4th Estate Books

Welcome to NEW VOICES, a three-part podcast series from 4th Estate Books and a happy offshoot from the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize. Each podcast will address a step in a writer's journey; from the writing process, to getting and agent, and getting published, and will be available on SoundCloud and iTunes on Thursdays. This third and final episode tackles the publishing process. with our 4th Estate Commissioning Editor Anna Kelly and shortlisted authors Lisa Smith and Henry Wong. The audio collection of all six shortlisted author’s work, entitled ‘New Voices’ and read by the writers, will be available for free from Audible, iTunes, or wherever you get your audiobooks, from the day the winner is announced: 13th July.

Welcome to NEW VOICES, a three-part podcast series from 4th Estate Books and a happy offshoot from the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize. Each podcast will address a step in a writer's journey; from the writing process, to getting and agent, and getting published, and will be available on SoundCloud and iTunes on Thursdays. This second episode tackles the challenges and process of getting an agent with Emma Paterson(agent at Rogers, Coleridge & White) and shortlisted authors Avani Shah and Kit Fan. The audio collection of all six shortlisted author’s work, entitled ‘New Voices’ and read by the writers, will be available for free from Audible, iTunes, or wherever you get your audiobooks, from the day the winner is announced: 13th July.

Welcome to NEW VOICES, a three-part podcast series from 4th Estate Books and a happy offshoot from the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize. Each podcast will address a step in a writer's journey; from the writing process, to getting and agent, and getting published, and will be available on SoundCloud and iTunes on Thursdays. This first episode tackles the excitement, challenges, and daily process of being a writer, with the acclaimed novelist and short story writer, Niven Govinden, and shortlisted authors Arun Das and Jimi Famurewa. The audio collection of all six shortlisted author’s work, entitled ‘New Voices’ and read by the writers, will be available for free from Audible, iTunes, or wherever you get your audiobooks, from the day the winner is announced: 13th July.

In 4 Books, we ask an author to answer 4 questions on the books that made them — on those books that made a significant impact at distinct junctures of their lives. It might be the book that guided them through a break up, the one that they press urgently into a friends’ hand, the book that best articulates love, or the book that opened up the world in a startling new way. Reading has a unique power to universalise the most private of experiences, and the books we turn to can reveal more about ourselves than we think. In 4 Books, we use literature to glimpse the inner life of our authors. Our guest today is Lauren Collins, who began working at the New Yorker in 2003 and became a staff writer in 2008. Since 2010, she has been based in Europe, covering stories from London, Paris, Copenhagen, and beyond. Her funny and thoughtful memoir, 'When in French' considers how language shapes our lives, from how we think, to how we fall in love, and what happens when two languages, and two very different cultures, collide. Lauren is interviewed by Tara Al Azzawi.

In 4 Books, we ask an author to answer 4 questions on the books that made them — on those books that made a significant impact at distinct junctures of their lives. It might be the book that guided them through a break up, the one that they press urgently into a friends’ hand, the book that best articulates love, or the book that opened up the world in a startling new way. Reading has a unique power to universalise the most private of experiences, and the books we turn to can reveal more about ourselves than we think. In 4 Books, we use literature to glimpse the inner life of our authors. Our guest today is Elizabeth McKenzie, author of the Baileys shortlisted The Portable Veblen. Elizabeth is interviewed by Tara Al Azzawi.

In 4 Books, we ask an author to answer 4 questions on the books that made them — on those books that made a significant impact at distinct junctures of their lives. It might be the book that guided them through a break up, the one that they press urgently into a friends’ hand, the book that best articulates love, or the book that opened up the world in a startling new way. Reading has a unique power to universalise the most private of experiences, and the books we turn to can reveal more about ourselves than we think. In 4 Books, we use literature to glimpse the inner life of our authors. Our guest today is Eleanor Wasserberg, a graduate of the Creative Writing Programme at the University of East Anglia. Originally from Staffordshire, where her new book is set, she now lives in Norwich, where she teaches English. Her new book, Foxlowe, a compulsive and chilling debut about a girl growing up in a cult, is out now, published by 4th Estate Books. Eleanor is interviewed by Tara Al Azzawi.

In 4 Books, we ask an author to answer 4 questions on the books that made them — on those books that made a significant impact at distinct junctures of their lives. It might be the book that guided them through a break up, the one that they press urgently into a friends’ hand, the book that best articulates love, or the book that opened up the world in a startling new way. Reading has a unique power to universalise the most private of experiences, and the books we turn to can reveal more about ourselves than we think. In 4 Books, we use literature to glimpse the inner life of our authors. Our guest today is Decca Aitkenhead; an award-winning journalist (Catherine Pakenham Award 1996, Interviewer of the Year in 2009) for The Guardian newspaper, where she interviews leading figures in public life. Her new book, All At Sea, is out now, published by 4th Estate Books. Decca is interviewed by Tara Al Azzawi.

Hello, and welcome to the 4th Estate podcast. This week, we were lucky enough to have Britain's leading investigate food journalist Joanna Blythman in the studio answering your questions. Do you know the best butter substitute when baking? Should we avid supermarkets altogether? What's best; organic meat from the supermarket, or should we avoid supermarkets completely? And what's the ideal balanced breakfast? Have a listen, as Joanna answers all of these questions and more... Part two will be out in a fortnight. Enjoy.

