San Clemente

Santanu Bhattacharya grew up in India, and studied at the University of Oxford and the National University of Singapore. He won the Desmond Elliott Prize Residency in 2023, and the Mo Siewcharran and Life Writing Prizes in 2021. His first novel, One Small Voice, was an Observer best debut novel of 2023, and was shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award and the Society of Authors' Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize. He now lives in London.Deviants has been praised by The Guardian, The i Paper and The Financial Times. Santanu's first book One Small Voice has been celebrated by Max Porter, Nikesh Shukla, Tsitsi Dangarembga, The Irish Times and The Guardian. Get the book here or at your local bookshop. Vivaan, a teenager in India's silicon plateau, has discovered love on his smartphone. Intoxicating, boundary-breaking love. His parents know he is gay, and their support is something Vivaan can count on, but they don't know what exactly their son gets up to in the online world.For his uncle, born thirty years earlier, things were very different. Mambro's life changed forever when he fell for a male classmate at a time, and in a country, where the persecution of gay people was rife under a colonial-era law criminalising homosexuality.And before that was Mambro's uncle Sukumar, a young man hopelessly in love with another young man, but forced by social taboos to keep their relationship a secret at all costs. Sukumar would never live the life he yearned for, but his story would ignite and inspire his nephew and grand-nephew after him.Bold and bracing, intimate and heartbreaking, Deviants examines the histories we inherit and the legacies we leave behind.

The Artist has been praised by The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, Yael van der Wouden (The Safekeep), Sarah Perry (Essex Serpent) and is a Best Book of 2025 for Good Housekeeping and Stylist. It's longlisted for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction. Lucy Steeds is a novelist and a graduate of the Faber Academy and the London Library Emerging Writers Programme. She has a BA in English Literature and a Masters in World Literatures from the University of Oxford. She has lived in London, Paris, Amsterdam and Singapore.The Artist is her first novel.Get the book here or at your local bookshop. PROVENCE, 1920Ettie moves through the remote farmhouse, silently creating the conditions that make her uncle's artistic genius possible. Joseph, an aspiring journalist, has been invited to the house. He believes he'll make his name by interviewing the reclusive painter, the great Edouard Tartuffe. But everyone has their secrets. And, under the cover of darkness, Ettie has spent years cultivating hers. Over this sweltering summer, everyone's true colours will be revealed. Because Ettie is ready to be seen. Even if it means setting her world on fire.

Jennifer Daiches, daughter of the Scottish critic and biographer David Daiches, was born in Chicago, educated in the US and in England, before moving to Scotland in 1971.From 1978 to 2001 she worked at the National Museums of Scotland in various capacities, including Head of Publications and script co-ordinator for exhibitions. She is a freelance writer and lecturer, writing on literary and historical subjects as Jenni Calder (having been married to the poet Angus Calder until 1982) and fiction and poetry as Jenni Daiches. An area of special interest has been Scottish emigration, particularly to North America, and questions of identity. Other key interests include Scottish literature and women writers.Jenni is also a biographer, writing book on Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, George Orwell and Naomi Mitchison. See her full bibliography here. Somewhere Else has been longlisted for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction. Miriam Margolyes is among its fans, saying “I wept and laughed and wished I had written it.” Get the book here or at your local bookshop. Rosa Roshkin is five years old when her family are murdered in a pogrom and she is forced to leave behind everything she knows with only a suitcase of clothes and her father's violin.An epic generational novel about womanhood and Judaeo-Scottish experience across two World Wars, the creation of Israel and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Jenni Daiches's  Somewhere Else explores today's most difficult and urgent questions, not least of which: how to find identity in displacement.

Hansal Mehta Winner of the National Award for Best Direction in 2014, Hansal Mehta talks about his Netflix drama starring Bollywood's beloved Kareena Kapoor, Buckingham Murders. He's best known for Shahid (2013), Citylights (2014), Aligarh (2016), Omertà (2018), Scoop (2023), Modern Love Mumbai (2022) and Scam 1992 (2020). He is known for films that depict social and political realities in deeply polarised and troubled times. His films are remarkable for their understanding of characters and their worlds, while telling important stories. His films Shahid (2013) and Omertà(2018) premiered as official selections at different editions of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Aligarh (2016) a moving tale about a professor suspended by university for being gay premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in 2015. His films have traveled to festivals around the world and have been extensively written about and discussed in both international and local forums. Watch the Buckingham Murders on Netflix. When a teen boy's murder rattles a quiet English town, a grieving detective uncovers the hidden hostilities beneath its idyllic surface…

Luna Carmoon talks about her film, Hoard, starring Joseph Quinn (Gladiator II, Stranger Things). Now Hoard is out, premiering at the 80th Venice Film Festival, Luna's nominated for the 2025 BAFTA for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. This makes her a member of BAFTA Breakthrough and she's already Sundance Ignite Fellow. Luna is also a regular director of music videos for Fontaines DC. Hoard has been praised by The Guardian, The Times, Time Out and the BFI. It has a 94% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Watch Hoard on MUBI here. The story follows Maria - a teenager whose mother used to be a hoarder. Now (set in the 90s) she lives in a foster home where a previous resident Michael inspires her to revisit her childhood memories and passions that she has repressed.

