Podcasts about costa prize

The Caribbean is a region with an incredible history of vibrant cultures blending into each other, which is reflected in so many elements from the food, the local traditions, the music and of course, the literature. Today's guest hails from the nation of Trinidad and Tobago, and the region has clearly left an indelible mark on her writing, infusing it with the rhythms, flavors, and complexities that define the Caribbean experience. Based on the new format of the show, Costa Prize winning author Ingrid Persaud will share four books that have left an indelible mark on her life and work. From literary classics to contemporary gems, these books have shaped her perspective, influencing the stories she tells and the voices she amplifies. In this episode, we also discuss her latest novel, "The Lost Love Songs of Boysie Singh." Inspired by the true story of the titular Trinidadian gangster from the 1930s to the 1950s, this novel looks at the complex web of relationships surrounding him and the four women who shaped his life. Set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing society, this novel offers a poignant exploration of love, loss, and redemption, inviting readers to journey through the heartaches and triumphs of its unforgettable characters. The four books that Ingrid Persaud selected were:  A House for Mr Biswas, VS Naipaul (1961) Reading Turgenev, William Trevor (1991) As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner (1930) Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison (1977) If you'd like to get in touch, you can contact me on my Instagram account @litwithcharles and you can also check out my weekly Substack newsletter: https://litwithcharles.substack.com/

Rose Rouse is a London-based writer/editor/poet who was born in Yorkshire and spends part of the year with her partner, Asanga Judge, in North Wales.In 2016, she co-founded Advantages of Age – a social enterprise which challenges media stereotypes around ageing. She writes and commissions pieces for the website advantagesofage.com, edits them, and curates the FB group. In 2023, she edited an anthology of these pieces – Sex, Death and Other Inspiring Stories – the Advantages of Age handbook to getting older funkily which is now for sale. There was also the first AofA Awards Ceremony at Hoxton Hall which went down a storm.In 2021, she was awarded an Arts Council England grant to put together the performance Dance Me To Death with choreographers, Rhys Dennis and Waddah Sinada from FUBUNATION and a group of Over-60s non-professional dancers. It took place in Kensal Green Cemetery and there is a short film which has been screened at a host of festivals.See her next book launch book launch of Sex, Death and Other Inspiring Stories at the gallery Worldly, Wicked and Wise in Queen's Park on March 12th at 6 30pm. There will be readings by the writers including Costa Prize winner, Monique Roffey... https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sex-death-other-inspiring-stories-book-launch-exhibition-tickets-808869740167?fbclid=IwAR14FZUXCLcfUEoYqtfNHjJI09HryaLZYpI3hqml7cRet_9eEewlh9gaWVoroserouse.co.ukadvantagesofage.comadvantagesofageawards.comFB – Advantages of Age – Baby Boomers and BeyondInsta - @advantagesofageDo you enjoy listening to these podcasts?You might like to support their ongoing journey, by contributing £5 per month and be part of our community. Middle Earth Medicine has a platform for ongoing connections, support and wellbeing. It can be found here… https://middleearthmedicine.com/membership-account/membership-checkoutYou could be supporting our podcast and appreciating what it offers.AND you could also attend gatherings with like minded people, view videos and blogs of the soul-purpose journey. There would be opportunity to share thoughts on the subject of each podcasts message if you wish toIf you are willing, please go to this link https://middleearthmedicine.com/membership-account/membership-checkout and make your contribution today.Thank you so much for your continued support.  Website: www.middleearthmedicine.com.Email: caroline@middleearthmedicine.com Thank you for listening to this podcast, let's spread the word together to support the embodiment of soul, to reclaim our spirituality and to remember a broken innocence, a reclaiming of soul and our life force. Gratitude to you all https://plus.acast.com/s/how-to-find-our-soul-purpose. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matthew Bannister on Harry Belafonte, the singer and actor who was also a leading civil rights campaigner. Jerry Springer, whose TV talk show was once voted the worst in history – but was watched by millions around the world. Valerie Winn, the runner who became the face of a campaign to allow women to compete in top level middle distance races. Kate Saunders, the novelist, journalist and critic who won the Costa Prize for Children's Literature for her book Five Children on the Western Front. Interviewee: Michael Shnayerson Interviewee: Amanda Craig Interviewee: Wendy Sly Interviewee: Jene Galvin Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Archive used: Harry Belafonte, Desert Island Discs, BBC Home Service, 06/10/1958; "Sing Your Song": Remembering Harry Belafonte, Who Used His Fame to Help Civil Rights Movement, Democracy Now, YouTube uploaded 26/04/2023; Harry Belafonte interview, Film Night, BBC Archive originally broadcast 15/04/1972; Civil Rights, British Pathe, uploaded YouTube 25/11/2016; Harry Belafonte interview, PBS Newshour, PBC, YouTube uploaded 15/11/2011; Kate Saunders introduction on Have I Got News For You, BBC ONE, 28/09/1990; Jerry Springer , Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 06/11/2009; Jerry Springer resigns from Cincinnati city council in 1974, WCPO, YouTube uploaded 28/04/2016; Jerry's Final Thought Brings Him To Tears, Jerry Springer Show, YouTube uploaded 21/09/2015; When Paxman met Springer, BBC Newsnight, 26/02/2014;

