Podcast appearances and mentions of Jon McGregor

‘There are very few writers with as clear and thrilling a love for the stuff of language as Eley Williams', writes Jon McGregor. Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good revels in the same inventiveness and experimentation that made her debut collection of short stories, Attrib. and Other Stories, so beloved; courtroom artists, childhood crushes, scholarly annotators and editors of canned laughter take their place in a joyful panoply exploring the nature of relationships both intimate and transient. Williams was in conversation with So Mayer, author of Truth & Dare (Cipher Press). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Writing Life podcast, NCW Chief Executive Peggy Hughes is joined by author Jon McGregor to discuss researching for fiction. Jon McGregor is an award-winning author and short story writer. He has been nominated for the Booker Prize for three of his novels, including his 2002 debut If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, which also went on to win the Betty Trask Prize and the Somerset Maugham Award. His third novel, Even the Dogs (2010) earned McGregor the International Dublin Literary Award in 2012, whilst his 2017 work Reservoir 13 scooped up the Costa Book Award. His latest book Learn Fall Stand was a Waterstones Fiction Book of the Month. Together, they discuss his book Lean Fall Stand, which was inspired by his travels to Antarctica in 2004. They also touch on the challenge of writing complicated characters and storylines, how to turn real-world experience into fiction, and the importance of risk taking in writing.

Bentornati in Bookatini - il podcast per chi è ghiotto di libri. L'episodio 74 è dedicato ai luoghi come protagonisti.   Nell'episodio di oggi abbiamo chiacchierato approfonditamente di questi libri   -       Gli invisibili, di Roy Jacobsen, Iperborea editore      Gormenghast. La trilogia, di Mervyn Peake, Adelphi editore  Abbiamo anche citato questi libri, che abbiamo ma non abbiamo letto:      Bacino 13, di Jon McGregor, Guanda editore      A Tokyo con Murakami, di Sallusti Giorgia, Perrone editore      Ritrovarsi a Parigi, di Gajto Gazdanov, Fazi editore      L'isola dei battiti del cuore, di Laura Imai Messina, Pickwick editore    Potete contattarci, scrivere commenti, suggerimenti, domande e condividete con noi le vostre letture su questo tema contattandoci nella pagina Instagram Bookatini_podcast, dove potete trovare anche le nostre live, in onda di mercoledìSe volete sostenerci e godere di contenuti aggiuntivi, potete unirvi a 4 possibili livelli di Patreon che trovate al link: https://www.patreon.com/bookatiniLa sigla di Bookatini è scritta e suonata da Andrea Cerea

Hoje não trazemos as recomendações do costume, mas sim uma lista de títulos que nos conquistaram, mesmo que não tenhamos lido todos. Fiquem com estes belos minutos de apreciação a palavras, e partilhem os vossos também! Livros mencionados neste episódio: - Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail, Ashley Herring Blake (1:35) - Encontro, Natasha Brown (4:15) - Penance, Eliza Clark (4:54) - You Made a Fool of Death with your Beauty, Akwaeke Emezi (10:40) - Call Me By Your Name, André Aciman (11:09) - A Insustentável Leveza do Ser, Milan Kundera (11:41) - História de Quem Vai e de Quem Fica, Elena Ferrante (12:59) - The Heart and Other Monsters, Rose Andersen (13:21) - If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, Jon McGregor (13:53) - In My Dreams I Hold A Knife, Ashley Winstead (14:31) - The Heart's Invisible Furies, John Boyne (15:04) - Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don't Want to Forget to Remember, Lauren Graham (16:26) - Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (17:17) - You Have to Make Your Own Fun Around Here, Frances Macken (17:55) - Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng (18:49) - Sea of Tranquility, Emily St. John Mandel (19:24) - Hello Beautiful, Ann Napolitano (20:37) - How High We Go In the Dark & Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone, Sequoia Nagamatsu (21:08) - The Loudness of Unsaid Things, Hilde Hinton (21:51) - The Sun is Also a Star, Nicola Yoon (22:20) - How to Kill Your Family, Bella Mackie (22:43) - All the Lovers in the Night, Mieko Kawakami (23:08) - Swimming in the Dark, Tomasz Jedrowski (23:53) - Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love, Huma Qureshi (24:51) - Alone with You in the Ether, Olivie Blake (25:08) - On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong (25:15) - The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai (25:40) - Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan (26:14) - A gente mira no amor e acerta na solidão, Ana Suy (26:53) - We All Want Impossible Things, Catherine Newman (28:45) - All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr (29:00) - These Precious Days, Ann Patchett (30:25) - Same Bed Different Dreams, Ed Park (32:00) - At Certain Points We Touch, Lauren John Joseph (32:15) - Stay True, Hua Hsu (32:42) - Tudo São Histórias de Amor, Dulce Maria Cardoso (33:51) - What We Kept to Ourselves, Nancy Jooyoun Kim (34:24) - Tudo Pode Ser Roubado, Giovana Madalosso (34:43) - If We're Being Honest, Cat Shook (35:08) - By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, Elizabeth Smart (35:22) - Once Upon a Broken Heart, Stephanie Garber (35:52) - Enquanto o Fim Não Vem, Mafalda Santos (36:22) - I am, I am, I am, Maggie O'Farrell (36:45) - Pequena Coreografia do Adeus, Aline Bei (37:04) - What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Raymond Carver (38:09) - How to Love Your Daughter, Hila Blum (38:29) - How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water, Angie Cruz (38:54) - The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Aimee Bender (39:17) - Clap When You Land, Elizabeth Acevedo (40:07) - Apneia, Tânia Ganho (40:26) ________________ Enviem as vossas questões ou sugestões para livratepodcast@gmail.com. Encontrem-nos nas redes sociais: www.instagram.com/julesdsilva www.instagram.com/ritadanova twitter.com/julesxdasilva twitter.com/ritadanova Identidade visual do podcast: da autoria da talentosa Mariana Cardoso, que podem encontrar em marianarfpcardoso@hotmail.com. Genérico do podcast: criado pelo incrível Vitor Carraca Teixeira, que podem encontrar em www.instagram.com/oputovitor.