Benjamin Markovits grew up mostly in Texas. He left an unpromising career as a professional basketball player to study the Romantics – an experience he wrote about in Playing Days, a novel. Since then he has taught high school English, worked at a left-wing cultural magazine, and written essays, stories and reviews for, among other publications, The New York Times, Granta, The Guardian, The London Review of Books and The Paris Review.He has published seven novels, including Either Side of Winter, about a New York private school, and a trilogy on the life of Lord Byron: Imposture, A Quiet Adjustment and Childish Loves. In 2009 he won a Pushcart Prize for his short story Another Sad, Bizarre Chapter in Human History. Granta selected him as one of the Best of Young British Novelists in 2013. Markovits lives in London and is married, with a daughter and a son. He teaches Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.His latest novel, The Rest of Our Lives, has been praised by Sarah Hall, Clare Chambers, Lucy Caldwell, The Guardian, the Observer, TLS and many more. Get the book here or at your local bookshop. What's left when your kids grow up and leave home? When Tom Layward's wife had an affair he resolved to leave her as soon as his youngest daughter turned eighteen. Twelve years later, while driving her to Pittsburgh to start university, he remembers his pact.He is also on the run from his own health issues, and the fact that he's been put on leave at work after students complained about the politics of his law class – something he hasn't yet told his wife.So, after dropping Miriam off, he keeps driving, with the vague plan of visiting various people from his past – an old college friend, his ex-girlfriend, his brother, his son – on route, maybe, to his father's grave in California.

Rosanna Pike became an instant Sunday Times Bestseller with her debut novel, A Little Trickerie. It's been longlisted for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction and has been praised by the Guardian, the Telegraph, Bonnie Garmus (Lessons in Chemistry) and Ferdia Lennon (Glorious Exploits). Rosanna studied English literature at Exeter University. She is a graduate of Curtis Brown Creative and the Faber Academy. She lives in south-west London with her family.Get the book here or at your local bookshop. Born a vagabond, Tibb Ingleby has never had a roof of her own. Her mother has taught her that if you're not too bound by the Big Man's rules, there are many ways a woman can find shelter in this world. But now her ma is gone.As she journeys through the fields and forests of medieval England, Tibb discovers that there are people who will care for her, as well as those who mean her harm. And there are a great many others who are prepared to believe just about anything…

Rowe is one of the Observer's Best Debut Novelists of 2025. She's an artist and writer who has been praised for Lifecycle of a Moth by Lucy Rose, Molly Aitken and Gabrielle Griffiths. Get the book here or at your local bookshop. An itchy feeling.A wrinkle in the forest.A cracking twig.A coming sound.Myma, do you hear it?Myma, do you hear?Myma?Maya and Daughter live in complete isolation in a secluded woodland, their days aligned with the light and changing seasons, a complex pattern of routine and ritual. Daughter has never questioned the life her mother has chosen for them; the life that has meant she's never met another soul, or known anywhere except their forest home.But one day, when Daughter is almost sixteen, a red-haired stranger steps into the confines of their territory. Where there was always two, suddenly there are three - and the carefully constructed world that Maya has built to keep her daughter safe may not survive it.Urgent, haunting and thrillingly alive, Life Cycle of a Moth explores both the tenderness and ferocity of maternal love, asking what we might find ourselves capable of - and willing to sacrifice - in order to shelter those we hold dear.

Dr Karen Jennings is longlisted for this year's Women's Prize with her novel Crooked Seeds. Her book An Island was longlisted for the Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize in 2022. Crooked Seeds was described by the Guardian as "a perfectly realised fictional creation." It's a book of the year for the Guardian, Irish Times and CrimeReads. It's also been praised by the Observer, the New York Times and the Washington Post. Get the book here or at your local seller. Deidre is a victim, of her family, her society, her history. That is how she sees herself, and so she feels free of all obligations, moral and practical. Until the police take her back to her family home…In a Cape Town where water is rationed and has to be collected from trucks each day, with the consequences of apartheid and the ending of it still evident, Deidre lives from day to day in squalor – largely created by herself – borrowing, persuading, cadging her way from the water trucks to the bar, testing the tolerance and pity of everyone she knows. Then she is contacted by the police, and taken by a respectful constable to the house where she grew up and where she lost her leg in a shattering explosion while still young. Faced with what is found there, she has to accept the truth of her past, and of her older brother, her parents' golden boy. Then she must confront herself and her responsibility, and what it truly is to be a victim.

Katie's biography, Not Your China Doll, re-examines the life of Hollywood pioneer, Anna May Wong. It's been praised by Marvel star and New York Times Bestseller Simu Liu as well as the Times, the Telegraph and the Guardian. It was nominated for the 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards in History & Biography and selected as one of Entertainment Weekly's 'Books we're excited to read in 2024'.Katie Gee Salisbury is the author of Not Your China Doll, a new biography of Anna May Wong, the first Asian American movie star. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Ringer, the Asian American Writers' Workshop, and elsewhere. She was a finalist for the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship in 2021 and gave the TED Talk “As American as Chop Suey.” She also writes the newsletter Half-Caste Woman. A fifth-generation Chinese American who hails from Southern California, she now lives in Brooklyn.Get the book here or at your local seller. Set against the glittering backdrop of Los Angeles during the gin-soaked Jazz Age and the rise of Hollywood, this debut book celebrates Anna May Wong, the first Asian American movie star, to bring an unsung heroine to light and reclaim her place in cinema history.Before Constance Wu, Sandra Oh, Awkwafina, or Lucy Liu, there was Anna May Wong. In her time, she was a legendary beauty, witty conversationalist, and fashion icon. Plucked from her family's laundry business in Los Angeles, Anna May Wong rose to stardom in Douglas Fairbanks's blockbuster The Thief of Bagdad. Fans and the press clamored to see more of this unlikely actress, but when Hollywood repeatedly cast her in stereotypical roles, she headed abroad in protest.Anna May starred in acclaimed films in Berlin, Paris, and London. She dazzled royalty and heads of state across several nations, leaving trails of suitors in her wake. She returned to challenge Hollywood at its own game by speaking out about the industry's blatant racism. She used her new stature to move away from her typecasting as the China doll or dragon lady, and worked to reshape Asian American representation in film.Filled with stories of capricious directors and admiring costars, glamorous parties and far-flung love affairs, Not Your China Doll showcases the vibrant, radical life of a groundbreaking artist.