SIMON MASON chats to Paul Burke about his new novel A BROKEN AFTERNOON, Oxford, Morse, publishing and THE BROKEN AFTERNOON: A DI RYAN WILKINS MYSTERYA SHOCKING DISAPPEARANCEA four-year-old girl goes missing in plain sight outside her nursery in Oxford, a middle-class, affluent area,her mother only a stones-throw away.A TRIGGERING RESPONSERyan Wilkins, one of the youngest ever Detective Inspectors in the Thames Valley force, dishonourably discharged three months ago, watches his former partner DI Ray Wilkins deliver a press conference, confirming a lead.A DARK WEBRay begins to delve deeper, unearthing an underground network of criminal forces in the local area. But while Ray's investigation stalls Ryan brings his unique talents to unofficial and quite illegal inquiries which will bring him into a confrontation with the very officials who have thrown him out of the force.SIMON MASON has pursued parallel careers as a publisher and an author, whose YA crime novels Running Girl, Kid Got Shot and Hey, Sherlock! feature the sixteen-year-old slacker genius Garvie Smith. A former Managing Director of David Fickling Books, where he worked with many wonderful writers, including Philip Pullman, he has also taught at Oxford Brookes University and is currently a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Exeter College, Oxford. At first he wrote books for adults, then books for children, which grew up at roughly the same rate his own children grew up, and now he is back writing books for adults again. He has written a work of non-fiction, The Rough Guide to Classic Novels. His novels have been shortlisted for a number of awards, including the Branford Boase Prize for Best First Children's Novel, the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Costa Prize for Best Children's Book, and have won the Betty Trask for Best First Novel and the Crimefest Prize for Best YA Crime Novel.Recommendations Annie Ernaux The Years (trans. Alison L Strayer)  & Simple Passion (trans. Tanya Leslie)Produced by Junkyard DogMusic courtesy of Southgate and LeighCrime TimePaul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network. He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2022 .Produced by Junkyard DogMusic courtesy of Southgate and LeighCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023CrimeFest 2023&CWA Daggers 2023

Joy is...an undulating path.Helen Mort is an award-winning poet and novelist, with a life-long passion for running, climbing and the outdoors. She has published three poetry collections, the latest of which, The Illustrated Woman, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize. She has also been shortlisted for the T.S.Eliot Prize, the Costa Prize and won the Fenton Aldeburgh Prize in 2015. She appears regularly on BBC radio, has taught creative writing for over ten years, and is currently Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. Landscape is an important presence in her writing, and many of her poems have been composed while walking or running in the Cumbrian fells. Her first full length non-fiction book A Line Above the Sky, which recently won the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature, is a love letter to losing oneself in physicality, dovetailing the acts of climbing and bringing a child into the world in a dance that melds nature writing and memoir to explore why humans are drawn to danger; how we can find freedom in pushing limits; attitudes towards women who do so, and the question of ownership of one's body.This is truly one of my favourite conversations of all time. A few technical glitches meant that it took place over two days; however, many ideas that we touched upon on the first day, simmered overnight so that, what would become, 'Part Two', really enriches the themes that we initially dipped into. We flit from the intensely personal to the theoretical, emerging with many more questions and paths of inquiry to hopefully continue over a run, a pint and matching Mary Oliver tattoos!We discussed: attitudes towards hills; being awkward teenagers and channeling our inner flying squirrels; incidental meetings and sharing stories; struggling with expectations; getting honest about the joys but also problems in our relationships with running; how movement can facilitate creativity; embodiment and lyrical messiness; how we are seen/read and therefore how we project ourselves; tattoos and making our own maps; the conflicting responsibilities, expectations, double-binds, value judgments and presumed identities surrounding pregnancy and motherhood; interdependence with the landscape and which rock face you'd bring home to meet your mother; representation and the privilege of space; climbing, crinolines and the politics of clothing; dangerous women; measuring success and why we 'do not have to be good'; how writing and climbing bring us back to ourselves, and why we should embrace a life of 'book stacks'.Discover: www.helenmort.comFollow: Twitter: @HelenMortInstagram: @morty_but_niceRead: The Illustrated Woman; A Line Above the Sky; The Wild VersesWatch: Run to the SourcePhoto Credit: Joe Horner Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon and Rachel speak with the academic and author Robert Douglas-Fairhurst. After undergraduate studies and a PhD at Cambridge, Robert moved to Oxford in 2002, where he is a professor of English Literature and a fellow of Magdalen College. His previous books include "Becoming Dickens: The Invention of a Novelist", which won the Duff Cooper Prize for biography in 2011; "The Story of Alice: Lewis Carroll and the Secret History of Wonderland" in 2015, which was shortlisted for the Costa Prize, and most recently "The Turning Point: A Year that Changed Dickens and the World" (2021). Robert has edited editions of Charles Dickens, Charles Kingsley and J.M. Barrie, and is a regular contributor to the Times, Guardian, Spectator, Literary Review, New Statesman and TLS. He has worked as a historical advisor on BBC adaptations of "Jane Eyre" (2006), "Emma" (2009) and "Great Expectations" (2011); acted as a consultant to the "Enola Holmes" film franchise; and served as a judge for the Man Booker and Baillie Gifford prizes. We spoke to Robert about combining an academic career with writing for a wider audience, his biographies of Charles Dickens and Lewis Carroll, and his upcoming book "Metamorphosis." You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Join 5x15 in September to hear about acclaimed biographer Andrea Wulf's thrilling, and timely, story of a group of friends who changed the world in conversation with broadcaster Kirsty Lang. In the 1790s an extraordinary group of friends from the small German town of Jena changed the world. They were the first Romantics, and their ideas transformed society and shaped the way we lead our lives today. In Magnificent Rebels, Andrea Wulf, the Costa Prize-winning author of The Invention of Nature, tells the riveting story of this revolutionary band of poets, novelists and philosophers. Disappointed by the French Revolution's rapid collapse into tyranny, what they wanted was nothing less than a revolution of the mind. And through their epic quarrels, passionate love stories, heart-breaking grief and radical ideas, they launched Romanticism onto the world stage, inspiring some of the greatest thinkers of the time. The lives of these Magnificent Rebels are as relevant today as ever as we, like they, walk the same tightrope between meaningful self-fulfilment and destructive narcissism, between the rights of the individual and our role as a member of our community, and our responsibilities towards future generations who will inhabit this planet. Andrea Wulf was born in India, moved to Germany as a child, and now lives in London. She is the award-winning author of five books. Her previous book, The Invention of Nature, was an international bestseller and won more than 10 awards, including the Royal Society Science Book Award 2016, Costa Biography Award 2015, the Inaugural James Wright Award for Nature Writing 2016 and the LA Times Book Prize 2016. Andrea has written for many newspapers including the Guardian, LA Times and New York Times. She was the Eccles British Library Writer in Residence 2013 and a three-time fellow of the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello. She appears regularly on TV and radio. Kirsty Lang is a writer, broadcaster and former foreign correspondent. A familiar voice on BBC Radio 4 Kirsty has been a presenter on Front Row, The World Tonight and Last Word. This year she took over as the first female host of the fiendishly difficult Round Britain Quiz, the longest running game show in Europe. She is also Chair of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, Newcastle and a regular contributor to the Sunday Times Culture magazine. With thanks for your support for 5x15 online. Learn more about 5x15 events: 5x15stories.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/5x15stories Facebook: www.facebook.com/5x15stories Instagram: www.instagram.com/5x15stories