Award-winning author, Jon McGregor, set out to write about the Antarctic but it was to become a novel about stroke. Jon sat down with Julia and Elizabeth for On A Good Day to discuss the book, Lean Fall Stand, with many of its themes resonating with both hosts. Lean Fall Stand looks at the impact of stroke on survivor Robert and his wife who suddenly takes on the role of carer. It explores the challenges of communication post brain injury and its impact on the family and community. Jon tells them about the research he did to help create characters which were "real people" including an eye-opening group session for people with aphasia. In the novel, Jon refers to the lack of services available to help rehabilitate stroke survivors, speaking of his sadness at discovering how stretched they had become. Lean Fall Stand is an insightful exploration of stroke and with a potential film version of the book in the pipeline, is sure to reach an even wider audience in the future. You can buy Jon McGregor's book Lean Fall stand here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/lean-fall-stand-jon-mcgregor/5752546?ean=9780008204945 About Jon McGregor Jon McGregor is a writer of novels and short stories, including Lean Fall Stand, Reservoir 13, and If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things. He won the Dublin Literature Prize in 2012, and the Costa Novel Award in 2017. He is a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nottingham, where he edits The Letters Page, a literary journal in letters. He lives in Nottingham. You can follow Jon on Instagram and Twitter: @jon_mcgregor In the episode, Jon talks about some of the research he did while writing the book including the Rosetta Life organisation, and the Stroke Odysseys show : https://strokeodysseys.org/about-stroke-odysseys/ Jon's Antarctic research was with the British Antarctic Survey 'Artists & Writers Programme'. His 2004 residency was part of: https://www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/experience-antarctica-in-london-and-plymouth/ On A Good Day If you enjoyed this episode, please help us to grow: subscribe, rate, review and do share with others who it will benefit, tag us with the social media handles below. Follow Us On Instagram @onagood.day and Twitter @onagood_day https://www.instagram.com/onagood.day/ https://twitter.com/onagood_day Please join our NEW Facebook community too! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1216439455622395 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tilly Lawless on her debut novel Nothing but My Body, and her reading inspiration; and Jon McGregor on aphasia and Antarctica, in his Lean Fall Stand

It's part 2 of our end-of-year special, in which we look back over the books we read outside of book club, the ones we chose for ourselves, and pick out our favourites. And so listen in for more book recommendations than you can shake a stick a, plus recommendations from our book clubs and friends of the pod. We also look ahead to some new releases coming out in 2022. Booklist Kate's top three favourites from 2021 Don't Touch My Hair, Emma Dabiri A Ghost in the Throat, Doireann ní Ghrí­ofa Lean, Fall, Stand, Jon McGregor   Laura's top three favourites from 2021 A Life's Work, Rachel Cusk Miss Iceland, Audur Ava Olafsdottir Indian Horse, Richard Wagamese   Kate's longlist of favourite reads in 2021 The Moth and the Mountain, Ed Caesar Writers and Lovers and Euphoria Lily King Real Estate, Deborah Levy The Library Book and The Orchid Thief, Susan Orlean All My Friends are Superheroes, Andrew Kaufman Owls of the Eastern Ice, Jonathan C. Slaght Nightbitch, Rachel Yoder Don't Touch My Hair, Emma Dabiri Fun Home, Alison Bechdel Parisan Lives, Deidre Bair Nightbitch, Rachel Yoder Early Morning Riser, Katherine Heiny Love Letters, Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West (Alison Bechdel, ed.) A Ghost in the Throat, Doireann ni Ghriofa Re-Educated, Lucy Kellaway Pew, Catherine Lacey Happy All the Time, Laurie Colwin Whereabouts, Jhumpa Lahiri Sorrow and Bliss, Meg Mason Lean, Fall, Stand, Jon McGregor Assembly, Natasha Brown The Stranding, Kate Sawyer The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers Empire of Pain, Patrick Radden-Keefe Matrix, Lauren Groff The See-Through House, Shelley Klein   Laura's longlist of favourite reads in 2021 His Only Wife, Peace Adzo Medie Miss Iceland, Hotel Silence and Butterflies in November, Audur Ava Olafsdottir Indian Horse, Richard Wagamese On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong Homeland Elegies, Ayad Akhtar No-One is Talking About This, Patricia Lockwood Great Circle, Maggie Shipstead D: A Tale of Two Worlds, Michael Faber Graceling, Kristin Cashore A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik The Annals of the Western Shore, Ursula Le Guin The Book of Hidden Things, Francesco Dimitri Frederica, Georgette Heyer Conundrum, Jan Morris A High Wind in Jamaica, Richard Hughes The Rules of Civility, Amor Towles   Chrissy Ryan's recommendations Open Water, Caleb Azumah Nelson Assembly, Natasha Brown Detransition Baby, Torrey Peters Elizabeth Morris' recommendations Nightbitch, Rachel Yoder   Book club recommendations The Summer Book, Tove Jansson The Mermaid of Black Conch, Monique Roffey Whereabouts, Jhumpa Lahiri The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë A Dance to the Music of Time, Anthony Powell The Siege of Krishnapur, J. G. Farrell The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst Isaac Steele and the Forever Man, Daniel Rigby Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer Albert and the Whale, Philip Hoare Trieste or the Meaning of Nowhere, Jan Morris The Bass Rock, Evie Wyld Autumn, Ali Smith The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan The Offing, Benjamin Myers Circe, Madeleine Miller Three Women, Lisa Taddeo My Dark Vanessa, Kate Elizabeth Russell Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid   Upcoming books in 2022 We also discussed our inordinate desire for The Doors of Stone by Patrick Rothfuss to finally be published, and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel Notes Full details of all the titles discussed in this episode can be found in the shownotes on our website thebookclubreview.co.uk.  Do keep up with us between episodes on Instagram and Facebook @bookclubreviewpodcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. We always love to hear from you.