Saraid de Silva (she/her) is a Sri Lankan/Pakeha writer living in Tamaki Makaurau, Aotearoa New Zealand. Saraid has worked as an actor, theatre-maker, voiceover artist. In 2022, she graduated from Auckland University's Creative Writing Masters and became the inaugural winner of the Crystal Arts Trust Prize. She has also released three seasons of the documentary series Conversations With My Immigrant Parents for Radio New Zealand with co-creator Julie Zhu, and works as a writer for NZ's prime-time soap opera, Shortland Street.Amma has been praised by Diet Paratha, NZ Poet Laureate Chris Tse and Spinoff. It was also nominated for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction. Get the book here or at your local seller. “Annie Ano Fernando doesn't care much for men”And so begins a novel exploring trauma, displacement, queerness over three generations and three continents of the Sri Lankan diaspora.*1951, Singapore. Ten-year-old Josephina kills her abuser.This event becomes the defining moment in the lives of Josephina, her daughter Sithara, and her granddaughter Annie.The effects cascade through generations as Annie sets out across the world to discover what happened to fracture her family.Set in Sri Lanka, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia and London, Amma is a novel about how the past lives with us forever, and wherever we are.Written in sensuous, vivid prose, Amma is a story of the rich history and unknown future of the Sri Lankan diaspora -  and of one family desperately trying to find peace.

Foluso Agbaje has been writing stories since she first learned to write. She loves London but calls Lagos home, and her stories are shaped by these two cities that have captured her heart. When not curled up with her Kindle, you'll find her in a bookshop, museum, or restaurant. She is a big fan of period dramas and has watched every episode of Downton Abbey more times than she's willing to admit.After graduating from the Faber Academy in 2022, Foluso completed her debut novel, The Parlour Wife. She has a Master's degree in Management and Human Resources from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from Loughborough University.A storyteller at heart, Foluso is always drawn to narratives that explore identity, culture, and resilience. She continues to write, inspired by the complexities of the human experience.Get the book here or at your local seller.

Chloe Abrahams is a Sri Lankan British artist and filmmaker. Using methods drawn from both documentary and fiction practices, she investigates the therapeutic potential of the confessional, culminating in visceral work spanning moving image, sound, writing and performance. Chloe's debut non-fiction film, The Taste of Mango, premiered at True/False 2023 where it was named the #1 film by Sight & Sound. The film went on to win the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the BFI London Film Festival, followed by the BIFA for Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary.​In 2020 Chloe was awarded the John Brabourne Award and has three times been shortlisted for the Bloomberg New Contemporaries (2018, 2019, 2022). She had her first solo exhibition at OVADA (2014), and has since been selected for exhibitions worldwide, including The London Open at the Whitechapel Gallery 2022. Previously, Chloe worked as the Marketing Coordinator for documentary distributor Dogwoof, responsible for the execution of all UK theatrical campaigns, and recently completed a Master's in Moving Image at the Royal College of Art where she was nominated for the HIGH Prize for Excellence.Follow Chloe on instagram @chloeabr

Michael's debut novel, The Boyhood of Cain, has been praised by the Times, the Guardian, the New Yorker and Call Me By Your Name author André Aciman. In this episode we talk about the benefits of not knowing yourself, relentless productivity and the forms of knowledge contained in literature that can't be communicated by AI. Michael is also a non-fiction writer with work published in the Guardian, New Statesman, the Spectator, The White Review and Contrappasso magazine. His short fiction has been longlisted for the BBC National Short Story Prize and shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, among others. Meanwhile, his book-length essay, Go the Way Your Blood Beats, a meditation on truth and desire, won the 2019 Stonewall Israel Fishman Award for Nonfiction (sponsored by the American Library Association).He is also the winner of the 2020 Hubert Butler Essay Prize and was shortlisted for the 2021 Observer/Anthony Burgess Prize for Arts. His essay, ‘Does a Silhouette Have a Shadow?', examining the relationship between mind and body through the lens of chronic illness, is published in anthology On Bodies. Previously he has worked for Just Detention International, a health and human rights organisation that seeks to end sexual abuse in all forms of detention. He served as a commissioner on the Howard League's Commission on sex in prisons – the first of its kind in the UK – which reported in 2015.Get the book here or at your local seller.