From the Costa Prize-winning author of The Invention of Nature, Magnificent Rebels is a riveting, eye-opening biography of the first Romantics: a revolutionary group of friends based in the small German town of Jena whose modern ideas transformed society and the way we lead our lives today. In the 1790s an extraordinary group of friends changed the world. Disappointed by the French Revolution's rapid collapse into tyranny, what they wanted was nothing less than a revolution of the mind. The rulers of Europe had ordered their peoples how to think and act for too long. Based in the small German town of Jena, through poetry, drama, philosophy and science, they transformed the way we think about ourselves and the world around us. They were the first Romantics. Their way of understanding the world still frames our lives and being. We're still empowered by their daring leap into the self. We still think with their minds, see with their imagination and feel with their emotions. We also still walk the same tightrope between meaningful self-fulfilment and destructive narcissism, between the rights of the individual and our role as a member of our community and our responsibilities towards future generations who will inhabit this planet. This extraordinary group of friends changed our world. It is impossible to imagine our lives, thoughts and understanding without the foundation of their ground-breaking ideas.

The second novel from the Costa Prize shortlisted author of BIG GIRL, SMALL TOWN. Smart-mouthed and filthy-minded, Maeve Murray has always felt like an outsider in the shitty wee town in Northern Ireland that she calls home. She hopes her exam results will be her ticket to a new life in London; a life where no one knows her business, or cares about her dead sister. But first she's got to survive a tit-for-tat paramilitary campaign as brutal as her relationship with her mam, iron 800 shirts a day to keep her summer job in the local factory, and dodge the attentions of Handy Andy Strawbridge, her dubious English boss. Maeve and her two best friends try to squeeze in as much fun as possible into their last summer at home. But as marching season raises tensions between the Catholic and Protestant workforce, Maeve realises something is going on behind the scenes at the factory, forcing her to make a choice that will impact her life - and the lives of others - forever.