For our Winter 2021-22 issue, Editor-at-large Thomas Morris invited Marie-Helene Bertino, Rebecca Ivory, Jon McGregor, and Stephen Sexton to each write a short story in a single night: starting at dusk and submitting by dawn. In this second episode of a two-part series, we are joined by Jon McGregor, who reads and discusses his story ‘Dwell', which he wrote from start to finish in a single night. You can listen to the first episode – featuring Marie-Helene Bertino, Rebecca Ivory, and Stephen Sexton – here. Jon McGregor is the author of five novels and a two story collections; his most recent novel is Lean Fall Stand (4th Estate). He is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nottingham, where he edits The Letters Page, a literary journal in letters. He lives in Nottingham. You can read all the astonishing One Night Stands in our Winter 2021-22 issue. And you can read Thomas Morris's introduction to the stories here.

For our Winter 2021-22 issue, Editor-at-large Thomas Morris invited four authors to each write a short story in a single night: starting at dusk and submitting by dawn. On this month's episode of the podcast, he is joined by three of those authors – Marie-Helene Bertino, Rebecca Ivory, and Stephen Sexton – who read from their ‘One Night Stands' and discuss what happens when you stay up all night to write a story. Marie-Helene Bertino is the author of the novels Parakeet and 2 a.m. at The Cat's Pajamas, and the story collection Safe as Houses. Her alien opus novel Beautyland is forthcoming from FSG in 2022. She lives in New York. Rebecca Ivory lives in Dublin and writes short fiction. Her stories have appeared in The Stinging Fly, Banshee, The Tangerine and Fallow Media. Stephen Sexton is the author of two books of poetry: If All the World and Love Were Young; and most recently Cheryl's Destinies. He teaches at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University, Belfast. Jon McGregor is the fourth author who wrote us a story in a single night. Jon was unfortunately unwell on the evening we recorded the podcast, so couldn't participate. But happily, he's on the mend now! You can read Jon's story, and all the astonishing One Night Stands, in our Winter 2021-22 issue. And you can read Thomas Morris's introduction to the stories here.

Robert 'Doc' Wright, a veteran of Antarctic surveying, was there on the ice when the worst happened. He holds within him the complete story of that night—but depleted by the disaster, Wright is no longer able to communicate the truth. Instead, in the wake of the catastrophic expedition, he faces the most daunting adventure of his life: learning a whole new way to be in the world. Meanwhile Anna, his wife, must suddenly scramble to navigate the sharp and unexpected contours of life as a caregiver. From the Booker Prize-longlisted, American Academy of Arts & Letters Award-winning Jon McGregor, this is a novel every bit as mesmerizing as its setting. Tenderly unraveling different notions of heroism through the rippling effects of one extraordinary expedition on an ordinary family, Lean Fall Stand explores the indomitable human impulse to turn our experiences into stories—even when the words may fail us. In this episode, McGregor discusses his work with Julia Phillips. _______________________________________________   Produced by Maddie Gobbo, Lance Morgan, Natalie Freeman, & Michael Kowaleski. Theme: "I Love All My Friends," an unreleased demo by Fragile Gang. Visit https://www.skylightbooks.com/event for future offerings from the Skylight Books Events team.