Catherine Airey's debut novel Confessions features on the “Books to Look Forward to in 2025” lists for the Financial Times and The Sunday Times. Catherine has been praised by The Guardian, The Atlantic, The Independent, Publishers Weekly and The Irish Times. The Guardian named her as one of 2025's Best New Novelists. The Radio Times says she's “bound to become a household name very soon.” Authors who love her work include Yael van der Wouden, author of The Safekeeping which was nominated for the Booker last year. She's been interviewed for The Times Radio, The Bookseller, Country and Town House, and Radio 4's prestigious Woman's Hour. She was also recently in conversation with 2024 star Ferdia Lennon, author of Glorious Exploits, for Waterstones in Deansgate. We talk about her journey to writing Confessions, favourite reads and the complexity of family stories. Get Confessions here or at your local bookshop! Find Catherine on Instagram @catherineairey. CONFESSIONS:It is late September in 2001 and the walls of New York are papered over with photos of the missing. Cora Brady's father is there, the poster she made taped to columns and bridges. Her mother died long ago and now, orphaned on the cusp of adulthood, Cora is adrift and alone. Soon, a letter will arrive with the offer of a new life: far out on the ragged edge of Ireland, in the town where her parents were young, an estranged aunt can provide a home and fulfil a long-forgotten promise. There the story of Cora's family is hidden, and in her presence will begin to unspool…An essential, immersive debut from an astonishing new voice, Confessions traces the arc of three generations of women as they experience in their own time the irresistible gravity of the past: its love and tragedy, its mystery and redemption, and, in all things intended and accidental, the beauty and terrible shade of the things we do.

Megan is one of Ireland's rising stars, according to The Times. Her novels Acts of Desperation and Ordinary Human Failings have earned huge acclaim over the past few years. Among those accolades are shortlist nominations for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, the Nero Prize, the Royal Society of Literature's Encore Award & the Gordon Burn Prize. She's been longlisted for the Women's Prize this year and the Dylan Thomas Prize 2022. Not only is she a contributor to major outlets (including New Statesman, Frieze, The Telegraph and The Independent), Megan has been interviewed by The Guardian, The Times, Interview Magazine, Metal Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Penguin Random House, NYLON and Stylist. Get your copy of Ordinary Human Failings here or at your local seller.

Abi became a New York Times Bestseller with her book The Girl With the Louding Voice. It was loved by Malala Yousafzai, Dolly Parton, Andi Oliver & Elizabeth Day, among many, many others. It was a Radio 4 Bookclub Pick, Shortlisted for the Desmond Elliot Prize for Fiction, and an International Word-of-Mouth Bestseller. It also featured on The Guardian's Not The Booker List. It was also a Good Morning America Bookclub Pick by Kiley Reid. Abi's been interviewed on the Today Show, The Women's Prize Podcast, LitHub and Sky Arts. She's been featured in the press internationally including the NYT, The Independent, Stylist and Harper's Bazaar. The Girl With the Louding Voice has been translated into over 20 languages and has 150k+ 4 star reviews. And So I Roar follows on from Adunni's story the night before she starts school. Find it here or at your local seller. It's out tomorrow 8/7/24! Abi also has a her own foundation for female education: the Louding Voice Educational and Empowerment Foundation. It provides scholarships for girls in rural Nigeria like Adunni.

Sean Wang is one of the most exciting directors in the world right now. His debut feature film Dídi comes out this week in cinemas near you. It was presented at this year's Sundance, where it won the US Dramatic Audience Award and Special Jury Prize for Best Ensemble Cast, and closed Sundance London. It was also acquired by Focus Features. Sean was Oscar Nominated for his short doc, Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó, about his grandmothers and their beautiful friendship. It won the SXSW Grand Jury Prize & Audience Award. You can find it on Disney+ and Hulu. Sean is a Fellow of the Sundance Screenwriters & Directors Lab, having previously been a fellow of Sundance Ignite and Google Creative Lab 5.

For our 50th episode (!!) Leïla Slimani joins to talk about her latest book Watch Us Dance, which follows on from The Country of Others. Leïla is a French-Moroccan writer and journalist. In November 2018, she was named the second most influential French person in the world, ahead of the President and Mbappé, in Vanity Fair's esteemed annual list. France Today listed in last year as one of 12 Influential French Women You Should Know About, alongside the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Paris. She is also a French diplomat in her capacity as the personal representative of the French president Emmanuel Macron to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. She was made an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2017. In 2016, she was awarded the Prix Goncourt for her novel Lullaby. It sold over 600k copies its first year and 100k in its first week. She was Chair of the Judges for last year's International Booker Prize. She also won the British Book Award for Debut Novel of the Year in 2019. Her non-fiction book Sex and Lies: Sex Life in Morocco sparked nationwide conversation about women's rights. Her work as a journalist has involved covering the Arab Spring and interviewing Michelle Obama in 2022. She's been interviewed by leading outlets and publications around the world including Vogue, Vogue Arabia, The Guardian, The New York Times, TIME Magazine, El País, Morocco World News and Le Monde.  Get her latest book here, or at your local bookshop. 

Sin + Helen have teamed up to write Prophet, in every bookshop you've ever seen right now. Sin is a musician and writer- this is their first novel. Helen, who uses she/they pronouns, is a writer, poet, naturalist and historian of science. They have previously been celebrated internationally for their book H is for Hawk, which won many prizes including the Costa Book of the Year, Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger, and the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction. It was also shortlisted for The Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction and The Duff Cooper Prize. Their book Vesper Flights was a Sunday Times Bestseller. They presented the BBC Four documentary, The Hidden Wilds of the Motorway, in 2020 and worked as an an affiliated research scholar at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, until 2015. Sin + Helen have been interviewed by The Washington Post, LitHub, The London Review of Books podcast & The Guardian. Get their book ⁠here⁠, or at your local bookshop.

