Little Atoms

Elizabeth Arnott is an award-winning writer and journalist and has written critically acclaimed historical fiction as Lizzie Pook. Her work has featured in publications including The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, and Stylist. On today’s episode of Little Atoms, she talks to Neil Denny about her new novel The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sophie Mackintosh is the author of four novels, including The Water Cure and Cursed Bread. She has been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Women's Prize, has won a Betty Trask Award, and has been selected as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists. She has been published in Granta, The White Review and TANK magazine among others. On this episode of Little Atoms she talks to Neil Denny about her latest novel, Permanence. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Grindrod is the author of Concretopia: A Journey Around the Rebuilding of Postwar Britain, Outskirts: Living Life on the Edge of the Green Belt (shortlisted for the 2018 Wainwright Prize for UK travel and nature writing), and Iconicon: A Journey Around the Landmark Buildings of Contemporary Britain. He hosts the podcast Monstrosities Mon Amour. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his latest book Tales of the Suburbs: LGBTQ+ Lives Behind Net Curtains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Plunket was born in Greenville, Texas, in 1945, but raised in Havana and Mexico City. After college he moved to New York and became a writer, publishing two novels, My Search for Warren Harding (1983) and Love Junkie (1992). He later became Mr Chatterbox, the gossip columnist for Sarasota Magazine. He is retired and lives in a trailer park in Englewood, Florida. On today’s episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his novel Love Junkie which was recently re-released by penguin Modern Classics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Isabel Waidner is the author of five novels – including Sterling Karat Gold, which won the Goldsmiths Prize and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction and the Republic of Consciousness Prize, and Corey Fah Does Social Mobility which was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. They teach in the School of the Arts at Queen Mary University of London. On this episode of Little Atoms they talk to Neil Denny about their latest novel As If. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Francis Spufford is the author of three novels and five works of non-fiction. His debut work of fiction was the historical novel Golden Hill, which won the Costa First Novel Award, the RSL Ondaatje Prize, the Desmond Elliott Prize, and was shortlisted for four others. His second novel, Light Perpetual, was awarded the Encore Award and longlisted for the Booker Prize. His third novel, the alternative history Cahokia Jazz, was recognised by the Science Fiction community when it was awarded the Sidewise Award in 2023. He teaches writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his latest novel Nonesuch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Geary, an adjunct lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, is the author of Wit's End: What Wit Is, How It Works, and Why We Need It, Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists and I Is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How It Shapes the Way We See the World. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about the reissue of his New York Times best-selling book The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alex Preston is an award-winning author of five novels including This Bleeding City, The Revelations, In Love and War and Winchelsea, as well as a book of non-fiction As Kingfishers Catch Fire. He writes regularly for the New York Times, the Economist and Harper's Bazaar. He reviews books for the Observer's New Review, Financial Times and Spectator. Alex is co-founder of the Corfu Literary Festival and Patron of Oxford Literary Festival. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his latest novel A Stranger in Corfu. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Originally from Leicester, Manish Chauhan works as a finance lawyer and currently lives in East London. His short story, "Pieces", was shortlisted for the 2024 BBC National Short Story Award. His work has been shortlisted for the Galley Beggar Short Story Prize and the Exeter Short Story Competition. Early excerpts of Belgrave Road were longlisted for the Curtis Brown First Novel Award and shortlisted for the Daniel Goldsmith First Novel Prize. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about Belgrave Road, his debut novel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