  (If you don't see the audio player above, visit http://Strokecast.com/Antarctica) Click here for a machine generated transcript   I don't see many novels that deal with stroke and aphasia. Memoirs, sure, but not novels. That's one of the things that makes Jon McGregor's novel, Lean Fall Stand,* interesting. That, pls the fact that Jon himself is not a stroke survivor. He's someone who has taken an interest in our community an endeavored to learn more. Jon's novel follows the story of Robert, a research scientist in Antarctica. Robert gets caught in a storm , suffers a stroke, and acquires aphasia. The novel chronicles Robert and his wife's adventures as they enter and then adjust to living in stroke world. Jon and I talk about the book, Jon's research, his adventure in Antarctica, writing beyond an author's personal experience, and more. About Jon McGregor Jon McGregor is the winner of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Costa Book Award, the Betty Trask Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters E. M. Forster Award, and has been long-listed three times for the Man Booker Prize, most recently for his novel, Reservoir 13. His latest novel, Lean Fall Stand*, is out from Catapult in September 2021. He is professor of creative writing at the University of Nottingham, England, where he edits The Letters Page, a literary journal in letters. Jon's Resources Jon talks a lot about the research he did to understand the experience of stroke and aphasia. He met with therapists. He talked with survivors. He attended support groups. The Stroke Stories podcast is another resource he used to learn about Aphasia and stroke from a survivor's perspective. It's a show that tells stories more as news type pieces rather than in a traditional podcast interview. You can find it in popular podcast apps. A couple years ago, I was lucky enough to be a guest on the show. You can listen to that episode here: Stroke Stories Episode 50 - Bill Monroe The Aphasia Access Conversations podcast is another one Jon found helpful. It's a show focusing on the education, experience, and thoughts of speech therapists who work with folks who have aphasia. For more stroke related podcasts, visit http://Strokecast.com/StrokeRelatedPodcasts. Jon also learned from Sara Scott's YouTube channel. Sarah survived a stroke at age 18, about 12 years ago. Since then she has posted videos recognizing various strokeaversaries. You can watch her progress in dealing with aphasia over the decade and see her recovery over the years. Sarah Scott 10 years living with Aphasia (If you don't see the embedded video, visit http://Strokecast.com/Antarctica) Edwyn Collins is a Scottish musician who made it onto the worldwide charts in the 80s with his post-punk band Orange Juice. He survived a stroke with aphasia in 2005. Jon drew inspiration from the documentary of Edwyn's story, "The Possibilities are Endless" The Possibilities Are Endless (Official Trailer) (If you don't see the embedded video, visit http://Strokecast.com/Antarctica) Jon also learned from the Stroke Odyssey production from Rosetta life: SO Trailer 7 (If you don't see the embedded video, visit http://Strokecast.com/Antarctica) Artists' Residencies Artist residencies are a fascinating thing. In the one Jon talked about, he applied to go to Antarctica. He would be provided transportation, lodging, and access to the work of research scientists. In return, he would, eventually, make a thing. In Seattle a couple years ago, the city offered space in a draw bridge that an artist could have for months to make a thing inspired by the space. The variety of residencies available to artists is kind of amazing. It's an interesting intersection of public relations, marketing, public art, patronage, and other elements. If you feel a desire to create but want space, education, or inspiration, it may be worth exploring the idea of residencies. Writing About Marginalized Communities We discussed the idea of writing about marginalized communities in this interview, specifically about disabled people or people with disabilities.   A lot of the same concerns apply when writing about folks of a different race, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, cultural background, etc. When you write a character who is of a different group, especially if the character is part of a historically marginalized group, the writer has a special obligation to get it right -- to make sure they can write about the character and the character's experiences with honesty, accuracy, and individuality, without reducing them to a series of stereo types. I've read parts of Lean Fall Stand* (Jon's team sent me a copy) and so far, his portrayal seems good. Of course, my experience with aphasia is all second hand. I'd encourage you to check it out and share your thoughts. Become a better writer Jon is a long time novelist and a professor of creative writing. You might expect him to have advanced models and techniques for becoming a better writer and telling better stories. But what is Jon's advice? Read more. Write more. It's that simple. Sure you need to read deliberately and think about the choices a writer makes in the pieces you read. To get better at walking, we need to walk more. To get better at moving our fingers we have to move our fingers more. To get better at speaking, we have to speak more. To get better at writing, we have to write more. More reading and more writing. Hmm. I can get behind that. Hack of the Week Jon talked with as bunch of folks with aphasia and cited two things they did that were helpful. First, the used their phones and tablets to help communicate. It wasn't just about typing out messages or using special apps, though. It was about using other tools for communication. For example, telling the story of travelling to a city by using the maps app. It was about thinking of different ways to share the story without strictly telling the story. Second, a lot of the folks Jon spoke with carried a card that explained they have aphasia and explains what aphasia is. There are still millions of people out in the world who have never heard of aphasia and folks with aphasia still have to deal with them. A simple card can make a big difference. Links (If you don't see the list of links below, try visiting http://Strokecast.com/Antarctica) Where do we go from here? Follow Jon on Instagram and Twitter. Take a look at Lean Fall Stand on Amazon* Share this episode with the book or writing lover in your life by giving them the link http://Strokecast.com/Antarctica Subscribe to the Strokecast newsletter at http://Strokecast.com/News Don't get best…get better.

Hi, and welcome to episode #70!Jon McGregor is the winner of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Costa Book Award, the Betty Trask Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters E. M. Forster Award, and has been long-listed three times for the Man Booker Prize, most recently for his novel, Reservoir 13. He is a professor of creative writing at the University of Nottingham, England, where he edits The Letters Page, a literary journal in letters.About Jon's latest novel Lean Fall StandRemember the training: find shelter or make shelter, remain in place, establish contact with other members of the party, keep moving, keep calm.Robert 'Doc' Wright, a veteran of Antarctic surveying, was there on the ice when the worst happened. He holds within him the complete story of that night—but depleted by the disaster, Wright is no longer able to communicate the truth. Instead, in the wake of the catastrophic expedition, he faces the most daunting adventure of his life: learning a whole new way to be in the world. Meanwhile  Anna, his wife, must suddenly scramble to navigate the sharp and unexpected contours of life as a caregiver.From the Booker Prize-longlisted, American Academy of Arts & Letters Award-winning author of Reservoir 13, this is a novel every bit as mesmerizing as its setting. Tenderly unraveling different notions of heroism through the rippling effects of one extraordinary expedition on an ordinary family, Lean, Fall, Stand explores the indomitable human impulse to turn our experiences into stories—even when the words may fail us. Lean Fall Stand, Jon McGregor (signed copies) Jon McGregor Twitter Lean Fall Stand UK book launch at Five Leaves Bookshop A Ghost in the Throat, Doireann Ní Ghríofa  Support the show (https://paypal.me/TheBookshopPodcast?locale.x=en_US)

Why translators need to be on book covers, novels get soundtracks, and we talk to Jon McGregor about his new novel, Lean, Fall, Stand

Robert 'Doc' Wright, a veteran of Antarctic surveying, was there on the ice when the worst happened. He holds within him the complete story of that night--but depleted by the disaster, Wright is no longer able to communicate the truth. Instead, in the wake of the catastrophic expedition, he faces the most daunting adventure of his life: learning a whole new way to be in the world. Meanwhile Anna, his wife, must suddenly scramble to navigate the sharp and unexpected contours of life as a caregiver. From the Booker Prize-longlisted, American Academy of Arts & Letters Award-winning author of Reservoir 13, this is a novel every bit as mesmerizing as its setting. Tenderly unraveling different notions of heroism through the rippling effects of one extraordinary expedition on an ordinary family, Lean, Fall, Stand explores the indomitable human impulse to turn our experiences into stories--even when the words may fail us. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/pbliving/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pbliving/support

Writers Kathryn Heyman and Aoife Clifford join Cassie and Kate as they discuss the tawdry and damaged in James Ellroy's Widespread Panic and Lisa Taddeo's Animal; while there's ice cold drama and poetry in Jon McGregor's Lean Fall Stand

Chris Power’s first novel A Lonely Man (Faber) is a powerful, menacing exploration of the nature of truth, fabrication and identity. ‘If you're a fan of existential crises’ writes Jon McGregor, ‘family dramas, Putin-era paranoias, and Bolaño-style multiplicities, and want to see them woven into one taut novel, you're in the right place.’ Chris Power was in conversation about A Lonely Man with the critic Alex Clark. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Not one to make life easy for himself, Jon McGregor set about trying to write interestingly about the vast, white and relatively featureless landscape of Antarctica. Breda Brown investigates the growth in ‘Northern Noir’. 'Reading Between the Wines' book club have questions for Catriona Ward, author of 'The Last House on Needless Street'.