The Playcast is back!We return with the first episode of the season brining you an interview with Caroline Bird. Caroline is the writer of Red Ellen which arrives at Nottingham Playhouse on Weds 13th April. Get your tickets hereBioCaroline won The Forward Prize for best poetry collection in 2020. She was shortlisted for the Costa Prize 2020, the TS Eliot Prize 2017, the Ted Hughes Award 2017, and the Dylan Thomas Prize twice in 2008 and 2010. She was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize 2014. She has also won an Eric Gregory Award (2002) and the Foyle Young Poet of the Year award two years running (1999, 2000), and was a winner of the Poetry London Competition in 2007, the Peterloo Poetry Competition in 2004, 2003 and 2002. Caroline was on the shortlist for Shell Woman Of The Future Awards 2011.Caroline has had six collections of poetry published by Carcanet. Her first collection Looking Through Letterboxes (published in 2002 when she was only 15) is a topical, zesty and formally delightful collection of poems built on the traditions of fairy tale, fantasy and romance. Her second collection, Trouble Came to the Turnip, was published in September 2006 to critical acclaim. Watering Can, her third collection published in November 2009 celebrates life as an early twenty-something with comedy, wordplay and bright self-deprecation. Her fourth collection, The Hat-Stand Union, was described by Simon Armitage as ‘spring-loaded, funny, sad and deadly.' Her fifth collection, In These Days of Prohibition (published July 2017) was shortlisted for the 2017 TS Eliot Prize and the 2017 Ted Hughes Award. Her sixth collection, The Air Year was published in February 2020, and was book of the month in The Telegraph, book of the year in the Guardian, shortlisted for the Costa Prize, and winner of the Forward Prize.Bird's poems have been published in several anthologies and journals including Poetry Magazine, PN Review, Poetry Review and The North magazine. Several of her poems and a commissioned short story, Sucking Eggs, have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3. She was one of the five official poets at London Olympics 2012. Her poem, The Fun Palace, which celebrates the life and work of Joan Littlewood, is now erected on the Olympic Site outside the main stadium.In recent years, Caroline has given poetry performances at Aldeburgh Festival, Latitude Festival, the Manchester Literature Festival, the Wellcome Collection, the Royal Festival Hall, the Wordsworth Trust, Cheltenham Festival, and Ledbury Festival, amongst others.Caroline Bird began writing plays as a teenager when she was the youngest ever member of the Royal Court Young Writer's Programme, tutored by Simon Stephens. In 2011 Caroline was invited to take part in Sixty Six Books by the Bush Theatre. She wrote a piece inspired by Leviticus, directed by Peter Gill. In February 2012, her Beano-inspired musical, The Trial of Dennis the Menace was performed in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre.Caroline's new version of The Trojan Women premiered at the Gate Theatre at the end of 2012 to wide critical acclaim. Caroline's plSupport the show (https://nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/support-us/donate/curtain-up-appeal/)

Join us as we talk all things books, apocalypses, whales and the Costa Prize shortlist with Kate Sawyer, author of The Stranding. It's a novel about a woman who survives the end-of-the-world by hiding inside the belly of a whale. Find out why we loved it, as we consider its place in the canon of apocalypse novels from Z for Zachariah to The Road. We've also got a ton of book club recommendations, find out what Kate's been reading recently and have some follow-on read suggestions for when you've finished The Stranding. Book list Moby Dick by Herman Melville The Road by Cormac McCarthy Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien Nights at the Circus and Wise Children by Angela Carter Matrix and Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff Larry's Party and Unless by Carol Shields Assembly by Natasha Brown Still Life by Sarah Winman Wahala by Nikki May (out Spring 2022) Burntcoat by Sarah Hall The Smallest Man by Frances Quinn Weather by Jenny Offill Humankind by Rutger Bregman The Life of the Mind by Christine Smallwood Follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. Don't miss our website where you can find our archive of over 100 shows to browse through. Don't miss our recent Booker Prize special, or our discussion of Lauren Groff's latest book Matrix and find out why we just can't stop thinking about nuns. You can also find our library of articles including our recent one on our favourite book podcasts. And you can sign up to our bi-weekly newsletter for book reviews, recommendations and more.

Graham Farmelo is an award-winning biographer and science writer. Based in London, he is a Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge and a regular visitor at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. He was a lecturer in physics at the Open University, 1977-1990. Briefly the youngest tenured academic in the UK. Quickly specialized as a teacher, chaired the team that produced the Science Foundation Course in the late 1980s and conceived its inter-disciplinary science course ‘Science Matters'. Farmelo is author of 'The Universe Speaks in Numbers', published in May 2019. It explores the relationship between mathematics and the search for the laws of physics, and highlights the contributions of several theoretical physicists, natural philosophers and mathematicians, notably Isaac Newton, Pierre-Simon Laplace, James Clerk Maxwell, Albert Einstein and Paul Dirac. Farmelo's Dirac biography ‘The Strangest Man' won the 2009 Costa Prize for Biography[1] and the 2009 'Los Angeles Times Science and Technology Book Prize'.[2] The book was chosen by Physics World as the physics book of the year in 2009,[3] when it was selected as one of Nature's books of the year. Farmelo's 2013 book 'Churchill's Bomb' focuses on Winston Churchill's role in British nuclear research 1939-53, with hitherto unpublished information on its influence by Churchill's science adviser Frederick Lindemann. The book emphasizes conflicts between scientific opportunity and political direction. Farmelo is critical of Churchill's wavering attention and changes of policy as he aged. https://grahamfarmelo.com/ 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:12 Do we need a theory of everything? 00:04:33 Fundamental Physics is a small part of the whole field. 00:06:55 What is the mathematical language of the Universe? Intergers? Rationale numbers? Other? 00:10:10 We're at an odd time in physics! The standard model works better than expected! 00:16:21 Never say never! What is untestable today may be testable tomorrow. 00:17:04 Bridging Maxwell, Yang-Mills and Chern-Simons and the view of Ed Witten 00:24:19 Is there a role for "beauty" in physics and math? 00:26:50 What rubric could be used to grade candidates for theories of everything? 00:32:22 How to break the standard model. 00:38:41 Is string theory already falsified? What can it tell us now? 00:47:57 How do you engage young people to get inspired in physics today? Where should our resources go? 00:52:51 What mysteries are you currently most engaged with? What did Freeman Dyson mean to you? 00:58:14 Discussing Nima Arkani-Hamed. 01:04:00 What do you think about the work of Gerard 't Hooft?  http://briankeating.com/mailing_list.php 

Rocked by her husband's affair, a woman decides to welcome a refugee to live with her family - but how will this addition affect them? From the author of the Costa Prize shortlisted The Good Guy The Yardley family is fracturing. Eighteen years since their move to Brussels and the future is clouded with uncertainty for Neil, a Brit, American Marcy and their three Belgian-born children. Wrapped up in their own worries, Neil and Marcy fail to see how much their middle child, Alec, is struggling. When Marcy offers shelter to a young Syrian refugee, it triggers an explosive train of events that affects every member of the family. Against a backdrop of growing terror threats and Europe's worst refugee crisis since the Second World War, Misplaced Persons astutely explores miscues and misunderstandings, the strength of family bonds and the meaning of home.