George Saunders is the author of thirteen books, including the novel Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the Booker Prize in 2017, and five collections of stories including Tenth of December, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and the recent collection Liberation Day (selected by former President Obama has one of his ten favourite books of 2021). Three of Saunders' books - Pastoralia, Tenth of December, and Lincoln in the Bardo - were chosen for the New York Times' list of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. Saunders hosts the popular Story Club on Substack, which grew out of his book on the Russian short story, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. In 2013, he was named one of the world's 100 Most Influential People by Time magazine. He teaches in the creative writing program at Syracuse University. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his latest novel Vigil. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grace Murray was born in 2003 and grew up in Norwich. She has recently graduated from Edinburgh University, where she read English Literature and found time to write between her studies and two part-time jobs. Her short fiction has been published in The London Magazine. On this episode of Little Atoms she talks to Neil denny about her debut novel Blank Canvas, which was written over the course of a year as part of WriteNow, Penguin Random House’s flagship mentorship scheme for emerging talent. Grace won one of nine places on the scheme on the exceptional strength of her writing, selected from a pool of over 1,300 applicants. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daniyal Mueenuddin graduated from Dartmouth College and Yale Law School. After winning a Fulbright scholarship to study in Norway, he practiced law in New York before returning to Khânpur, Pakistan to manage the family farm. He divides his time between Oslo and Pakistan. Stories in his collection In Other Rooms, Other Wonders have appeared in the New Yorker, Granta and Salman Rushdie's Best American Short Story collection. 'Our Lady of Paris' was nominated for a National Magazine Award. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his new novel This Is Where The Serpent Lives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sebastian Faulks has written nineteen books, of which A Week in December and The Fatal Englishman were number one in the Sunday Times bestseller lists. He is best known for Birdsong, part of his French trilogy, and Human Traces, the first in an ongoing Austrian trilogy. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked as a journalist on national papers. He has also written screenplays and has appeared in small roles on stage. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his latest book Fires Which Burned Brightly: A Life in Progress. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jarett Kobek is an internationally bestselling Turkish-American writer living in California. His previous books have been translated into eleven languages and include ATTA, Do Every Thing Wrong!: XXXTentacion Against the World, and Motor Spirit. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his latest book Invocation Of My Demon Brother, which is published by DieDieBooks and is available here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Miriam Robinson is an author who has worked in the world of books and bookshops for over 15 years. Previously the host of podcast My Unlived Life, she holds an MA in Creative Writing from Goldsmiths, University of London and her short fiction has been shortlisted for a Pushcart Prize, the inaugural Pindrop/RA Short Story Prize and the Pat Kavanagh Prize. On this episode of Little Atoms she talks to Neil Denny about her debut novel And Notre Dame is Burning. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Harry Sidebottom teaches classical history at Oxford University, and is the bestselling author of fifteen novels. His debut trade non-fiction book, The Mad Emperor: Heliogabalus and the Decadence of Rome, was published in 2022 and was a Book of the Year in the Spectator, the Financial Times and BBC History. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his latest book Those Who Are About To Die: Gladiators and the Roman Mind. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ziyad Marar is a publisher and author of The Happiness Paradox , Deception, Intimacy and Judged: The Value of Being Misunderstood. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his latest book, Noticing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Graham Robb was born in Manchester in 1958 and is a former fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. He has published widely on French literature and history. His book The Discovery of France won both the Duff Cooper and Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prizes. For Parisians the City of Paris awarded him the Grande Médaille de la Ville de Paris. He lives on the English-Scottish border. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his latest book The Discovery of Britain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joanna Pocock is an Irish-Canadian writer living in London. Her writing has notably appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Nation and Guardian US, and she is a contributing editor at the Dark Mountain project. She won the 2018 Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize for Surrender and in 2021 she was awarded the Arts Foundation’s Environmental Writing Fellowship. On this episode of Little Atoms, Joanna talks to Neil Denny about her latest book Greyhound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Rebanks is a farmer and writer based in the Lake District. His No. 1 bestselling debut, The Shepherd’s Life, was translated into sixteen languages. His second book, English Pastoral, was also a Top Ten bestseller and was named the Sunday Times Nature Book of the Year. On this episode of Little Atoms, James talks to Neil Denny about his latest book The Place of Tides. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mary Roach is the author of seven best-selling works of nonfiction, including Grunt, Stiff, and, most recently, Fuzz. Her writing has appeared in National Geographic and the New York Times Magazine, among other publications. On this episode of Little Atoms, Mary talks to Neil Denny about her latest book Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thomas McMullan lives and works in London. His debut novel, The Last Good Man, won the 2021 Betty Trask Prize. His short fiction has been published in Ploughshares, The Dublin Review, Granta, 3:AM Magazine, Lighthouse and Best British Short Stories, and his journalism has appeared in The Guardian, The Times Literary Supplement, frieze, ArtReview and BBC News. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his latest novel Groundwater. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sarah Perry is the internationally bestselling author of the novels Enlightenment, Melmoth, The Essex Serpent and After Me Comes the Flood, and the non-fiction Essex Girls. She is a winner of the Waterstones Book of the Year Award and the British Book of the Year Award. Enlightenment was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2024 and her other work has been nominated for major literary prizes including the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Folio Prize and the Costa Novel Award. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. On this episode of Little Atoms she talks to Neil Denny about her first full length work of non-fiction Death of an Ordinary Man. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kiran Desai is the bestselling author of two novels, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard and The Inheritance of Loss, which won both the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. On this episode of Little Atoms she talks to Neil Denny about her new Booker Prize Shortlisted novel The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Natalie Haynes is a writer and broadcaster. She is the author of The Amber Fury, The Children of Jocasta, A Thousand Ships, which was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020 and Stone Blind. Her non-fiction book about women in Greek Myth, Pandora’s Jar, was a bestseller in both the UK and the US. She has written and performed eleven series of her BBC Radio 4 show, Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics. In 2015 she was awarded the Classical Association Prize for her work in bringing Classics to a wider audience. On this episode of Little Atoms she talks to Neil Denny about her latest novel No Friend To This House. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patrick Ryan's short story collection The Dream Life of Astronauts was named one of the Best Books of the Year by the St. Louis Times-Dispatch, LitHub, Refinery 29 and Electric Literature, and was longlisted for The Story Prize. His debut collection of linked short stories, Send Me, was chosen for Barnes & Noble's Discover New Writers program. His work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories, the anthology Tales of Two Cities, and elsewhere. The former associate editor of Granta, he is the editor-in-chief of the literary magazine One Story. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his new novel Buckeye. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Miriam Toews is the author of the bestselling novels Women Talking, All My Puny Sorrows, Summer of My Amazing Luck, A Boy of Good Breeding, A Complicated Kindness, The Flying Troutmans, Irma Voth, Fight Night and one work of non-fiction, Swing Low: A Life. She is the winner of the Governor General's Award for Fiction, the Libris Award for Fiction Book of the Year, the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award. On this episode of Little Atoms she talks to Neil Denny about her latest work of non-fiction A Truce That Is not Peace. Note: Contains discussion of suicide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stuart Nadler is a recipient of the 5 Under 35 Award from the National Book Foundation, and the author of Wise Men, The Inseparables, Rooms for Vanishing and a story collection, The Book of Life. His work has been named a Kirkus Best Book of the Year, a Barnes & Nobel Discover Great New Writers Selection, and an Amazon Book of the Year. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he was a Truman Capote Fellow and a Teaching-Writing Fellow. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his latest novel Rooms For Vanishing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since Laura Lippman's debut, she has been recognised as a distinctive voice in mystery fiction and named one of the "essential" crime writers of the last 100 years. Stephen King called her "special, even extraordinary," and Gillian Flynn wrote, "She is simply a brilliant novelist." Her books have won most of the major awards in her field and been translated into more than twenty-five languages. On this episode of Little Atoms, Laura talks to Neil Denny about her latest novel Murder Takes a Vacation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oliver Basciano is a journalist and critic based in São Paulo and London. On this episode of Little Atoms, he talks to Neil Denny about Outcast: A History of Leprosy, Humanity and the Modern World, his first book for which he was the recipient of the 2023 RSL Giles St Aubyn Award, awarded for debut works of non-fiction. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Claire Adam was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago. She was educated in the US and now lives in London. Her first novel Golden Child won multiple prizes and was named one of the BBC's '100 Novels that Shaped the World’. On this episode of Little Atoms she talks to Neil Denny about her Booker Prize long listed new novel Love Forms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.