In 4 Books, we ask an author to answer 4 questions on the books that made them — on those books that made a significant impact at distinct junctures of their lives. It might be the book that guided them through a break up, the one that they press urgently into a friends’ hand, the book that best articulates love, or the book that opened up the world in a startling new way. Reading has a unique power to universalise the most private of experiences, and the books we turn to can reveal more about ourselves than we think. In 4 Books, we use literature to glimpse the inner life of our authors. Today, in the studio, we have Niven Govinden, author of 'All the Days and Nights', and on the phone we have Nikesh Shukla, author of 'Meatspace'. Both of these fantastic novels are out now, published by The Friday Project. Niven and Nikesh are interviewed by Candice Carty-Williams

In 4 Books, we ask an author to answer 4 questions on the books that made them — on those books that made a significant impact at distinct junctures of their lives. It might be the book that guided them through a break up, the one that they press urgently into a friends’ hand, the book that best articulates love, or the book that opened up the world in a startling new way. Reading has a unique power to universalise the most private of experiences, and the books we turn to can reveal more about ourselves than we think. In 4 Books, we use literature to glimpse the inner life of our authors. Our guest today is Andrew Marr; journalist, political commentator, author and artist. His new book, We British: The Poetry of A People, is out now, published by 4th Estate Books. Andrew is interviewed by Tara Al Azzawi

In 4 Books, we ask an author to answer 4 questions on the books that made them — on those books that made a significant impact at distinct junctures of their lives. It might be the book that guided them through a break up, the one that they press urgently into a friends’ hand, the book that best articulates love, or the book that opened up the world in a startling new way. Reading has a unique power to universalise the most private of experiences, and the books we turn to can reveal more about ourselves than we think. In 4 Books, we use literature to glimpse the inner life of our authors. Our guest today is Bruce Robinson, the legendary director and screenwriter of Withnail and I. His new book, They All Love Jack: Busting The Ripper, is out now, published by 4th Estate Books. For over a hundred years, ‘the mystery of Jack the Ripper’ has been a source of unparalleled fascination and horror, spawning an army of obsessive theorists, and endless volumes purporting finally to reveal the identity of the brutal murderer who terrorised Victorian England. But what if there was never really any ‘mystery’ at all? What if the Ripper was always hiding in plain sight, deliberately leaving a trail of clues to his identity for anyone who cared to look, while cynically mocking those who were supposedly attempting to bring him to justice? Bruce is interviewed by Tara Al Azzawi

On this episode we celebrate the best and brightest of May, taking a look at Laline Paull's novel 'The Bees' - the only debut on the prestigious Baileys Prize shortlist - and another debut from our stellar new author, Claire Lowdon. We catch up with Chris Wright on his travels around the world to find out what this century's heroes did after they reached the pinnacle, plus we persuade some 4th Estaters in the office to confess to the books they've never read, but always lied about... What?! Hilary Mantel's editor has never read WHAT?! And there's a sprinkling of acting. And a really good pun. That's it really. Enjoy!

Lettice Franklin interviews Claire Lowdon, author of 'Left of the Bang', a 'Vanity Fair' for our times. Daringly, radically honest and very, very funny, this is the best novel yet about the ‘lost generation’ of young Londoners today. Left of the bang: a military term for the build-up to an explosion. For failing concert pianist Tamsin Jarvis, the pressure is mounting. She thought she was happy with her adoring schoolteacher boyfriend Callum, but when Chris comes into their lives, that starts to change. In a few months Chris will be gone, leaving for his first tour of Afghanistan. Nothing seems to be working out the way Tamsin wants it to – in fact, she’s not even sure what it is she wants. With sharp, satirical humour, unparalleled social observation, extreme sexual honesty and great empathy, Claire Lowdon has captured the foibles, hopes and difficulties that characterise a strata of young London today. A funny, unflinching insider’s view on the generation born in the 1980s – who are often having much less fun than it seems.

In this special episode of the 4th Estate Books podcast we talk to writer Chris Wright, author of one of the finest books from our sibling imprint, The Friday Project. Imagine you are the one standing on the moon looking at the earth suspended in an incomprehensible abyss - the first person seeing this phenomena for the very first time. The first person to see the clouds swirling over the Pacific ocean, the first person to be able to literally turn their back on the world. In 'No More Worlds to Conquer' Chris travels the globe to find an exceptional group of people who in one famous act changed the world around them irrevocably. How do you follow that? When you return to earth, is it possible to ever feel at home again?

We discovered royalty-free music. Ambitions grew. Podcasts were made. On this episode we chat to Judith Claire Mitchell, author of the beautiful 'A Reunion of Ghosts' - think 'Middlesex' meets Sylvia Plath filmed by Wes Andersen - and Ian Sansom, loveliest man alive and author of The County Guides - a rollicking crime-thriller-comedy-mystery series set in the 1930s. The best Christmas telly the BBC have never made. We talk suicide notes, literary epics and spoiler specials - oh, and there's a recipe too. Which sounds odd, because you don't have the awesomeness of an accompanying photo, but is very useful if you're listening to this in Sainsburys. Plus an exclusive extract from the audiobook of 'Death in Devon'... I promise you'll never hear me say funky again.