Sin + Helen have teamed up to write Prophet, in every bookshop you've ever seen right now. Sin is a musician and writer- this is their first novel. Helen, who uses she/they pronouns, is a writer, poet, naturalist and historian of science. They have previously been celebrated internationally for their book H is for Hawk, which won many prizes including the Costa Book of the Year, Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger, and the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction. It was also shortlisted for The Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction and The Duff Cooper Prize. Their book Vesper Flights was a Sunday Times Bestseller. They presented the BBC Four documentary, The Hidden Wilds of the Motorway, in 2020 and worked as an an affiliated research scholar at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, until 2015. Sin + Helen have been interviewed by The Washington Post, LitHub, The London Review of Books podcast & The Guardian. Get their book here, or at your local bookshop.

Louisa Treger is the acclaimed author of four novels, The Lodger (2014), The Dragon Lady (2019) Madwoman (2022), a historical fiction Book of the Year in The Times and The Sunday Times, and a Book of the Month in the Independent, and The Paris Muse (2024).  She has written for The Times, The Telegraph, Tatler, BBC History Magazine and English Heritage. Radio appearances include BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Programme, and BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour. Treger has a First Class degree and a PhD in English Literature from UCL, and currently lives in London. (Courtesy of Louisa's website ) Get her book here, or at your local bookshop.

Nana is an artist you should know, just ask Dazed, Paper Mag and Fader. Her 21st century queer cowgirl album, Wyoming, is a masterclass in electronic pop. She's featured on major playlists including Spotify's Indie Chillout & anti pop. Also Zara Home Dining. Find her on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠Youtube⁠. For more music, listen to our previous episodes or get ready for more later in the week.

Claire was shortlisted for the Woman's Prize for Fiction this year. She also won the Rooney Prize, Ireland's longest standing literary award, and been nominated for the Irish Novel of the Year Award and the Kerry Group Award for fiction. Her latest work Soldier, Sailor has received international praise from The Independent, The Times, The New York Times, The Irish Times, The Boston Globe, The Hindu, Kirkus Review and The Guardian. You can find in every bookshop, displayed front and centre. She's been listed by The Times & The Bookseller as one of Ireland's leading contemporary writers and her book The Devil I Know was a bestselling hit. She also lectures in Creative Writing for NYU's Dublin Program. Get her book here, or at your local seller.

Rita's exquisite book, Headshot,is one of LitHub & The Independent 2024 Most Anticipated Books. Plus, it featured on the Oprah Daily Spring 2024 List. Rita's been praised in The Washington Post, Guardian, Spectator Australia, The New York Times, Publisher's Weekly, ABC News & Telegraph Praise. She's also been interviewed about by NPR & LitHub.  Her previous novel, Belly Up, won the 2022 Whiting Award. Both her novels have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes. Rita is also an Associate Professor at the University of San Fransisco where she teaches courses on creative writing, zines, and the use of invented and foreign languages as tools for world building. She's been translated into German, Italian, Greek and Dutch. Get her book here, or at your local seller.

Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction, Karen's latest novel picks up in her series about aliens 150 years from now as they make first contact. Her Cygnus Beta series has earned praise from The Guardian, Martha Wells, LitHub, The Big Issue & BookRiot. Get your copy here, or at your local seller. [More on Karen from her about the author online:] Barbadian writer Dr. Karen Lord is the author of Redemption in Indigo, which won the William L. Crawford Award and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature and was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. Her other works include the science fiction novels The Best of All Possible Worlds, The Galaxy Game, and The Blue, Beautiful World, and the crime-fantasy novel Unraveling. Lord also edited the anthology New Worlds, Old Ways: Speculative Tales from the Caribbean. She was a judge for the 2019 Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the 2018 CODE Burt Award for Caribbean YA Literature. She has taught at the 2018 Clarion West Writers Workshop and the 2019 Clarion Workshop, and she co-facilitated the 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Workshop in Barbados. She has been a featured author at literary festivals from Adelaide to Edinburgh to Berlin, and often appears at the Bocas Lit Fest in Trinidad & Tobago.

Kate has worked as a national journalist for two decades and now we get to enjoy her novels. The Maiden was a Times and Waterstones bestseller that was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2024. It also won the Bloody Scotland Pitch Perfect 2020 prize for new writers. It's been recommended by the Guardian, Harper's Bazaar, The Scotsman, The Times, The Bookseller and the BBC. Her latest book, The King's Witches, is on the Herald and the Times' lists for historical fiction releases in June. Get both books here, or at your local seller.