This week we travel to Wales to talk to Poetry Wales Editor and amazing poet Jonathan Edwards. He's a Costa Prize winner for his debut collection and more recently he has brought his second collection Gen to rave reviews. He brings with him a poem called 'In the Green Baize' by Alan Perry. A snooker poem guaranteed to get you potting the black. Come have a listen and a learn

The Cut Out Girl author Bart van Es gives a lecture on the Jewish children who survived the Holocaust by living in hiding in the NetherlandsIn a lecture he delivered at our 2019 Chester History Weekend, based on his Costa Prize-winning book The Cut Out Girl, Bart van Es explores the stories of the thousands of Jewish children who survived the Holocaust by living in hiding in the Netherlands. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mr Wilder & Me is the title of the new novel from Jonathan Coe, who won the Costa Prize for his book Middle England. He is one of Matthew Sweet's guests in a programme exploring the life and work of the Austrian born director behind Hollywood hits including Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity and Some Like it Hot. They are joined by film critics Phuong Le and Melanie Williams and Paul Diamond, the son of Billy Wilder's long time writing partner I.A.L. Diamond who worked on scripts for Some Like It Hot; The Apartment (which won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay); Irma la Douce; and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. Jonathan Coe's Mr Wilder & Me is out now. In the Free Thinking archives and available to download as Arts & Ideas podcasts you can find Matthew Sweet discussing films including Tarkovksy's Stalker https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0775023 the career of Cary Grant https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hn1z Silent Film Star Betty Balfour https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04007l1 Laurel and Hardy's The Music Box https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001xwd You can also find him discussing the stage adaptation of Jonathan Coe's novel The Rotters' Club in an event recorded at the Birmingham Rep Theatre https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b076b15h Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Miss Knight reads Chapter 4 of the Costa Prize winning children’s novel ‘The Skylark’s War’

Miss Knight reads Chapter 3 of the Costa Prize winning children’s novel ‘The Skylark’s War’

Miss Knight reads Chapter 2 of the Costa Prize winning children’s novel ‘The Skylark’s War’

Miss Knight introduces and reads Chapter 1 of the Costa Prize winning children’s novel ‘The Skylark’s War’

Our series exploring the movies that are helping people deal with their confinement in lockdown continues with Costa Prize winning novelist Catherine O'Flynn. Catherine talks about wathing Columbo and the Waltons with her kids, seeking solace with Walter Matthau in the wonderful A New Leaf, the genius of Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon and The Caine Mutiny and the newfound joy to be found in Konnie Huq’s regular lockdown youtube videos

Helen Mort is a writer, trail runner and climber who lives in Sheffield. She teaches creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University, and her published work includes poetry, fiction and non-fiction, with a particular interest in women and mountaineering. Her first poetry collection, Division Street (Chatto & Windus, 2013), was shortlisted for the Costa Prize and the T.S. Eliot Prize, and won the Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection Prize. In 2015, Helen was chosen as one of the Next Generation poets. Her first novel, Black Car Burning (Chatto & Windus, 2019), was longlisted for the Portico Prize and the Dylan Thomas Prize. Helen is the author of Lake District Trail Running (Vertebrate, 2016) and editor of Waymaking (Vertebrate, 2018); and she has written for Alpinist, Climb, the Guardian, the Independent and Radio 3. In 2017, she was a judge for the Man Booker International Prize and chair of judges for the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature. She was a judge for the 2019 Banff Mountain Book Prize. She has lived with a variety of dogs, but thinks a house is not a home without a whippet, which leads us to Helen's latest title Never Leave the Dog Behind which explores the relationship between people, dogs and the great outdoors. The book comprises interviews with dog owners and experiences with a variety of dogs as well as the author’s own observations as a runner, (initially nervous) dog owner and poet.We’re offering a unique opportunity to have a photo of you and your dog printed in Helen's latest narrative, Never Leave the Dog Behind: Our love of dogs and mountains. Visit our Kickstarter for more details.

