Name: Laura

Reading: Potiki, Patricia Grace

Why did you want to read this? Potiki is a novel about indigenous land rights in Aotearoa New Zealand, it follows a Māori community who's ancestral land is under threat. It was published in 1986 but Māori are still facing the same issues as the current government has introduced a bill that limits the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, Aotearoa New Zealand's founding document. Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a gift, and must be protected. 

How did you record yourself? On my laptop in a room with pink walls that looks over the back garden. I am a secondary school teacher and usually have to manage behaviour and circle the classroom while reading aloud, it was nice to sit and be still, to have my mind only on the words. 

Name: Rebecca

Reading: Look at Me, Anita Brookner

Why did you want to read this? Brookner opens 'Look at Me' with a series of close readings of the history of the representation of sickness and madness in art. This has a quality of non-fiction (and reflects Brookner's other life as an art historian) but she also manages to convey so much about her narrator, Frances Hinton. Her isolation, self-estrangement, reticence and rage; her sense of her life's smallness and unfairness. 

How did you record yourself? Sitting in bed with my cat, who I was afraid could be heard purring in the recording. 

Name: Anna

Reading: Lisa Robertson, Cinema of the Present

Why did you want to read this? I chose Cinema of the Present because I'd needed to read it aloud to myself to fully experience it - I love books like that. It's a long poem that moves in and around and through its subjects: time, thought, surfaces, structures and language, and many, many, other things. Evenly spaced lines alternate between italic and Roman type: two sets of almost identical sentences, but ordered differently so that they begin to repeat each other as the book progresses.  The process of reading it aloud animates this typographical structure and brings each image fully into being.

How did you record yourself? I sat on my bed on a wet Sunday morning, phone propped on my knee. 

Name: Ruby

Reading: Quantum Listening, Pauline Oliveros

Why did you want to read this? I aspire to be a good listener. Oliveros's approach to listening is poetic and practical, yet also incredibly complex. The theory of Quantum Listening stretches from the observation of a slight change in pitch to the wide stance of a worldview. It reminds us that listening is an ongoing practice of attuning to one’s environment, caring for each other, and orienting ourselves in a chaotic world. It felt like a gift to dedicate time and attention to this text. May hearing it read aloud allow it to resonate deeply. 

How did you record yourself? I recorded myself at dusk in a friend's apartment that reminds me of a tree house. I read by the warm light of the lamps scattered around the room. Every so often, I would turn around to see that the sun still had yet to set, the sky still a muted blue.

Name: Sophie

Reading: The Hearing Trumpet, Leonora Carrington

Why did you want to read this? I got to know and love this book through teaching it a few years ago, which is a nice way to become familiar with a novel: i.e. with lots of other people. Reading it aloud now reminded me of that time. I find it very, very funny and – if this makes sense – as a book it seems sort of free and unbothered. It has one of my all-time favourite plots, Marian Leatherby is an icon, and I wish Carrington’s writing were as well-known as her visual art.

How did you record yourself? I sat in my bedroom (which is a bit messy) at my partner’s desk, recording with Audacity on my laptop. A couple of years ago, one of my vocal cords was seriously injured – I’ve been having voice therapy to help me get some strength and volume back, particularly for situations in which I need to speak uninterrupted for a block of time. So, recording this was a challenge I opted into, and I felt quite self-conscious while I was reading. But I think it went well!

Name: Freya

Reading: The Emigrants, W.G. Sebald

Why did you want to read this? Lately Sebald’s books have been exactly what I want to read and it felt like it would be really nice to share this one. I think that’s partly what I like so much about the podcast - people sharing what they love, in a gentle way - just putting it out there - and the intimacy of reading aloud.

How did you record yourself? Sitting on a fluffy rug on my bedroom floor with my laptop in front of me, it was a sunny morning.

*Content note: this episode contains mention of death by suicide*

Name: Isha

Reading: Mirrors in the Earth, Asia Suler

Why did you want to read this? I discovered this book earlier this year while reading an article on intuitive plant medicine. The language had a vivid nature imagery, an openness and a tenderness that made me feel extremely safe and held. The book reads like a healing salve on a burning wound. I would usually read an essay and then keep the book down — soaking in its essence. And after a few days or weeks passed the next essay would call out to me at exactly the right time — as if it had been patiently waiting for me to be ready to receive its medicine.

How did you record yourself? I recorded this with a tentativeness as I explored what my voice meant for me, what it wanted to say and why it was afraid. I also had the Audacity app, my Mac, a lot of pillows and my aunt’s study desk to support.

Name: Assunta

Reading: The Arcane of Reproduction: Housework, Prostitution, Labor and Capital, Leopoldina Fortunati

Why did you want to read this? I wanted to read this text to understand it more deeply and to be able to listen to it on my commute.

How did you record yourself? I recorded the chapter with my mobile phone.

Name: Fathima

Reading: Traces of Enayat, Iman Mersal

Why did you want to read this? This was one of my favourite reads from last year. I had the chance to hear Iman read and talk about her work, and she read an excerpt from the first chapter. I was really struck by the story of Enayat, Iman’s search for her and the questions it poses about who gets to be remembered, being a writer and trying to make a living for yourself. I felt a kinship with both Iman and Enayat and their ethos when it comes to their writing.

How did you record yourself? I recorded this at my desk, under the shade of my table lamp, at night. I was in my pyjamas and cardigan, as I am, most winter nights.

Name: Julia

Reading: The Dud Avocado, Elaine Dundy

Why did you want to read this? Throughout the book, I enjoyed the frivolity and openness of the protagonist. I have an affinity with Sally Jay in the way she strives to feel things and live her life, even though at some points her naïvety and impatience bring nothing but a series of misfortunes. This is a story to be read with flush on your cheeks, every time. Also, it evokes some Parisian longings.

How did you record yourself? I was sitting on my bed in polka dot tights to feel more exalted and recorded myself on my laptop, set on a red-brown chair near the bedside. Left alone in my communal apartment, I relished in reading out loud and taking sips of coffee when my lips went dry.