Peace is a leading academic and award winning novelist. Her full list of projects and accolades is right here for you, courtesy of her website: She is associate professor in politics at the University of Bristol and her research is at the intersection of African studies, women's and gender studies, and international relations. She studies state and non-state actor responses to gender-based violence and other forms of insecurity. Her book, Global Norms and Local Action: The Campaigns to End Violence against Women in Africa, was published in 2020 by Oxford University Press. Her second monograph, which is in progress, draws on survey and interview data to study women traditional leaders and their evolving roles and impact on women's security and rights in Botswana, Ghana, Liberia, and South Africa. She is also writing and producing a documentary on the subject.  Her debut novel, His Only Wife, was published in 2020 by Algonquin Books. It was a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice, a New York Times Notable Book of 2020, and a Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020. It was also a Reese's Book Club Pick. His Only Wife is available in Croatian, Dutch, Italian, French, and Russian, with more translations forthcoming. Her second novel, Nightbloom, was published in 2023 by Algonquin Books and was longlisted for the 2024 Women's Prize for Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Slice Magazine, Transition, Four Way Review, and elsewhere. Medie's research has been supported by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council, and her findings have been published in African Affairs, InternationalStudies Review, Politics & Gender, the European Journal of Politics and Gender, and elsewhere. She has won many awards for her work, including the Best Article Award of the European Journal of Politics and Gender and the African Author Prize of African Affairs. She has also held several fellowships, including the Oxford-Princeton Global Leaders fellowship. She was an editor of African Affairs, the top-ranked African studies journal, from 2017 to 2022 and co-edits the Oxford Studies in African Politics and International Relationsbook series.  Medie earned a BA in Geography from the University of Ghana, an MA in International Studies from Ohio University, and a PhD in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh. Before joining the University of Bristol, she was a Research Fellow at LECIAD, University of Ghana. She attended OLA Secondary School, Ho, and was born in Liberia. Get your copy of Nightbloom here, or at your local seller.

Pam's debut novel, A Trace of Sun, was long listed for the 2024 Women's Prize for Fiction. Her work has been covered in The Guardian, The Independent, Harper's Bazaar, India Today, Glamour and Good Housekeeping. After graduating in Fashion at St Martin's School of Art in 1984, Pam was worked as fashion editor at She, Now, PS and Shape. Her short stories and poetry has been published by the Afrikan Heritage Writers group. She has also won the BlackInk New Writing Prize 2022 and is an alumnus of the writer development agency's London Writers Award. Find her book here, or at your local bookshop.

Erin went viral with her mashup of White Ferrari and I Know the End (which you can listen to on streaming). She's been on BBC Spotlight, and featured in Clash, Clout, Wonderland and Ones to Watch. Although she was set to perform at The Great Escape festival, she's chosen to join the boycott on sponsor Barclays in solidarity with Palestine. If you're looking for an artist set to take over Gen Z's hearts, she's right here. Follow Erin on Instagram, Twitter (aka X), Youtube & TikTok.

One of Australian literature's biggest names, Kate has written countless novels about her country, her family and the complexity of the stories we tell. Her book, The Secret River, was Shortlisted for the Booker and won what is now the Women's Prize, as well as the now retired Commonwealth Prize. It's a set text for many teens across Australia and in leading universities. She's shortlisted for this year's Women's Prize with her latest work, Restless Dolly Maunder, which imagines the life of her grandmother during what Kate calls the "hinge generation". Get a copy here, or at your local bookshop.

Akemi is a rising star, and that's according to BBC Introducing, Fred Perry Subculture, Notion, Line of Best Fit & Metal Mag. She was a guest at Chanel's Métiers d'Art Show in Manchester. She's played at Radio 1's Big Weekend and her song Lemon Tea has 1.7 million streams on Spotify. She's featured on major Apple Music, Prime Music and Spotify playlists. Among them, Spotify & Chill, Spotify's R&B UK, Café Chillout, Choice Edit, Free Form, the night bus, LED Lights & songs you need to listen to to expand your music taste. Find Akemi on TikTok and Instagram.

Effie is a scientist and a Women's Prize Longlisted Debut Novelist. This is her first podcast interview, you're welcome. Her book has featured in The Guardian, The Independent, Harper's Bazaar, Good Housekeeping and The Bookseller. Get yourself a copy of In Defence of the Act, here or at your local bookshop.

Not only is Heather a screen and theatre actress, she's a major rising star of British photography. She's been interviewed by The National Portrait Gallery, The Independent, Digital Spy, Tatler and BBC News. Her screen work includes BBC's This is Going to Hurt and Prime's The Power. And her theatre career includes the Lyric's School Girls or the African Mean Girls Play, the National Theatre's Sankara and, most recently, the Bush Theatre's Shifters. She's featured in galleries around the world and won prizes such as the London Emerging Photographer Award and the Jerwood Foundation New Work Fund. Arts Council England recently acquired a number of pieces from her latest collection 'ego death'. She's a Nikon Ambassador for Europe. She has also given lectures at the Tate Modern, Somerset House, The British Library, Southbank Centre, The Centre for British Photography, The London Art Fair, Jerwood Space, The Photo Vogue Festival and Amherst College. Heather has a BSc in Applied Psychology and an MA in Photography & Urban Cultures too. More on her site. Find Heather on Instagram too.

Flora's been praised by TLS and Times of London for her debut, The Tower. It's a Bookseller Editor's Choice Pick for March 2024. She is also a critic & contributor for GQ, The Telegraph, Radio Times, TIME & The Guardian She's been shortlisted for the V.S Pritchett Short Story Prize, won of the British Vogue Talent Contest and is one of the London Library's 40 Emerging Writers (2020/2021). Get a copy of the book here, or at your local bookshop.

Known as Sugi, Vasugi Vasantha Ganeshananthan is Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction with her second novel Brotherless Night. The book has also features on the New York Times Editor's Choice and The Washington Post's Best Books of the Year List. Get it here, or from your local bookseller. Here's just a slice of her career from her website: A former vice president of the South Asian Journalists Association, she has also served on the board of the Asian American Writers' Workshop, and is presently a member of the boards of the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies and the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop. The National Endowment for the Arts, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, Yaddo, MacDowell, and the American Academy in Berlin have awarded her fellowships. She has served as visiting faculty at the Helen Zell Writers' Program at the University of Michigan and at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and now teaches in the MFA program at the University of Minnesota, where she is a McKnight Presidential Fellow and associate professor of English. She co-hosts the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast on Literary Hub, which is about the intersection of literature and the news.