AL Kennedy won the Costa Prize 2007 for her novel Day. She talks about her new book of short stories, the aptly named We Are Attempting to Survive Our Time – a powerful collection about characters living on the edge, from a woman finally snapping at a white man's racist tirade at a zoo, to the host of a podcast revealing why she is haunted by the state of New Mexico. Sam Sweeney, fiddle player in the trio Leveret and formerly of Bellowhead, has just released his second album, Unearth Repeat. It is, he says, is an un-concept album, where he simply plays the music he loves. He tells Samira what he means and plays a tune. As our routines are changed beyond recognition, what happens to regular activities like listening to podcasts and radio? Initial statistics suggest that most podcast listening is down, while radio listening is up. Podcasters Caroline Crampton and Joseph Fink consider what this means for listeners and for the people who make audio. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Dymphna Flynn Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Image: AL Kennedy Credit: Geraint Lewis 2013

We can’t believe we’ve come to the end of our second series [sad face]... In this extended final episode, Jack and Rachael have fun chatting with guests Daljit Nagra and Nisha Ramayya in the studio and there are audio postcards from Aria Aber and Jericho Brown, as well as poems from our two presenters. Thank you to all our listeners – we hope you've enjoyed our second series. Remember to rate and review us and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss future episodes of the podcast. Show notes  Studio guests DALJIT NAGRA has published four poetry collections with Faber & Faber, including his most recent, British Museum (https://www.faber.co.uk/9780571333745-british-museum.html) . He has won the Forward Prize for Best Individual Poem and Best First Collection, the South Bank Show Decibel Award and the Cholmondeley Award. His books have been nominated for the Costa Prize and twice for the T. S. Eliot Prize, and he has been selected as a New Generation Poet by the Poetry Book Society. He is the inaugural Poet-in-Residence for Radio 4 & 4 Extra, and presents a weekly programme, Poetry Extra (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06qdjcn) , on Radio 4 Extra. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was elected to its Council, and is a trustee of the Arvon Trust. He teaches at Brunel University, London. NISHA RAMAYYA is a poet and lecturer in Creative Writing at Queen Mary University of London. Her book, States of the Body Produced by Love (https://ignota.org/collections/featured/products/states-of-the-body-produced-by-love-by-nisha-ramayya) , is published by Ignota (2019). She has published three pamphlets: Notes on Sanskrit (2015) and Correspondences (2016) with Oystercatcher Press, and In Me The Juncture (https://sadpresspoetry.com/our-books/) (2019) with Sad Press. Threads (https://clinic-publishing.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/threads) , a creative-critical pamphlet co-authored with Sandeep Parmar and Bhanu Kapil, is published by clinic. She is a member of the 'Race & Poetry & Poetics in the UK' research group and the interdisciplinary practice-as-research group Generative Constraints. Audio postcards featured in this episode ‘Reading Rilke in Berlin’, written and read by Aria Aber. The poem is taken from Aria Aber’s new book, Hard Damage (https://www.ariaaber.com/hard-damage-1) (University of Nebraska Press, 2019).  ‘Stand’, written and read by Jericho Brown. Jericho Brown’s most recent collection, The Tradition (https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/jericho-brown/the-tradition/9781529020472) , is out now from Picador and is a 2019 National Book Award for Poetry finalist. About the presenters RACHAEL ALLEN is the poetry editor at Granta, co-editor at the poetry press clinic and of online journal tender. A pamphlet of her poems was published as part of the Faber New Poets scheme, and her first collection, Kingdomland (https://www.faber.co.uk/9780571341115-kingdomland.html) , was published by Faber in January 2019. She is the recipient of an Eric Gregory award and New Writing North’s Andrew Waterhouse award. JACK UNDERWOOD is a poet, who also writes short fiction and non-fiction. A recipient of the Eric Gregory Award in 2007, he published his debut pamphlet in 2009 as part of the Faber New Poets series. His first collection Happiness (https://www.waterstones.com/book/happiness/jack-underwood/9780571313617) was published by Faber in 2015 and was winner of the 2016 Somerset Maugham prize. He is a lecturer in creative writing at Goldsmiths College and is currently writing a non-fiction book about poetry and uncertainty. Two pamphlets, Solo for Mascha Voice and Tenuous Rooms were published by Test Centre in 2018. The Faber Poetry Podcast is produced by Rachael Allen, Jack Underwood and Hannah Marshall for Faber & Faber. Editing by Strathmore Publishing. Special thanks to Aria Aber, Jericho Brown, Daljit Nagra and Nisha Ramayya.

This week's guest is Mark Richards, Publisher at John Murray Press. John Murray are over 250 years old, the longest running independent trade publisher in the UK. They published authors like Jane Austen, Lord Byron and Charles Darwin.Mark and I met to talk about the rise, and potential pitfalls, of autofiction, and the importance of prizes to literary publishing. Mark's first novel to commission was Anjali Joseph’s Saraswati Park while at 4th Estate, and we also talk about books lie the Costa Prize winning The Loney by Andrew Hurley, Olivia Glazebrook's The Frank Business, and my favourite novel of 2018, Sight by Jessie Greengrass. Mark also tells us about his work with the Nick Drake estate. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kate Clanchy is a writer, poet, teacher and journalist. She has a thirty-year career in teaching and is the recipient of several awards for her writing including a Forward Prize for her poetry collection Slattern. Her novel Meeting the English was shortlisted for the Costa Prize. Clanchy’s BBC Radio 3 programme We Are Writing A Poem About Home was a collaborative work with students and was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award 2015. In 2018 an anthology of her students’ work, England: Poems from a School, was published to great acclaim, and she was awarded an MBE for services to literature. Her new book, Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me, has been called, by Philip Pullman: ‘the best book on teachers and children and writing that I've ever read’. @KateClanchy1 Mukahang Limbu is an 18 year old Nepalese writer based in Oxford. He is a 3-time Foyle Young Poet, a SLAMmbassador, and has won the First Story National Competition. In 2019 he was also the recipient of the Outspoken prize for poetry. His poems have been published in ‘England: Poems from a School’, an anthology written by migrants and he is a die-hard fan of poets Ocean Vuong, Raymond Antrobus, Mary Jean Chan, Frank O'Hara and Rebecca Perry, among many others. @mukki_s1 Recorded live at Wilton's Music Hall London in April 2019. 5x15 brings together five outstanding individuals to tell of their lives, passions and inspirations. There are only two rules - no scripts and only 15 minutes each. Learn more about 5x15 events: 5x15stories.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/5x15stories Facebook: www.facebook.com/5x15stories Instagram: www.instagram.com/5x15stories ‏

