journalist and activist Bri Lee, whose books Eggshell Skull, Beauty and Who Gets to Be Smart are among my favourite non-fiction reads.

You can read about Bri’s Desert Island Books here, and the ones we discuss in this episode are:

The Harry Potter Series by J K Rowling

The Outline Trilogy by Rachel Cusk

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Superior by Angela Saini

Orchid & the Wasp by Caoilinn Hughes

No Friend but the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Other books we spoke about included Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and Flames by Robbie Arnott.

If you’d like to buy any of the books we discussed in the episode, please consider doing so from the list I created for Bri on Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. If you’re based in Australia, please consider buying them from Gertrude & Alice, who deliver all over the country.

To contact me, email [email protected]

 

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For the eighteenth episode of The Literary Edit Podcast, I was joined by travel blogger, writer and author Phil Rosen, whose debut novel, Everywhere But Home, was an Amazon bestseller.

 

You can read about Phil’s Desert Island Books here, and the ones we discuss in this episode are:

 

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Island by Aldous Huxley

All the Light We Cannot See

The Plague by Albert Camus

The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

 

Other books we spoke about included On Writing by Stephen King, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck and Dune by Frank Herbert. For those interested in John Steinbeck’s Sag harbour home that Phil and I discussed, you can have a look at it here. Le swoon.

 

If you’d like to buy any of the books we discussed in the episode, please consider doing so from the list I created on Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. If you’re based in Australia, please consider buying them from Gertrude & Alice, who deliver all over the country.

To contact me, email [email protected]

 

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For the seventeenth episode of The Literary Edit Podcast, I was joined by author Chibundu Onuzo, whose debut novel, The Spider King's Daughter, was the winner of a Betty Trask Award, shorted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Commonwealth Book Prize and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and Etisalat Literature Prize.

 

You can read about Chibundu’s Desert Island Books here, and the ones we discuss in this episode are:

 

Everything Good Will Come by Sefi Atta

The Earth Sea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin

The First Woman by Jennifer Makumbi

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Ake by Wole Soyinka

Outline Series by Rachel Cusk

The Horse and His Boy by C.S Lewis

Segu by Maryse Conde

 

Other books we spoke about included Chibundu’s books, Sankofa and The Spider King’s Daughter, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi and Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend series.

 

If you’d like to buy any of the books we discussed in the episode, please consider doing so from the list I created on Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. If you’re based in Australia, please consider buying them from Gertrude & Alice, who deliver all over the country.

To contact me, email [email protected]

 

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For the sixteenth episode of The Literary Edit Podcast, I was joined by author and editor Tobias Madden, who’s debut novel, Anything But Fine, was released on Tuesday.

 

You can read about Tobias’s Desert Island Books here, and the ones we discuss in this episode are:

 

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend

The Magician King by Lev Grossman

A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara

 

Other books we spoke about included Still Life by Sarah Winman, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and On Beauty by Zadie Smith.

 

If you’d like to buy any of the books we discussed in the episode, please consider doing so from the list I created on Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. If you’re based in Australia, please consider buying them from Gertrude & Alice, who deliver all over the country.

To contact me, email [email protected]

 

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For the fifteenth episode of The Literary Edit Podcast, I was joined by author and journalist Sophie Heawood, who’s debut memoir, The Hungover Games is one of my all-time favourite books.

 

You can read about Sophie’s Desert Island Books here, and the ones we discuss in this episode are:

 

Lunch Poems by Frank O’Hara

A Journey Around My Room by Xavier de Maistre

The Rules Do Not Apply by Andrea Levy

My Wild and Sleepless Nights by Clover Stroud

Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud

Freaky Dancin’ by Bez

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Christmas in Exeter Street

 

Other books we spoke about included Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne, The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy, I Couldn’t Love You More by Esther Freud and The Wild Other by Clover Stroud.

 

If you’d like to buy any of the books we discussed in the episode, please consider doing so from the list I created on Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. If you’re based in Australia, please consider buying them from Gertrude & Alice, who deliver all over the country.

To contact me, email [email protected]

 

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For the fourteenth episode of The Literary Edit Podcast, I was joined by author Jyoti Patel, winner of the second #Merky Books New Writers Prize, for her forthcoming novel, Six of One. She also wrote short story Break for We Transfer’s Literally platform.

 

You can read about Jyoti’s Desert Island Books here, and the ones we discuss in this episode are:

 

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

Emergency Kit: Poems For Strange Times, edited by Jo Shapcott & Matthew Sweeney

Atonement by Ian McEwan

The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla

Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy

 

Other books we spoke about included Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, The Season of Phantasmal Peace by Derek Walcott and That Reminds Me by Derek Owusu.

 

If you’d like to buy any of the books we discussed in the episode, please consider doing so from the list I created on Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. If you’re based in Australia, please consider buying them from Gertrude & Alice, who deliver all over the country.

To contact me, email [email protected]

 

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For the thirteenth episode of The Literary Edit Podcast, I was joined by Briony Benjamin, keynote speaker, global storyteller, and author of Life is Tough But So Are You.

 

You can read about Briony’s Desert Island Books here, and the ones we discuss in this episode are:

 

Factfulness by by Anna Rosling Rönnlund, Hans Rosling, and Ola Rosling

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

Mindset by Carol Dweck

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carneige

The Proof is in the Plants by Simon Hill

The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape

Pride and Prejudice

 

Other books we spoke about included The Artist’s Way, Little Women, Sorrow and Bliss, For One More Day and Anne of Green Gables.

 

If you’d like to buy any of the books we discussed in the episode, please consider doing so from the list I created on Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. If you’re based in Australia, please consider buying them from Gertrude & Alice, who deliver all over the country.

To contact me, email [email protected]

 

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For the twelfth episode of The Literary Edit Podcast, I was joined by Clay Zane Comber, author and owner of Bouquiniste; a beautiful bookstore-café in Kiama.

 

You can read about Clay’s Desert Island Books here, and the ones we discuss in this episode are:

 

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

Looking for Alaska by John Green

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafon

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

The Outsiders by S E Hinton

 

Other books we spoke about included The Secret Friend by Donna Tartt, A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara, Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro and Tender is the Night by F Scott Fitzgerald.

 

If you’d like to buy any of the books we discussed in the episode, please consider doing so from the list I created on Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. If you’re based in Australia, please consider buying them from Gertrude & Alice, or Clay’s brilliant bookshop, Bouquiniste.

To contact me, email [email protected]

 

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