New music from Villagers, Lean Fall Stand, Jon McGregor on his fifth novel, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra LIVE continues, Friday week, Finghin Collins will perform on piano and conduct, First Cut! Youth Film Festival showcases new films by young people, Ciara Hyland and Ray Cuddihy host a TV panel on Saturday at 7.30pm firstcutfilmfestival.com

Johny Pitts talks to Jon McGregor about his latest novel Lean Fall Stand, inspired by a trip to Antarctica. Opening with sparse, barely describable landscape in the midst of a storm, it follows Robert "Doc" Wright's recovery in the aftermath and sensitively examines heroism, modern masculinity and the failure of words. Chester Himes is an often overlooked favour of his Black American contemporaries Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright and James Baldwin, despite also attempting to carve out a literary career in Paris. With his better-known Harlem detective series being reissued, his biographer Lawrence P. Jackson and crime writer Dreda Say Mitchell discuss his prescient legacy. And looking ahead to next month, Francesca Main of Phoenix Books chooses a multi-generational story of love, family and Indian history as her Editor's Tip. BOOK LIST: Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes Cotton Comes to Harlem by Chester Himes Lonely Crusade by Chester Himes Cast the First Stone by Chester Himes If He Hollers Let Him Go by Chester Himes Chester B Himes: A Biography by Lawrence P Jackson Shelter by Lawrence P Jackson China Room by Sunjeev Sahota

Hay Festival has just announced the programme for its 34th spring edition, a digital event broadcasting some of the world’s greatest writers and thinkers from the small town of Hay-on-Wye. To get an overview, we hear from chair of the festival Caroline Michel, as well as two of the writers speaking: award-winning author Jon McGregor and hugely successful debut novelist Hafsa Zayyan.

In this month's episode, we speak to Jon McGregor, whose latest novel Lean, Fall, Stand is published by Fourth Estate on 29th April.Jon joined us in the midst of full fat lockdown to discuss how he constructs his novels, his writing residency in Antarctica and the research with people who suffer from aphasia and their carers that informed Lean, Fall, Stand.Jon's novels include: If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things (2002), So Many Ways to Begin (2006), Even the Dogs (2010) and Reservoir 13 (2017). Jon has won the IMPAC Dublin Literature Prize, the Betty Trask and Somerset Maugham awards, been longlisted for the Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize.Photo credit: Jo Wheeler Find us on Twitter: @UnsoundMethods - @JaimieBatchan - @LochlanBloomJaimie's Instagram is: @jaimie_batchanWe have a store page on Bookshop, where you can find our books, as well as those of previous guests: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/unsoundmethodsThanks for listening, please like, subscribe and rate Unsound Methods wherever you get your podcasts. Our website is: https://unsoundmethods.co.uk/We are teaming up with the Institute of English Studies at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. With the current uncertainty in the world, why not check out their Literature in Lockdown page? : https://www.ies.sas.ac.uk/about-us/ies-virtual-community/literature-lockdown

Melissa Harrison is an award-winning novelist, nature writer and podcaster. Melissa's podcast The Stubborn Light of Things has the same title as her book that was named the Sunday Times Nature Book of the Year. In the book it feels like she's taking us by her side as she walks through the greens of London and the English countryside, sharing warm and poetic observations of the natural world. There's a joy in her lush descriptions, with the magic of frogspawn, seahorses in the Thames, murmurations of starlings, elfin dog violets and more. Melissa's writing is finely observed, musical and intimate and she echoes this in her podcast with her soothing voice and recordings of the fields and birds. Melissa also contributes a monthly nature column to The Times, which the book was based on, and writes for various other publications. Her most recent novel, All Among the Barley, was described by Jon McGregor as “a masterpiece”. Her other novels are Clay and At Hawthorn Time and she's written a non-fiction meditation called Rain: Four Walks in English Weather, and edited four anthologies of the seasons. 

