The YourShelf Podcast

The YourShelf Podcast is back with three very special episodes for our Books of the Year 2021! Finally, YourShelf's chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) interviews Lauren Groff to discuss YourShelf's Fiction Book of the Year 2021, Matrix. Buckle up for utopia, reclamation through historical fiction, and lesbian rebel nuns.

The YourShelf Podcast is back with three very special episodes for our Books of the Year 2021! In the middle part of this triptych, YourShelf's chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) interviews Michelle Orange to discuss YourShelf's Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2021, Pure Flame, which explores mother-daughter relationships and female legacies through narrative.

The YourShelf Podcast is back with three very special episodes for our Books of the Year 2021! First up: YourShelf's chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) interviews Naomi Morris to discuss YourShelf's Poetry Book of the Year 2021, Hyperlove. Expect love, sex, obsession, extremity, erasure and theory, as well as book recommendations (and more) from Naomi.

Returning after a hiatus with episode twelve, Not Looking Away, YourShelf's chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) chats over Zoom with Lucia Osborne-Crowley to discuss her new book My Body Keeps Your Secrets and her 2019 memoir I Choose Elena. Together they explore writing trauma and its legacies, and the importance of not looking away from the pain and suffering of ourselves and others.

In episode eleven, YourShelf's chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) catches up over Zoom with Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of the YourShelf Prose Book of the Year 2020, to discuss her mesmerising, genre-defying book A Ghost In The Throat, as well as recapping some of the best books of 2020.

In episode ten, YourShelf's chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) catches up over Zoom with Seán Hewitt, author of the YourShelf Poetry Book of the Year 2020, to discuss his poetry collection Tongues of Fire, as well as recapping some of the best books of 2020.

In episode nine, YourShelf's chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) catches up over Zoom with Rebecca Tamás to discuss her recent book of essays, Strangers: Essays on the Human and Nonhuman! Together they cover the origins of the book, and what it has to say about ecology, humanity, feminism and more.

In episode eight, YourShelf's chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) catches up over Zoom with Daisy Johnson (author of Fen, Everything Under and Sisters) and Julia Armfield (author of Salt Slow), for a seasonal special on all things spooky, just in time for Halloween! Together they discuss Daisy and Julia's works, particularly their short stories, as well as horror movies, writing bodily horror, and what makes a good spooky story.

In episode seven, YourShelf's chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) catches up over Zoom with Alex Pheby, author of Playthings and Lucia, for a deep-dive into his new fantasy novel Mordew. Together they discuss Alex's influences and career, the tension between genre and literary fiction, and how fantasy offers a much needed escape.

In episode six, YourShelf's chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) catches up over Zoom with Nikita Gill, author of Great Goddesses, Fierce Fairytales, Wild Embers, and the brand new YA novel in verse, The Girl and the Goddess. Together they discuss Nikita's influences and career, the importance of representation, and how young girls and women make and shape the culture.