In this podcast, we were more than lucky enough to speak to T. Geronimo Johnson about his novel 'Welcome to Braggsville', his writing processes, his persona; soundtrack, the challenges that he faces as a writer, and how egotistical penning a novel really is. We spoke about the superficial progression of race in the U.S., Black Culture, the Ferguson movement and how he feels as a Black male in America. Enjoy.

In this podcast, we interview Katherine Heiny, author of the astounding set of short stories 'Single Carefree Mellow'. The literary love-child of Nora Ephron and Bridget Jones and written by an author who is incredibly witty, irreverent and charming, the book is finally out today. http://bit.ly/SCMFbook

In this podcast, 4th Estate interviews the sublime and recently Grammy nominated Scott Blackwood, the author of the sublime new novel 'See How Small', which is based on the real life murders of three young girls in Texas. We speak about the soundtrack behind the book, potential film versions, and why it should be the next Serial. Enjoy.

In this podcast, 4th Estate sits down with Will Smith, screenwriter of The Thick of It, VEEP and more, to speak about his upcoming novel Mainlander. With Candice Carty-Williams and Tom Killingbeck, Will Smith discusses novel writing, his processed, writing for the screen versus for the novel, The Thick of It, Jersey, politics and a whole lot more. You'll be laughing along.

‘Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick and pull yourself together’ Elizabeth Taylor Think of beauty books – cue immediate images of coffee-table photographs of ludicrously beautiful models with few clothes and fewer time restraints, works inundated with ‘up-to-date’ reviews that may as well be Edwardian or holistic mumbo jumbo on how to make a face mask with molasses and some roughly hewn porridge oats. Not anymore… Covering everything from teenage skin to that milestone 80th birthday, botox to no-botox, celebration to grief, Sali Hughes, leading journalist and broadcaster, shows real women how to make the most of makeup’s physically and emotionally transformative powers in a work that is part instruction manual, part love letter to makeup – whilst employing a writing style that combines beauty editor, feminist and painfully funny best friend.

Big Data is used to spy on us, hire and fire us, and sell us things we don't need. In ‘Dataclysm’, Christian Rudder, founder of one of the world’s biggest dating websites OkCupid, puts this flood of information to an entirely different use: understanding human nature. Drawing on terabytes of data from Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, OkCupid, and many other sites, Rudder examines the terrain of human experience to answer a range of questions: Does it matter where you went to school? How racist are we? How do political views alter relationships? Philosophers, psychologists, gene hunters and neuroscientists have tried to explain our flaws and foibles. Rudder shows that in today's era of social media, a powerful new approach is possible, one that reveals how we actually behave when we think no one's looking.

"When Stephen King calls your trilogy creepy and fascinating, you know you're onto a winner". Tom Killingbeck and Tara Al Azzawi from 4th Estate speak to Jeff VanderMeer, author of the Southern Reach Trilogy.

While it may not be seasonally appropriate, The Snow Queen is sublimely beautiful, desperately poignant and highly deserving of a spot on your summer read list. Michael Cunningham was kind enough to submit to our questioning when he was last in London - click below to hear the interview.

4th Estate interviews Jeremy Herrin, director of the RSC adapted 'Wolf Hall' and 'Bring Up The Bodies' by Dame Hilary Mantel.

4th Estate talks to Andy Miller about the fifty great books that saved his life, from 'Anna Karenina' to 'The Da Vinci Code' by way of 'Moby Dick'. Interview by Morwenna Loughman For more from Andy Miller: Website: http://mill-i-am.com Twitter: @i_am_mill_i_am For more from 4th Estate: Twitter: @4thEstateBooks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/4thEstateBooks Website: http://www.4thestate.co.uk/

An exclusive interview with Laline Paull - debut author of 'The Bees', a brilliantly imagined cross between 'The Handmaid's Tale' and 'The Hunger Games'. Born into the lowest class of her society, Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, only fit to clean her orchard hive. Living to accept, obey and serve, she is prepared to sacrifice everything for her beloved holy mother, the Queen. But Flora is not like other bees. Despite her ugliness she has talents that are not typical of her kin. While mutant bees are usually instantly destroyed, Flora is removed from sanitation duty and is allowed to feed the newborns, before becoming a forager, collecting pollen on the wing. She also finds her way into the Queen’s inner sanctum, where she discovers secrets both sublime and ominous. But enemies are everywhere, from the fearsome fertility police to the high priestesses who jealously guard the Hive Mind. And when Flora breaks the most sacred law of all her instinct to serve is overshadowed by an even deeper desire, a fierce love that will lead to the unthinkable . . . Laline Paull’s chilling yet ultimately triumphant novel creates a luminous world both alien and uncannily familiar. Thrilling and imaginative, ‘The Bees’ is the story of a heroine who, in the face of an increasingly desperate struggle for survival, changes her destiny and her world.