Craig Willett: I’m grateful for the enthusiastic response given to Episode 3, Building Enduring Wealth. I hope each of you are having fun saving and designing a dynamic investment plan. Today, we’re going to talk about adding value. I read recently an article in BBC News on July 24th about an international team of researchers who reported that in the March through May period during the lockdown of the pandemic, that it represented the longest period and most prominent global anthropogenic seismic noise reduction on record. So in plain English, that means that that earth movement caused by human movement from everything we do—from driving our cars to operating our factories—produces ground motions that can be detected by seismometers. In some cases, the noise was reduced by as much as 50%. Normally, this human noise needs to be filtered out to detect low magnitude earthquakes. So at first, we think, “Yeah sure, New York City kind of shut down, so the noise levels did drop. If you’ve ever been there, you know what I mean. The horns honking alone would reduce the noise level. But it also occurred in places like the Black Forest of Germany, even in quiet areas like boreholes 700 yards below the ground and quiet places like that. Just think of the stillness. This is quite a phenomenon. When I read about this phenomenon, my first question was, “Well, what noises do I make that cause a stir?” Well, aside from snoring at night or cheering at a sporting event, I reflected more upon this question and I thought: it is in our actions and service to others that we can make the biggest difference to those around us. We can move the earth, so to speak, to benefit the lives of others. From this thought came the self-examining question that I think is worth spending time to reflect honestly, and answering to ourselves. And that is: what value do I add to my service or product that makes the biggest difference in the lives of others, so much so to the extent that it changes the very ground upon which they stand? Let’s call this difference “adding value.” In fact, let’s call it “adding exceptional value.” As I consider some life-changing and life-enhancing moments I’ve experienced and value-added moments from people who’ve interacted with me, I’d like to share a few that have made the earth move in my life. When I started my CPA firm in 1987, my father-in-law offered what proved to be life-enhancing, profit-boosting advice. I guess I could say he really added value to my life. I’m sure his concern was for my wife to make sure that I took good care of his daughter. Whatever his motivation was, it was a life changer for me. He shared with me an experience he had in his life when he was working for the IRS. He did accounting work on the side at nights and on weekends for clients around town to bring in extra income for the family. Of course, he went on to become the president of a bank and was very successful in his own right, I’m sure because he applied the same advice to his professional life. He said, “Craig, as you get busy doing work for your clients, don’t get too busy to take an afternoon off each week from office work and go out and visit your clients at their place of business.” He told me he did that and he seemed to just grow in clients as a result. I viewed my father-in-law as having had a successful career and chose to follow his advice. For me, I chose Wednesday afternoons to visit my clients. Over the years, I watched not only my CPA practice grow to over 700 small business clients, but its revenue per client soar. The fact was a simple request. The impact was tremendous. Not only did I gain the trust of my clients by taking time to show that I was interested in their success, but that trust grew to produce two outcomes. The first was that they would refer their friends and family to me for help. And the second was that at the end of the day on a Wednesday, I would not only head back to the office with unsolicited referrals, but also with additional work from the clients I visited. Some of this work benefited me in other ways. For example, one of my clients was considering an investment in a startup bank. He shared with me the investment prospectus and told me he was considering making an investment and wanted my opinion. I took the information and a few days later, we met to discuss my thoughts. I shared with him that I thought it was a good investment opportunity and asked if I could join in the investment with him as well. He said he was hoping I would say that, because really he had planned to only invest if I did as well. What a great experience to help start a community bank and be one of the founding board members alongside one of my respected clients. Some of our listeners are not business owners and as such, I thought of one of my sons and how he is an example of the ideal employee. As our family grew and the businesses I founded became more successful, we moved into a larger home on five acres. This home was a lot of work to maintain as you can imagine. I would assign my son, Matthew, to do certain chores outside. Without exception, he would not only do the work assigned, but when he was finished with the assigned work, he reported back to me saying, “Is there anything else that needs to be done? And, oh, by the way, when I was out there, I saw this and this that needed to be done so I went ahead and did that too.” You can imagine how any employer would feel to have an employee that makes the earth move so deeply by doing not only what is expected of them, but doing more without even being asked. These types of employees enhance the profits and pleasure of doing business. They add value and are a treasure to have. You can imagine having the same interaction with your clients or customers going above and beyond their expectations. As you take time to be quiet and ponder your steps, think about how your service or product can enhance and change the lives of others. The steps you take, if taken with care and attention, can really make things move for other people. As you figure out how to add value to those you interact with, as my father-in-law did with me, you too will experience greater success and fulfillment from the small and simple steps of seeking to understand the needs of others and taking the time to meet and exceed those expectations. Let’s talk about how you add value, and to focus on that question, why don’t we all go back to our first job interview? Mine was at McDonald’s. I think it went something like this. “When are you available to work?” “After school.” “How much money do you want to make?” “How much are you offering to pay?” was my answer. In other words, it was quite a simple exchange, right? They had money that I wanted and they needed help working, so if I worked, they would give me money. Very simple. But is this really the basis of our interactions? You need to match your unique characteristics, or your product’s unique characteristics or your services, to the needs of your customers so that their perception is that you offer the best value, not necessarily the lowest price. Of course, I went to work for McDonald’s for minimum wage, so I did offer the lowest price. Let’s look at your customer’s needs. How do you fill those better than anyone else? This is where you take the dollars and cents out of the equation of business and add a tangible and an intangible value beyond what others can do. How do you know you’re making a difference in the lives of your customers or clients? A few weeks ago, I was golfing with James Stevenson, a friend of mine in Park City, Utah. As we golfed, he shared with me some thoughts and reactions to the first episode of the Biz Sherpa Podcast. He said, “Craig, I get this, looking at what I do best and how I spend my time is great. In fact, it got me out of my investment banking job and into owning a vacation rental management company in Park City.” What could be nicer than that, right? He said, “I want a scorecard so that at the end of each day, I know I’m on track.” I’ve contemplated James’s question for several weeks and found the key to keeping score in my life takes time and honest evaluation. Let me share with you a brief experience of selling