Rebecca Stott grew up in a community where the following things were forbidden: newspapers, television, cinema, radio, pets, universities, wristwatches, cameras, holidays – and music. Her family belonged to one of the most reclusive sects in Protestant History, the “Exclusive Brethren”, which has 45,000 followers worldwide. How and why she left the Brethren is the gripping story told in her memoir, “In the Days of Rain”, which won a Costa Prize in 2017. Before that there were two historical novels; two books about Darwin; and a body of academic work about 19th century writers. Rebecca Stott is currently Professor of literature and creative writing at the University of East Anglia. It’s a remarkable career for someone who grew up not being allowed to read freely, or even to enter a library. In Private Passions Rebecca Stott tells the story of how her family escaped from the sect, and how the outside world flooded in, in all its technicolour. The discovery of music was particularly exciting, and she has never forgotten the impact of Rachmaninov and of Mozart. She reveals that after she wrote about the sect, she gathered hundreds of thousands of pages of testimony from other former members, telling stories of scandal and suffering. And she reflects on the lifelong influence of growing up in a religious sect that believed the world would end any minute, and everyone on earth would literally disappear into the air. Music choices include Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater”, Klezmer music, Mozart’s Piano Concerto no 21, Rachmaninov, Paul Simon, and Leonard Cohen. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3 Produced by Elizabeth Burke

Gavin Francis is a GP, and the author of 'True North and Empire Antarctica: Ice, Silence & Emperor Penguins', which won the Scottish Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize and Costa Prize. His most recent book, Sunday Times bestseller 'Adventures in Human Being', takes the reader on a remarkable journey through health and illness, offering insights on everything from the ribbed surface of the brain to the secret workings of the heart and the womb; from the pulse of life at the wrist to the unique engineering of the foot. Drawing on his own experiences as a doctor and GP, Gavin Francis blends first-hand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over the millennia. Gavin Francis also writes for the 'Guardian', 'The Times', 'London Review of Books' and 'Granta'.

Gavin Francis is a GP, and the author of True North, Empire Antarctica: Ice, Silence & Emperor Penguins, which won the Scottish Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize and Costa Prize, and Adventures in Human Being. He also writes for the Guardian, the Times, London Review of Books and Granta. Gavin's latest book is Shapeshifters: On Medicine & Human Change. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Former army officer Dr Mike Martin on Why We Fight. Historian Priya Satia argues that guns were the drivers behind the industrial revolution. The mob as a political entity and the Massacre of St George's Fields of 10 May 1768 is considered in an opinion piece from 2018 New Generation Thinker Dafydd Mills Daniel. We also look at night time - curator Anna Sparham selects some nocturnal views of the capital from a photography exhibition at the Museum of London, while Dr Gavin Francis explains how being up all night affects the human body and mind. Anne McElvoy presents. Mike Martin is a visiting research fellow at the Department of War Studies, King's College London, having previously studied biology at Oxford. Between these experiences, he served as a British Army officer in Afghanistan. His book Why We Fight is out now.Priya Satia is a Prof. of History at Stanford University. She is the author of Spies in Arabia: The Great War & the Cultural Foundations of Britain's Covert Empire in the Middle East. Her latest book Empire of Guns is out now.Dr Dafydd Mills Daniel, Lecturer in Theology, Jesus College at the Uni. of Oxford, is one of the ten academics selected as New Generation Thinkers for 2018 in the scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to help academics turn their research into radio programmes.Anna Sparham is Curator of Photographs at the Museum of London. London Nights runs from 11th May to 11th November.Gavin Francis is a GP, and the author of True North and Empire Antarctica: Ice, Silence & Emperor Penguins, which won the Scottish Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize and Costa Prize. His new book Shapeshifters: Medicine and Human Change is out now.Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Hey there word nerds! Today I am so excited to have author Stef Penney on the show! Stef is a screenwriter and author. Her debut novel, The Tenderness of Wolves,was the winner of the Costa Prize for Book of the Year and the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year, and was translated into thirty languages. Stef followed up this success with her next highly acclaimed novel The Invisible Ones, and her latest work Under a Pole Star which was the recipient of the 2017 Wilbur and Niso Smith Adventure Writing Prize. An epic tale  of arctic exploration between two rival teams in the 1800’s, writing Under a Pole Star became a journey of its own for Stef, as she mapped out her characters’ lives and took readers across three continents in this amazing work. Listen in as we chat about the creation of Under a Pole Star, and how to best prepare yourself for your own writing exploration. In this episode Stef and I discuss: Using visual aids to add reality to a fictional setting. When to show your character’s back story and how to do it right. Preparing yourself to navigate through your writing and what “tools” to take. Systems to keep track of and order your research into a novel. Dealing with gender roles in a novel without being political. Plus, Stef’s #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/186

