The Wandering Book Collector

Welcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.

In this edition, I speak with the writer Tim Mackintosh-Smith to discuss his latest book, Arabs: A 3,000-year history of peoples, tribes and empires.

His body of work includes: Yemen, Travels in Dictionary Land; a trilogy on the 14th-century traveller Ibn Baṭṭūṭah who, in his words, may well be the most widely travelled human before the age of steam; as well as completed translations, and a work of fiction Bloodstone set in the year 1368, as the Alhambra in Granada was being completed.

Please consider supporting your local bookshop.

The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporter of this podcast:

Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned journeys into hard-to-reach wildernesses and cultures.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To learn about future editions, please subscribe or hit “follow” on your podcast app of choice. Thank you for listening! For more on the podcast, book recs, what books to pack for where’s next, and who’s up next, I’m across socials @michellejchan. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you’ve missed any, do catch up. From Janine di Giovanni to Bernardine Evaristo to Afua Hirsch to Carla Power to Maaza Mengiste to Kapka Kassabova to Sara Wheeler to Brigid Delaney to Horatio Clare to Rebecca Mead to Preti Taneja to Kathryn D. Sullivan to Emmanuel Jal to Jennifer Steil to Winnie M Li to Mona Arshi.

All credit for sound effects goes to the artists and founders of Freesound.org and Zapsplat.com. All credit for music goes to the artists and founders of Soundstripe.com

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

Welcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.

In this edition, I speak with the writer Mona Arshi to discuss her debut novel: Somebody Loves You, a coming-of-age story about a British girl, born to Indian parents, growing up in the suburbs of London. Mona’s novel follows a body of work in poetry, including Dear Big Gods, and before that Small Hands, which won the Forward Prize for best first collection.

Please consider supporting your local bookshop.

The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporter of this podcast:

Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned journeys into hard-to-reach wildernesses and cultures.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To learn about future editions, please subscribe or hit “follow” on your podcast app of choice. Thank you for listening! For more on the podcast, book recs, what books to pack for where’s next, and who’s up next, I’m across socials @michellejchan. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you’ve missed any, do catch up. From Janine di Giovanni to Bernardine Evaristo to Afua Hirsch to Carla Power to Maaza Mengiste to Kapka Kassabova to Sara Wheeler to Brigid Delaney to Horatio Clare to Rebecca Mead to Preti Taneja to Kathryn D. Sullivan to Emmanuel Jal to Jennifer Steil to Winnie M Li.

All credit for sound effects goes to the artists and founders of Freesound.org and Zapsplat.com. All credit for music goes to the artists and founders of Soundstripe.com

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

Welcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.

In this edition, I speak with the writer Winnie M Li to discuss her books: Complicit, a novel exploring sexual assault and consent in the US filmmaking industry, at the time of the #MeToo movement. It follows her first novel, Dark Chapter, a fictionalised retelling of her own experience of rape.

Please consider supporting your local bookshop.

The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporter of this podcast:

Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned journeys into hard-to-reach wildernesses and cultures.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To learn about future editions, please subscribe or hit “follow” on your podcast app of choice. Thank you for listening! For more on the podcast, book recs, what books to pack for where’s next, and who’s up next, I’m across socials @michellejchan. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you’ve missed any, do catch up. From Janine di Giovanni to Bernardine Evaristo to Afua Hirsch to Carla Power to Maaza Mengiste to Kapka Kassabova to Sara Wheeler to Brigid Delaney to Horatio Clare to Rebecca Mead to Preti Taneja to Kathryn D. Sullivan to Emmanuel Jal to Jennifer Steil.

All credit for sound effects goes to the artists and founders of Freesound.org and Zapsplat.com. All credit for music goes to the artists and founders of Soundstripe.com

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

Welcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.

In this edition, I speak with the writer Jennifer Steil to discuss her book, Exile Music, a historical novel written from the perspective of a young Jewish girl, who flees Austria in the 1930s for La Paz, Bolivia — a country that offers her family refuge, as the Nazis rise up in Europe.

Jennifer’s two previous books include a memoir, The Woman Who Fell from the Sky: An American’s Adventure in the Oldest City on Earth, on her experience as a journalist in Yemen, and The Ambassador’s Wife, a novel about a hostage crisis..

Please consider supporting your local bookshop.