a product for 30 percent more than the competition in half the time across the street. My development business was selling their product for 30 percent more per square foot than our competition. What caused this? We knew that the value to drive up to the front door and walk in and having your name on that building was more valuable to a business owner than having their clients park on the outside perimeter of a building that was courtyard-oriented, only to have them walk through the courtyard, trying to find the front door to the business they were going to solicit. You have to understand that when you go to school for two to eight years to get a college degree or become a professional, you want the look of a professional office that makes a statement about you. Normally, in business school, you would think that the answer to the question of who’s going to sell out faster—the one with the lowest price—will always win. I say the product with the greatest perceived value will have the highest demand. This type of success doesn’t happen by accident. It takes time, deliberate focus, and effort, and of course, some luck. We took three months and looked at our very first project and looked at who bought our office buildings and what were their needs. Then, we surveyed those needs and put together a successful ownership proposition that also made the location more valuable to the business owner than just another building. In other words, the enhancements we built into it made their business operation more successful and more profitable. This study and taking this time put us over and above what anyone else was doing. It meant we spent more money, but we were able to sell for more money and probably at a greater margin, certainly when you consider the time factor. If you don’t take the time to figure out and deliberately have your plan, it’s like ordering take-out, running in and picking it up, being in a hurry to get home, and you get home to unpack the take-out and you realize you have the wrong meal. You ordered chicken fried rice, but you get home and you have beef with broccoli. As I’ve pondered my friend’s, James, desire for a scorecard, I’ve discovered in looking back at my life, how I achieved as a CPA and growing from one client to over 700 small business clients in eight years; and as a real estate developer, I grew from our first 8 million dollar project to developing over 750 million dollars worth of real estate over the next nine years. The key is to exceed expectations and add value at every interaction on every level, and you will not need to advertise. Your customers will do it for you. Remember, this process takes deliberate time and focused contemplation. By taking time to score your progress, you will avoid the trap the world uses to measure progress, which is growth in sales or other metrics. The world wants to use metrics and compare price per pound, or in real estate, price per square foot. We have all been to the grocery store and found that the most expensive meat, Prime, the prime quality of prime cut, is many times more expensive per pound, and sometimes 15 to 20 dollars per pound more than the Choice cut. So what kind of steak do you want to grill? I like bone-in filet that is Prime. So to answer my friend James’s question about a scorecard, the ultimate scorecard that focuses on measuring personal performance, evaluating results of your performance, and setting objectives to elevate your performance is where I have focused my career and my life. So I’m excited to share with you my scorecard. My personal trainer asked me a question at the beginning of the year. He said, “Craig, what are your personal fitness objectives this year?” To be honest with you for a minute, I couldn’t even think of an answer to that question. I’m not planning on running in a triathlon or a marathon, and last year I won a World’s Championship in the Amateur Gentleman’s Fine Harness, and so I had some objectives, but I had got caught flat-footed at the beginning of this year. It took me a minute to think of an objective. So I made one. So, on the scorecard that you can find on our website at www.BizSherpa.co, you’ll find under the tab, “Resources,” the scorecard. The scorecard, you should start off each week with a personal performance objective. Don’t be caught like me without one. Define that objective. An effective objective should be well-defined, and be able to be recorded in one sentence. For example, “Determine why my delivery times this month have doubled, and resolve the production or fulfillment problems so that our customers receive timely fulfillment to their orders.” Or, “I want to build my sales pipeline so that I have a hundred potential orders for next month.” Those are all worthy objectives in your business. Then, the next thing you should do is at the end of each day, look back and measure the percentage of your time spent each day working on your personal performance objective. I would say that if you’re distracted more than 20 percent of the time, then you’re not able to adequately focus on your key objective. For example, you may have a 50 minute workout plan, but you’re interrupted by telephone calls and texts for 14 minutes of that 50 minutes. So now you’ve only achieved 72 percent of your workout, unless you extend the time. By focusing and using 80 percent as an objective, you’re able to then set aside some of the things that become obstacles to you in business. And believe me, I’ve owned a number of businesses, and I’ve seen 700 clients get distractions, as well as a CPA watching them. I know how to learn to focus, and I think it takes that focus to be able to enhance your personal performance. The next step after you measure it each day is to evaluate what obstacles you faced. Then next, you’ll identify what you can change, or who you can empower, to help remove those obstacles, or delegate to, that stand in the way of you achieving your objective. These are key principles. I can’t stress enough that, to avoid getting burned out and having a business own you, you need to be able to focus, and you need to be able to have an objective in mind to spend 80 percent of your time on what you feel is your key objective on any given week. The next area I think you should focus on is exceeding expectations performance. This is an area where you get to receive emotional currency and accumulate that to give you energy and power, and help you know where to focus. So to do it, you need to measure the feedback from your clients, customers, and employees. If you don’t receive any, then that might be your 80 percent objective, to get on the phone and get some feedback. I think it’s important to a business to be able to measure their feedback they’re getting. I’m not talking about the survey like you get when you buy a car and they say, “Hey, please give me a good rating.” I’m talking about honest feedback about your product, your service, and your performance. Some of these come unsolicited, and that’s the best kind of feedback that you want. But if you’re getting no feedback, then you need to start reaching out so that you have something to make changes and evaluate and to enhance your performance. After you get the feedback, then you need to evaluate it, write it down, and rate it. Is this a positive thing? If it’s positive and saying that you’ve gone above and beyond, then go ahead and give yourself 100 points. In other words, if you’re exceeding your customer’s expectations, then you should be able to give yourself 100. If you have negative feedback, don’t be too hard on yourself, but don’t give yourself more than 50 points. I think it’s important to score this so that you can see where you are. And if on any given day, you got no feedback, then put in a zero. The next step is to take action. Outline the changes needed to enhance the performance. If you have a positive, exceeding-expectations feedback, then you need to highlight that in your social media campaigns. If you had an employee go above and beyond, then you need to take action to reward and encourage that among other employees as well. If you had negative feedback about a product’s functioning, then you need to be able to contact