Noreen's Memoir, A Flat Place, is now Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction. It was also a Book of the Year 2023 for The Guardian, Sunday Times & New Yorker. It was longlisted for The Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize, Shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Author of the Year Award 2024 and Shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2024. Noreen lectures at Bristol in 20th Century Literature and has been published in outlets like TLS and Aeon. As an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker, she's done broadcast work includes Radio 3 and Radio 4's beloved In Our Time. Find out more about Noreen's work here. And get yourself a copy of the book here, or at your local bookshop.

Taylor is one of the most exciting artists on your fyp. Her songs I Like Mondays and Quarter Life Crisis have gone super viral. Quarter Life Crisis sparked a beautiful trend of appreciating our younger self and who we are now. Very fitting for her honest, empathetic writing style. It was streamed over 30 million times and used for 400k+ videos, even by Drew Barrymore and Kevin Jonas. Her TikTok videos for I Like Mondays, released March 2024, have garnered millions of views. And rightly so. Her next song, Binary Code, is out 3rd May so get ready. Her music has made it on huge Spotify playlists including: “Viral 50” (#10), “big on the internet,” “Pop Sauce,” “young & free,” “Chill Pop,” “New Pop Picks,” “Hits Don't Lie," and “songs to scream in the car”. Find Taylor here on TikTok and Instagram. Go listen to her music this instant!

Emma was Grammy Nominated for Best Director following her iconic music video for Janelle Monáe's song PYNK. She also directed Troye Sivan's Lucky Strike mv. Her debut feature, Bleeding Love, starring Ewan & Clara McGregor is out now. She also has another feature, Buffalo Flats, in development. Her TV work includes episodes of: Dollface, Little Voice and Long Slow Exhale. We talk about making her latest film, the stars she's worked with, communicating on set and creative collaboration. Book yourself a seat for Bleeding Love in your local or independent cinema of choice.

Marie has been described by the Independent as following in the footsteps of great rock and folk artists. She's been praised by Clash, Line of Best Fit and NME, who listed her on their 2021 Big 10 to watch. Her new single Rust & Blue is now out. Find her on Instagram and YouTube.

Lisa is a Hemingway Award Winner and National Book Award Finalist. Her literary criticism has been published in the likes of the Washington Post, NYT & Buzzfeed. Vogue, Elle, Oprah Daily, LitHub & BookRiot have all put Memory Piece on their list Best Books 2024. The Guardian, Dazed, NYT, The Atlantic & People have also given it the praise it deserves. We talk about what it means to preserve our lives online, how friendships never really fade and what gives value to the time other people spend consuming our work. Also, the history of the Big Apple as seen through her eyes and captured in her novel. Get the book here or at your local seller.

Nana is an artist you should know, just ask Dazed, Paper Mag and Fader. Her 21st century queer cowgirl album, Wyoming, is a masterclass in electronic pop. She's featured on major playlists including Spotify's Indie Chillout & anti pop. Also Zara Home Dining. Find her on Instagram and Youtube. For more music, listen to our previous episodes or get ready for more later in the week.

Chitra's developed a strong Instagram & TikTok following with only 2 tracks. Self taught, she's captured attention through her unique style, love of visuals and videos of her enjoying the journey. Follow her on Instagram, TikTok and Youtube. For more music, listen to our previous episodes or get ready for new episodes in the week.

Meg is on Spotify's Pop Rising List for 2024 along with only 7 other artists in the world. Rolling Stone also selected her for its 8 Rising Pop Stars of the year, under the title: "Who'll be Pop's Next Big Thing?" An incredible achievement for any artist, let alone one who self-releases. She's also been interviewed by Clout and Wonderland. Her work is an energising blend of vulnerability and humour that makes her one of the most exciting pop artists in the world today. Find Meg on Instagram and TikTok.

Nectar is one of Spotify's UK & IE Rising Stars 2024. You may recognise her from their Billboard in Leicester Square. She's been featured on BBC Introducing and Radio 1's Future Music List. She's also interviewed for Clash and Apple Music. She's been selected for Spotify's leading playlists including: A Perfect Day, Good Energy, Spotify & Chill, Easy, Fresh Finds R&B, New Pop Revolution, New Music Friday UK, All New All Now, Equal UK & Ireland, New Pop UK, Sweet Soul Sunday, Fresh Finds Class of 2023, Chilled Pop Hits & Notable Releases (to name a few!). Find her on TikTok or Instagram.

Nadine has been praised by Esquire, Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan and the great SZA. She's performed around the world, worked with fashion powerhouse Louboutin and featured on the album of international Iraqi rap legend Narcy. Her work focuses on intersectional female empowerment and incorporates her Sudanese, Egyptian and Iranian heritage.  Her latest track Calm Down is a witty and damning challenge to colonial, capitalist and patriarchal structures that connected especially well with Gen Z, reaching over 1 million views for a single video.  You can find more about Nadine on her ⁠website⁠, ⁠insta⁠ or ⁠TikTok⁠.  More interviews are available on the podcast and our ⁠site⁠. 