The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporter of this podcast:

Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned journeys into hard-to-reach wildernesses and cultures.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To learn about future editions, please subscribe or hit “follow” on your podcast app of choice. Thank you for listening! For more on the podcast, book recs, what books to pack for where’s next, and who’s up next, I’m across socials @michellejchan. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you’ve missed any, do catch up. From Janine di Giovanni to Bernardine Evaristo to Afua Hirsch to Carla Power to Maaza Mengiste to Kapka Kassabova to Sara Wheeler to Brigid Delaney to Horatio Clare to Rebecca Mead to Preti Taneja to Kathryn D. Sullivan to Emmanuel Jal.

All credit for sound effects goes to the artists and founders of Freesound.org and Zapsplat.com. All credit for music goes to the artists and founders of Soundstripe.com

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

Welcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.

In this special edition, I speak with Emmanuel Jal to discuss War Child, a memoir of his years growing up in Sudan, when his country was being rocked by civil war. Emmanuel was separated from his family and forced to become a child soldier. Up to two million people were killed in this war, and millions more displaced. On the cover of the book, there’s a quote of Emmanuel’s: “I believe I’ve survived for a reason to tell my story, to touch lives…”

Since the publication of his book and release of a film of the same name, Emmanuel has become a World Music & hip-hop artist, and global peace ambassador. He is releasing a new album this month, title track Shangah, which plays in the podcast. Listen up. He'll get you dancing.

Please consider supporting your local bookshop.

The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporter of this special edition:

Asilia — offering authentic East African safari experiences that leave a positive impact on crucial wilderness areas

If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To learn about future editions, please subscribe or hit “follow” on your podcast app of choice. Thank you for listening! For more on the podcast, book recs, what books to pack for where’s next, and who’s up next, I’m across socials @michellejchan. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you’ve missed any, do catch up. The first season has twelve compelling editions, including conversations with Janine di Giovanni, Bernardine Evaristo, Afua Hirsch, Carla Power, Maaza Mengiste, Kapka Kassabova, Sara Wheeler, Brigid Delaney, Horatio Clare, Rebecca Mead, Preti Taneja and Kathryn D. Sullivan. The second season begins soon!

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

Welcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.

In this edition, I speak with the writer Kathryn D. Sullivan to discuss her book, Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut’s Story of Invention, about deploying the revolutionary telescope, and about the people who made it work.

Please consider supporting your local bookshop.

The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporters of this podcast:

Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned journeys into hard-to-reach wildernesses and cultures.

COMO Hotels & Resorts — Celebrating 30 years creating elegant properties around the world, from Bali to Bhutan; Tuscany to the Turks and Caicos; Perth, Australia, to the Pacific.

TUMI — Creating world-class business, travel and performance luxury essentials.

Ultimate Library — Creating bespoke book collections to educate and inspire.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To learn about future editions, please subscribe or hit “follow” on your podcast app of choice. Thank you for listening! For more on the podcast, book recs, what books to pack for where’s next, and who’s up next, I’m across socials @michellejchan. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you’ve missed any, do catch up. From Janine di Giovanni to Bernardine Evaristo to Afua Hirsch to Carla Power to Maaza Mengiste to Kapka Kassabova to Sara Wheeler to Brigid Delaney to Horatio Clare to Rebecca Mead to Preti Taneja.

All credit for sound effects goes to the artists and founders of Freesound.org and Zapsplat.com. All credit for music goes to the artists and founders of Soundstripe.com

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

Welcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.

In this edition, I speak with the writer Preti Taneja to discuss her book, AFTERMATH, which has just been published. It’s a work of fragmented non-fiction, of life after the terrorist attack at Fishmongers’ Hall in London in 2019. Preti knew one the victims of the attack and the perpetrator of the crime.

Preti is also the author of WE THAT ARE YOUNG, which won the 2018 Desmond Elliot Prize for debut novelists. The story — set in contemporary India — holds parallels with Shakespeare’s King Lear; it’s a dynamic and devastating story of greed and corruption.

Please consider supporting your local bookshop.

The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporters of this podcast:

Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned journeys into hard-to-reach wildernesses and cultures.

TUMI — Creating world-class business, travel and performance luxury essentials.

Ultimate Library — Creating bespoke book collections to educate and inspire.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To learn about future editions, please subscribe or hit “follow” on your podcast app of choice. Thank you for listening! For more on the podcast, book recs, what books to pack for where’s next, and who’s up next, I’m across socials @michellejchan. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you’ve missed any, do catch up. From Janine di Giovanni to Bernardine Evaristo to Afua Hirsch to Carla Power to Maaza Mengiste to Kapka Kassabova to Sara Wheeler to Brigid Delaney to Horatio Clare to Rebecca Mead.

