London Review Bookshop Podcast

In a year that might well see the beginning of the end of the United Kingdom, one of our foremost historians of national identity provides an analysis of the various Acts of Union that have until now more or less held the country together. In her latest book Acts of Union, Acts of Disunion (Profile), published to coincide with a 15-part Radio 4 series, she draws on art, architecture and literature as well as political history to ask what Britishness has meant in the past, what it means now, and what it might mean in the future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In his second collaboration with landscape photographer Jason Orton, Ken Worpole – ‘for many years one of the shrewdest and sharpest observers of the English social landscape’ ('The Independent') – examines the shifting perspective of England’s landscape aesthetic in the latter half of the 20th century, away from the rural interior towards the more disrupted landscapes of East Anglia and the Thames estuary. Listen to Ken Worpole in conversation about 'The New English Landscape' (Field Station) and its implications for landscape architecture, topography and psychogeography with author Rachel Lichtenstein and chaired by Gareth Evans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In American Smoke (Hamish Hamilton), the third part of a loose trilogy of topographical ruminations that began with Hackney: That Rose-red Empire and Ghost Milk, Iain Sinclair follows the traces of the writers of the American Beat generation – Kerouac, Burroughs, Charles Olson, Gary Snyder, Malcolm Lowry and more – in a journey that takes in the Old West, Mexico, volcanoes, murder, and a good deal else besides. He was at the shop to talk about the book with writer, editor and curator Gareth Evans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gillian Darley and David McKie’s study of Nairn - Ian Nairn: Words in Place – published by Five Leaves, reintroduces to a new generation an architectural critic whose work has influenced writers and critics such as J.G. Ballard, Will Self, Iain Sinclair and Jonathan Meades, who once described Nairn as ‘a great poet of the metropolis’. Gillian Darley and David McKie discussed Ian Nairn’s life and work, and Owen Hatherley, author of A New Kind of Bleak and A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain chaired this discussion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Polish poet, novelist, painter and translator Jacek Dehnel appeared at the shop in conversation with his translator Antonia Lloyd-Jones.Antonia Lloyd-Jones is a full-time translator of Polish literature and this evening was the occasion of her being presented with the Found in Translation Award for the second time (given by the Polish Book Institute, the Polish Cultural Institute London and the Polish Cultural Institute New York). Jacek talked with Antonia about how his writing reflects and interacts with literary and art historical tradition, as well as Polish culture, history and politics. This event was supported by the Polish Cultural Institute London. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Safe Area Gorazde, Palestine, and Footnotes in Gaza, graphic novelist Joe Sacco introduced to his chosen genre a politically charged seriousness that changed it for ever. In his latest work he turns to the past with a harrowing depiction of war in the trenches. To mark the publication of The Great War (Jonathan Cape), Joe Sacco appeared at the shop with David Boyd Haycock, whose group biography of five First World War artists A Crisis of Brilliance was published in 2009. Their conversation provided a compelling exploration of art, journalism and violence. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Philosopher Simon Critchley took on Shakespeare's Hamlet, and our abiding preoccupation with it, via a series of classic interpretations, notably those of Carl Schmitt, Walter Benjamin, Hegel, Freud, Lacan and Nietzsche. The discussion was chaired by Dr Shahidha Bari of Queen Mary, University of London. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a rare UK performance Canadian poet Anne Carson read from her recent verse novel Red Doc>, a sequel to her 1998 Autobiography of Red. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The inaugural discussion of a new series to commemorate Frank Kermode's highly influential work saw Jacqueline Rose and Michael Wood, among others, ranging freely and informally across his contributions to criticism in numerous fields, from apocalyptic theory to contemporary fiction. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What would happen if a story were successively translated by a series of novelists, each one working only from the version immediately prior to their own – the aim being to preserve that story’s style? Adam Thirlwell's Multiples set out to explore this idea. To celebrate its UK publication, several writers from the anthology - Tash Aw, A.S. Byatt, Joe Dunthorne, Adam Foulds, Ma Jian and Francesco Pacifico - joined Adam Thirlwell at the Bookshop to talk about the project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Kushner isn’t only a novelist. She is also a regular contributor of sharp criticism to such free-thinking American publications as Artforum, and however good her stories and sparkling her prose, she has other aims in her novel too. Its subject is inequality – economic, social, sexual – but the art world, with its attendant performances, is always there to complicate it." Naomi Fry (LRB 18 July 2013) Rachel Kushner came to the bookshop to talk about her new book, 'The Flamethrowers'. Set in the art world of the 1970s, the novel explores themes of gender, terrorism and authenticity. She spoke in conversation with Nina Power, senior lecturer in philosophy at Roehampton University and the author of 'One-Dimensional Woman'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author Joshua Cohen came to the shop celebrate the publication of Attention! a (short) history' (Notting Hill). He was joined by writer and critic Brian Dillon for a dicussion of the cultural history of the concept of attention: an evening of conversation which ranged across centuries and subjects, from Saint Augustine to amphetamines. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Distinguished critic and translator Edith Grossman was in conversation with Daniel Hahn of the British Centre for Literary Translation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China Miéville read from his work, and discussed some of the issues raised by it with Ben Eastham, co-founder and editor of The White Review. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sheila Heti was in conversation about writing, life and the future of fiction with the critic and experimental novelist Adam Thirlwell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ben Marcus talks to Christian Lorentzen about his novel The Flame Alphabet, as well as previous works The Age of Wire and String and Notable American Women. Topics covered include online fiction magazines, mathematics, creating a religion, why writing courses are unfairly criticised, the influence of Borges, encyclopaedias as a source of literary delight and ‘Reader’s Cream’, a lotion Marcus is developing to improve reader sensitivity. Marcus’s latest book is Leaving the Sea. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Turkish writer Kaya Genç discussed with Maureen Freely how his writing reflects and interacts with literary traditions, as well as Turkish culture, history and politics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Symmons Roberts has been described by Jeanette Winterson as ‘a religious poet for a secular age’ and by Les Murray as ‘a poet for the new chastened, unenforcing age of faith that has just dawned.’ His latest collection Drysalter (Jonathan Cape) is a series of 150 poems each of 15 lines and takes its name from the ancient trade in powders, chemicals, salts and dyes, while drawing formal inspiration from the Book of Psalms. Michael will be at the shop to read from his work, and to discuss his poetry and its inspirations with fellow poet and essayist Jean Sprackland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Wood visited the Bookshop to talk about his new collection of pieces, The Fun Stuff, and to discuss life, literature, and the role of the critic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Translators Adriana Hunter and Polly McLean shared their versions of a specially-commissioned short story by the French writer Emma Becker, with Sarah Ardizzone in the chair and Emma Becker herself on the panel. The event explored the particular challenges of translating erotic fiction, discussing the decisions the translators made about voice and vocabulary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our first Literary Friendships event brought together Colm Tóibín with his friend the writer László Krasznahorkai. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Glyn Maxwell offers us a guide to reading poetry in seven chapters: ‘White’, ‘Black’, ‘Form’, ‘Pulse’, ‘Chime’, ‘Space’ and ‘Time’. Described by Katy Evans-Bush in Poetry Review as being ‘as highly charged as a stick of poetry dynamite’, On Poetry sold out its first printing in less than a week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our first Live Translation event of the 2012-13 season explored the work of Guatemalan author Eduardo Halfon, named one of the best young Latin American writers by the Hay Festival of Bogotá. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To mark the publication of the paperback edition of Mother, Brother, Lover, Jarvis Cocker joined us at the shop for a conversation with the novelist Jon McGregor – ‘Cocker’s lyrics were what made me want to tell stories’, McGregor wrote in the Guardian’s ‘My Hero’ column. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our International Translation Day event celebrated the distinguished career of Anthea Bell, who was in conversation with Daniel Hahn of the British Centre for Literary Translation. Literary translators are often compared to ventriloquists, but few have as many and varied voices as Anthea Bell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Self leads a panel discussion about questions thrown up by new technology, with special reference to ‘Kafka's Wound’, the digital literary essay he produced in collaboration with the LRB for The Space, a project from the Arts Council and BBC digital arts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Teju Cole came to the Bookshop to discuss his first novel, Open City. The book, which follows a young Nigerian-German psychiatrist in New York City five years after 9/11, was named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and won both the PEN/Hemingway Award and the Internationaler Literaturpreis. Cole spoke in conversation with writer and journalist Max Liu. Their discussion took in the cities of Lagos, London and New York; W.G. Sebald; twitter as a literary medium; and the disturbing revelation which closes the novel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'To the River' is the story of the Ouse, the Sussex river in which Virginia Woolf drowned in 1941. One midsummer week over sixty years later, Olivia Laing walked Woolf’s river from source to sea. The result is a passionate investigation into how history resides in a landscape - and how ghosts never quite leave the places they love. Olivia came to the bookshop to talk about 'To the River' with Jean Sprackland, who won the 2012 Portico Prize for non-fiction for 'Strands: A Year of Discoveries on the Beach', a series of meditations prompted by walking on the wild estuarial beaches of Ainsdale Sands between Blackpool and Liverpool. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Macfarlane, perhaps the most accomplished exponent of the ‘New Nature Writing’, was at the Bookshop to describe his journeys, and to discuss what they can tell us about our nation, its history, present and people. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two of Britain’s most eminent female writers discussed literature, fiction, women, the short story and much else besides. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two translators – Shaun Whiteside and Mike Mitchell – went head to head with their versions of a previously untranslated work. Novelist Daniel Kehlmann provided the challenge, with the event chaired by Daniel Hahn, interim director of the BCLT and chair of the Translators Association. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Award-winning Swedish crime writers Karin Alvtegen and Håkan Nesser, chaired by Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen, lecturer in Scandinavian Literature at UCL, explore the power behind crime fiction's gripping narratives, its incisive portrayal of society and its confrontation with ideas of good and evil in a shades-of-grey world, where simple moral certainties aren't so easy to find. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Novelists Daniel Kehlmann and Benjamin Markovits share interests in their work in biography, genius and failure, charisma and the question of how to give voice to real historical figures but have differences too; both make fuel for a very interesting conversation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writing in El Pa’s, Jordi Gracia described Os libros arden mal as 'a novel that could have been history or biography, but is instead a work of literature written by an author at the height of his powers'. Manuel Rivas read from his work and talked with Jonathan Dunne, who has translated several of his books into English. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prize-winning poet, essayist, dramatist and actor Ramsey Nasr was voted Poet Laureate of the Netherlands in 2009. Nasr was in conversation with prizewinning British poet Ruth Padel, who has published seven poetry collections, a wide range of non-fiction, and a novel, Where the Serpent Lives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Anatomy of a Moment is a patient dissection of a key episode in recent European history – the attempted coup in Spain in 1981. In his meticulous analysis of the moment when gunmen stormed the Spanish parliament, Javier Cercas has created an intriguing book which occupies a fascinating space between fiction and reality. Paul Preston, Professor of Spanish History at LSE joined Cercas to discuss the challenges of historical writing in a conversation chaired by Lisa Hilton, acclaimed author of Queen’s Consort. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Catalan novelists Najat el Hachmi, Carles Casajuana and Teresa Solana, chaired by Peter Bush, discussed their work and the experience of being Catalan novelists. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the Netherlands' most distinguished living authors, Cees Nooteboom discussed short stories, death and translation with A.S. Byatt. Chaired by Jan Dalley, Arts Editor of the Financial Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ali Smith read from her novel There but for the (Hamish Hamilton) and discussed her work with the audience. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard Sennett came to the Bookshop to discuss The Foreigner, a pair of essays in which he explores displacement in the metropolis through two vibrant historical moments: mid-19th-century Paris Renaissance Venice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An evening of poetry was held at the Bookshop to celebrate the publication of David Harsent's collection, *Night*. Jo Shapcott and Don Paterson joined David Harsent for a spellbinding set of readings, touching upon bee-keeping, Rothko, saints and siestas, and culminating in an atmospheric reading from *Night* itself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patti Smith's reading, drawn from her extensive body of work, including Just Kids, and alongside those writers she has long loved and advocated, was programmed in association with Artevents. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the eve of its confirmation as one of the six Man Booker shortlisted books for 2010, Tom McCarthy's ambitious and exhilarating novel C was the subject for discussion between its author and novelist Lee Rourke. McCarthy reads from C and considers its structure and themes – in particular its roots in the work of key 20th century theorists, literary, philosophical and psychological. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate, described by Le Monde as the greatest Russian novel of the 20th century, was regarded as so dangerous to the Soviet state that Mikhail Suslov declared that it could not be published for at least 200 years. Yekaterina Korotkova-Grossman, Vasily's daughter by his first wife, came to know her father only gradually. At first she saw little of him except during New Year holidays. In the mid-1950s she moved from the Ukraine to Moscow, and they became close in the last ten years of his life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can the same thing be said in a different language, when the language carries the assumptions of a whole culture with it? How do you balance spirit and accuracy? What do you do with slang and puns and untranslatable words? However many questions we ask about translation in the abstract, we rarely see how it actually works. This event was about giving time and attention to that process. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This event took place in association with English PEN, which exists to promote literature and its understanding, uphold writers' freedoms around the world, campaign against the persecution and imprisonment of writers for stating their views, and promote the friendly cooperation of writers and free exchange of ideas. PEN's Writers in Translation programme has, during the past five years, championed over 35 titles by writers from all over the globe, and supports the three speakers here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yang Lian's poems collapse distances by combining a deep attention to the particular with the allusiveness of classical Chinese poetry, in which a word or image can contain all of tradition: 'With the cry of a wild goose, I am drawn into the Tang Dynasty at the instant of hearing, making Lee valley's waters flow twelve hundred years upstream.' Yang Lian was in conversation with his translator, Brian Holton, and Iain Sinclair, poet, documentary-novelist and East Londoner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An important champion of francophone literature, Mabanckou is both a writer engage, and a very engaging man. Teaching at the time in the French literature department at UCLA, he made a rare visit to London for the festival. Mabanckou talked about his work with Helen Stevenson, translator of Broken Glass and author of several books, including Instructions for Visitors: Life and Love in a French Town. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Edward Said described Elias Khoury as an artist who gives 'voice to rooted exiles and trapped refugees, to dissolving boundaries and changing identities, to radical demands and new languages'. Khoury was in discussion with the writer and journalist Jeremy Harding, a contributing editor at the London Review of Books, who has written extensively on Khoury's life and work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julian Bell and Peter Campbell talked about things that painters can and can't do, in particular about the relationship painters have had to old art and the limits and opportunities that arise from society, its technology and its institutions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.