Irish Essayist Carmel McMahon talks about decolonising storytelling, bringing healing to the past and what time means to us. Her book In Ordinary Time is a brilliant memoir about her own personal history and that of her country. She manages to make the heavy and uncomfortable feel remarkably approachable and freeing.  She's received deserved praise from The Guardian, The Observer, The Irish Times and Literary Hub as well as award-winning authors like Mary Costello and Priscilla Morris. Get the book here, or at your local seller.

Jacqueline's book Fire Rush was shortlisted for the 2023's Women's Prize and Waterstone's Debut Fiction Prize. It's a Sunday Times Best Novel and The Guardian's Best Fiction Book of 2023. It was also one of The Observer's Best Debut Novels. Maggie O'Farrell even gave it her stamp of approval. It's certainly one of the best books I've ever had the privilege of reading. Here's the blurb courtesy of Penguin's site: Yamaye lives for the weekend, when she can go raving with her friends at The Crypt, an underground club on the outskirts of London. Then everything changes. Yamaye meets Moose, who she falls deeply in love with, and who offers her the chance of freedom and escape.After their relationship is brutally cut short, Yamaye goes on a dramatic journey of transformation that leads her to Jamaica, where past and present collide with explosive consequences. Get the book here, or at your local seller.

Andrew quite rightly features on The Standard's 2024 New Art Power List and hailed by The Telegraph as an artist saving public galleries. Today, he talks about creating a space through sonic and visual art for the viewer to think and find new ideas. His current exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery is a love letter to one of London's most diverse neighbourhoods. It's also praised by TimeOut. This episode is a moment of celebration for the way we all experience art and what it means for the world.  Andrew earned his MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art (2019) and BA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts (2017). He's also an Associate Lecturer at The Royal College of Art's MA Painting programme. On top of that, he's won the ArtAngel 'Thinking Time' Award (2020) and Tiffany & Co. x Outset Studiomakers Prize (2019). Check out Whitechapel Gallery ⁠here⁠.  For more art, head to ⁠sanclemente.co.uk⁠, catch up on previous episodes or get ready for more this week.

Forensic Architecture is a multidisciplinary research group based at ⁠Goldsmiths, University of London⁠ that uses architectural techniques and technologies to investigate cases of state violence and violations of human rights around the world.  Their investigations have provided decisive evidence in a number of legal cases, including in national and international courts in Germany, The Hague, Greece, Israel, Guatemala, as well as in citizen tribunals and human rights processes, leading to military, parliamentary, and UN inquiries. Alongside their presentation in such political and judicial forums, Forensic Architecture's investigations have also been shown in cultural and artistic venues as examples of the use of creative practice in an image- and data-laden environment. Sarah (Assistant Director / Operations) is responsible for overseeing all operational aspects of FA – including financial, HR, legal, and administrative matters – and strategic financial and operational planning. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto (BSc) and the University of Cambridge (MPhil), where her research focused on the destruction of heritage sites in conflict. Sarah joined the team in 2017, having previously worked at B+H Architects, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Aga Khan Museum. FA's investigation into the destruction of cultural heritage sites in Gaza (2018-2022), with human rights group Al-Haq, led them to call on The Prosecutor of the ICC to consider this destruction as amounting to war crimes, and to evaluate their potential contribution to apartheid as a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute.  Journalist ⁠Roshdi Sarraj⁠ was killed as he tried to shield his wife, Shorouq, and one-year-old daughter, Dania, from shrapnel ⁠in their family home⁠. He co-founded ⁠⁠Ain Media⁠⁠ with Yasser Murtaja. Murtaja was ⁠killed⁠ by an Israeli sniper while covering the 2018 Great March of Return. A 2019 UN inquiry found reasonable grounds to suggest there was ⁠intentional targeting of journalists,⁠ including Murtaja, by the Israeli army during the march. Ain Media were vital for the Living Archaeology in Gaza project.  Shawn Ginwight's conversation with Brené Brown:  ⁠https://open.spotify.com/episode/27qUt2DfcLROhzFZaO2gqG?si=d4e46b25a28d470d⁠   Joel Stokes on Silwan:  ⁠https://www.palestine-studies.org/sites/default/files/jq-articles/“Silence%2C”%20Heritage%2C%20and%20Sumud%20in%20Silwan%2C%20East%20Jerusalem.pdf⁠   Organisations supporting Silwan: ⁠https://www.silwanic.net⁠  ⁠www.iwitnesssilwan.org⁠  Information on Forensic Architecture taken from:  ⁠https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/turner-prize-2018/forensic-architecture⁠ ⁠https://forensic-architecture.org/about/agency⁠ Sarah's work: ⁠https://forensic-architecture.org/about/team/member/sarah-nankivell⁠ Living Archaeology in Gaza:  ⁠https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/living-archaeology-in-gaza⁠ 

One of GQ's Ones to Watch 2024, Lucy has been all over our social media feeds with her hits Kulture Klub and ADHD. Bella Hadid, the inspiration for the former, is also a fan. Kulture Klub's sped up version has 175k+ uses, an accomplishment for even a seasoned star.  Not only is she a producer and singer, Lucy, along with Rina Sawayama, is a member of ESEA, a writing camp for East and South Asian artists.  In case that wasn't enough, Lucy completed her degree in Economics and Burmese at SOAS during the pandemic. As she explains herself, Lucy performed to 60,000 people as a special guest for Bunny Phyoe's televised NYE countdown in Myanmar.  You can listen to Lucy ⁠here⁠ or follow her ⁠@lucytun⁠ on TikTok + ⁠@lcytn⁠ on Instgram.