All credit for sound effects goes to the artists and founders of Freesound.org and Zapsplat.com. All credit for music goes to the artists and founders of Soundstripe.com

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

Welcome to The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.

In this edition, I speak with the journalist and writer Rebecca Mead to discuss her latest book — Home/Land: A Memoir of Departure and Return. It recounts her personal to and fro, leaving her childhood home in England, moving to New York, and then returning 30 years later to London, this time with her husband and son.

Please consider supporting your local bookshop.

The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporters of this podcast:

Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned journeys into hard-to-reach wildernesses and cultures.

TUMI — Creating world-class business, travel and performance luxury essentials.

Ultimate Library — Creating bespoke book collections to educate and inspire.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To learn about future editions, please subscribe or hit “follow” on your podcast app of choice. Thank you for listening! For more on the podcast, book recs, what books to pack for where’s next, and who’s up next, I’m across socials @michellejchan. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you’ve missed any, do catch up. From Janine di Giovanni to Bernardine Evaristo to Afua Hirsch to Carla Power to Maaza Mengiste to Kapka Kassabova to Sara Wheeler to Brigid Delaney to Horatio Clare.

All credit for sound effects goes to the artists and founders of Freesound.org and Zapsplat.com. All credit for music goes to the artists and founders of Soundstripe.com

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

Welcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.

In this edition, I speak with the inimitable travel writer Horatio Clare to discuss his latest book — Heavy Light: A Journey through Madness, Mania and Healing. It recounts Horatio’s personal breakdown, his sectioning, his psychiatric treatment, and his recovery. His body of work includes memoir, stories of nature and children’s literature, such as his first book Running for the Hills — on his childhood, growing up on a sheep farm in South Wales. Then the novella Truant: Notes from the Slippery Slope, on his drug addictions, depression, mania, psychosis. A Single Swallow follows the journey of these birds from South Africa’s Cape to a branch of a tree in Wales, and telegraph wires in Dorset. There’s also Down to the Sea in Ships and Icebreaker - A Voyage Far North, stories of time at sea, passages across the vastness of our oceans.

Please consider supporting your local bookshop.

The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporters of this podcast:

Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned journeys into hard-to-reach wildernesses and cultures.

TUMI — Creating world-class business, travel and performance luxury essentials.

Ultimate Library — Creating bespoke book collections to educate and inspire.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To learn about future editions, please subscribe or hit “follow” on your podcast app of choice. Thank you for listening! For more on the podcast, book recs, what books to pack for where’s next, and who’s up next, I’m across socials @michellejchan. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you’ve missed any, do catch up. From Janine di Giovanni to Bernardine Evaristo to Afua Hirsch to Carla Power to Maaza Mengiste to Kapka Kassabova to Sara Wheeler to Brigid Delaney.

All credit for sound effects goes to the artists and founders of Freesound.org and Zapsplat.com. All credit for music goes to the artists and founders of Soundstripe.com

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

Welcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.

In this edition, I speak with the travel writer and columnist Brigid Delaney to discuss her latest book Wellmania: Misadventures in the search for wellness, which is currently being turned into a Netflix comedy-drama series airing worldwide later this year. This follows her novel Wild Things, and her debut This Restless Life: Churning Through Love, Work and Play, living between cities, gigging, un-settling, and tackling the question of whether to choose to live deeply or broadly. She is now working on her next book on the philosophy of Stoicism.

Please consider supporting your local bookshop.

The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporters of this podcast:

Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned journeys into hard-to-reach wildernesses and cultures.

COMO Hotels & Resorts — Celebrating 30 years creating elegant properties around the world, from Bali to Bhutan; Tuscany to the Turks and Caicos; Perth, Australia, to the Pacific.

TUMI — Creating world-class business, travel and performance luxury essentials.

Ultimate Library — Creating bespoke book collections to educate and inspire.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To learn about future editions, please subscribe or hit “follow” on your podcast app of choice. Thank you for listening! For more on the podcast, book recs, what books to pack for where’s next, and who’s up next, I’m across socials @michellejchan. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you’ve missed any, do catch up. From Janine di Giovanni to Bernardine Evaristo to Afua Hirsch to Carla Power to Maaza Mengiste to Kapka Kassabova to Sara Wheeler.

All credit for sound effects goes to the artists and founders of Freesound.org and Zapsplat.com. All credit for music goes to the artists and founders of Soundstripe.com

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