Mohsin Hamid writes regularly for The New York Times, the Guardian and the New York Review of Books, and is the author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Moth Smoke, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia and Discontent and its Civilisations. Born and mostly raised in Lahore, he has since lived between Lahore, London and New York. His latest novel Exit West was shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize. Jon McGregor is the author of four novels and a story collection. He is the winner of the IMPAC Dublin Literature Prize, Betty Trask Prize, and Somerset Maugham Award, and has twice been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. He is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nottingham, where he edits The Letters Page, a literary journal in letters. Jon's latest novel Reservoir 13 was longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize, and then won the 2017 Costa Prize for Best Novel. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s show, Claire and Sian talk about the late poet’s book of the year award, and Laura Shapiro joins us to talk about What She Ate

The great scientist Alexander von Humboldt was one of the most famous men in Europe. He inspired princes and presidents, scientists and explorers with his spectacular adventures and discoveries. Rivers, mountain ranges, towns, a penguin and more are named after him and his ideas remain important today. Andrea Wulf not only won the 2015 Costa Prize, she is also an absolutely superb speaker.Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2016.www.cvhf.org.uk See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The great scientist Alexander von Humboldt was one of the most famous men in Europe. He inspired princes and presidents, scientists and explorers with his spectacular adventures and discoveries. Rivers, mountain ranges, towns, a penguin and more are named after him and his ideas remain important today. Andrea Wulf not only won the 2015 Costa Prize, she is also an absolutely superb speaker.Recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival 2016.www.cvhf.org.uk See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Helen Mort talks to Maurice Riordan about writing and the problem of observation; Jeremy Deller's Battle of Orgreave and her poem ‘Scab'; writing on the run; neuroscience, Norman MacCaig, John Burnside and Paul Muldoon, and how writing her first novel is both similar to and different from writing poems. Helen is a five times winner of Foyle Young Poets of the Year. Her first collection, Division Street (Chatto & Windus) was shortlisted for the Costa Prize and the T.S. Eliot Prize and, in 2014, won the Fenton Aldeburgh Prize. She also reads her poem ‘Ablation'.

Three of the best new poets in years were reading in the Bookshop. Helen Mort’s *[Division Street][1]* (Chatto) was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize (almost unheard of for a debut collection) and the Costa Prize; Liz Berry’s *[Black Country][2]* (Chatto) won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection; and Sarah Howe’s just-released *[Loop of Jade][3]* (Chatto) is shortlisted for the same award. United by a strong sense of place, any one of them on their own would be worth turning out for – on a rare triple-bill, presenting an evening of poetry and conversation, they’re unmissable. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Inspiration Takes Flight In her powerful, emotive new memoir H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald recounts her obsessive pursuit to become a falconer. Following the shock of her father’s death and inspired by T H White’s The Goshawk, she embarked on a journey to train her own goshawk. Macdonald joins us to discuss her celebratory, elegiac book - a reminder of our deep-rooted connections to the natural world. Chaired by Charlotte Higgins, chief arts writer for the Guardian.

Philip Dodd discusses the Problem with Love with behavioural scientist Dylan Evans, television presenter Esther Rantzen, Costa Prize-winning author AL Kennedy and singer and writer Pat Kane. Is it bad for us? How does love alter our brains and our bodies? What impact will social media and changing gender relations have on the future of love? The edition is was recorded at the recent HowTheLightGetsIn philosophy and music festival as part of BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking in the Summer.

Andrew Miller discusses his novel Pure, winner of the 2011 Costa Prize. Set in pre-revolutionary Paris, the book is a gripping, earthy story about the clearing of a huge cemetery in the area now known as Les Halles. When a young engineer Jean-Baptiste Baratte arrives in Paris from Normandy, he is charged with the huge task of destroying the church and cemetery of Les Innocents in 1785. He is surrounded by a fully fledged cast of characters : LeCoeur, his friend and former colleague from the mines near Belgium, his girlfriend, the prostitute Heloise, Armand, the church's organist and a revolutionary, and the fairytale like Jeanne. But just as significant to the novel's success are the ideas of the Enlightenment and Miller's subtle laying out the undercurrents of disquiet and unrest which would eventually lead to bloodshed and revolution. James Naughtie presents and a group of readers ask the questions. April's Bookclub choice : The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak. Produced by Dymphna Flynn.

Mark Lawson unwraps a selection of new interviews with arts headline makers of 2011. Booker Prize winner Julian Barnes explains why he no longer refuses to read his reviews, and poet Jo Shapcott, winner of the Costa Prize for her collection Of Mutability, discusses why the book's subject, her cancer, is never referred to explicitly. Director Nicholas Hytner and writer Richard Bean reflect on the success of their hit play One Man, Two Guvnors, which will make its way to Broadway after a sell-out UK tour and London run. Film-maker Andrea Arnold is best known for contemporary dramas such as Red Road and Fish Tank, but her 2011 version of Wuthering Heights won wide acclaim. She reveals why her next film won't be an adaptation. Architect Sir David Chipperfield received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal this year, as well as completing the Turner Contemporary in Margate and the Hepworth in Wakefield. He discusses how the current wranglings in Europe could affect his profession. Producer Ellie Bury.