those in your business who are responsible, to enhance and fix the product’s performance. If you’re getting negative feedback about fulfillment, then you need to talk to operations, and help them understand that you’re getting negative feedback so they know what to fix. When you do this, then you are aligning your actions. You’re aligning the other 20 percent of your time that you’re spending on areas where you can tweak and enhance the overall performance of your company. And I would dare say, if you do this, your customers will take care of themselves. Your profitability will soar. Then I would take the score of all five days, add up all five days, and rate yourself. This really does focus you, or your company, on getting daily feedback. Know where you stand with your customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. Again, not like the car surveys you take when you buy a car, where they say, “Please rate me well.” They’re trying to have the company win an award, or the sales person is trying to win an award. I’m talking about honest feedback with detailed information about what you’ve done well, and maybe what you haven’t done well. And sometimes this is done by survey, but the best thing is to have a conversation. The last area that I think should be measured on a weekly basis, and certainly monthly basis, is how are you doing at building your enduring wealth? You should measure and record the amount you transfer to savings on a monthly basis, and then calculate that as a percentage of net income from the prior month. That way you can evaluate each month, how you’re doing. The next area is, you need to evaluate what time did I spend, and what investment options did I identify this week, and how do they play into my overall long-term plan to have a recurring income stream independent of my business? The action you should take is figure out what your next steps are on the investment vehicle you may have chosen or found. If you do this, you’ll be well on your way. Now to score yourself here, I would say 16 to 20 percent of net income, you’re a champion. If you’re 11 to 15 percent, you’re a pro. And 6 to 10 percent, you’re an amateur. If you’re 1 to 5 percent, you’re a beginner, and I have hope for you because you are starting. This scorecard will focus you on what’s important and allow you to elevate your performance and enhance customer satisfaction, which alone will increase your profitability more than any other factor, as I’ve mentioned before. Now, I would go back to number one and you do need to total up your percentage for the week, the area where you’re having your personal performance focus, and there you need to score yourself. You need to look at it. If you’re getting between 320 and 400 points, then you’re a champion. If you’re getting 280 to 319 points, you’re a pro. And 280 and below, you’re an amateur. I think it’s important to score yourself at the end of each week, and then evaluate and take time to look at those three aspects of your performance to determine what your objectives should be the next week. You may find that they fall out from these things. I certainly wouldn’t make the investment the number one objective, but I would look at your personal performance focus and certainly your exceeding-expectations performance, and see what you can do the next week to enhance that performance. A friend of mine, Tommaso Cardullo, a fashion designer, told me that a way to quantify to track performance creates excitement, and energy, and drive. And that scoring your progress is a way to elevate your performance. If you don’t take the time to contemplate and look beyond a dashboard or a set of financial metrics, you will lose sight of the enhanced value you, your company, your employees, and in turn, your products or services, can add to someone else’s life. You will know you are making a difference in someone else’s life when you start anticipating their needs before they recognize they have the need. The Biz Sherpa scorecard will liberate you from the day-to-day business rigors to free you up to focus on doing just that—enhancing value for others. Scoring your progress will bring excitement, energy, and drive, and above that, it will elevate your vision and eventually your performance. Remember the month the earth stood still. Take time to be still, measure, evaluate, and set elevated objectives. As you do, you will make the earth move for someone else. This is why I created the Biz Sherpa scorecard. It will look a little bit more like a journal. You need to take time to contemplate, evaluate, and record your thoughts and feelings, what is working, and what is not working. It’s a creative process to focus on these areas of your life, not a quantitative approach, or there would be an app or a software that would analyze all of your business and give you recommendations. You are unique. You’re a unique individual with talents, vision, and drive, that no one else has. Use those to customize your performance and set your objectives. Consider this thought as you do from British novelist, Jon McGregor: “Pen and paper is always at hand. Writing on the page stays on the page, with its scribbles and rewrites and long arrows suggesting a sentence or paragraph be moved and can be looked over and reconsidered. Writing on the screen is far more ephemeral. A sentence deleted can’t be reconsidered.” “For decades, my own journals have been incubators for creative projects. Each time I start a new book, workshop, or business expansion, I use my journal to work out questions, obstacles, details, procedural notes, and deadline management. I also benefit from the safe container for my own self doubts; uncertainties, frustrations, and other feelings that are part of the creative process.” And the nice thing about this scorecard, you don’t share it with anyone else. You can put in here your personal doubts. You can look at your weaknesses. If you don’t encourage employees. If you’re not spending the kind of time encouraging the right actions to be taken in your business. This is a time for you to be quiet and evaluate, and improve yourself. I wouldn’t use it as a time to beat yourself up. This is a time to set objectives. And then at the end of each week, turn around, and set a new objective that will help you enhance your performance. I look forward to your feedback as you use the Biz Sherpa scorecard. Go to www.BizSherpa.co, and click on “Resources.” You’ll find it under Episode 4. Oh yeah, in two weeks, you will join me for my first video podcast in the Sherpa’s Cave, with the king of the Reset Button, Warren LeSueur. Warren is a two-time stage IV cancer survivor, who established a family-owned and operated used car dealership in Tempe, Arizona in 1975, with barely over 50,000 a year in sales. Now, today it has grown to over 38 million. We will be discussing how he manages a family-owned business, and how his life’s experiences of hitting the reset button have led to success in business, and fulfillment in life. I’d like to give special thanks to Tommaso Cardullo and James Stevenson for their thought-provoking discussions about scorecards. I hope you use the scorecard and find it rewarding for you. I can’t wait to meet you next time in the Sherpa’s Cave. This is Craig Willett, the Biz Sherpa. Speaker 1: Be sure to go to our website to access the resources related to this episode at www.BizSherpa.co. If you enjoyed this show, tell your friends about us and be sure to rate our podcast. Craig would like to hear from you, so share your thoughts in the Facebook community at BizSherpa.co. Follow us on Twitter @BizSherpa_co and on Instagram @BizSherpa.co.

Roz Watkins explores the dark side of the Peak District in her new detective thriller 'Dead Man's Daughter'. (Starts at 1.17) Robert Kirkwood meets the man who provides audio description for the Game of Thrones TV series. (18.27) N B Dixon reviews a medieval fantasy that's become her book of the year so far. (28.51) Jon McGregor discusses his haunting novel 'Reservoir 13'. (33.43) Then a return to Roz Watkins for the books of her life. (48.43)

L'actualité vue par les livres avec Nicolas Tittley; l’industrie du tabac. L'actualité culturelle à Paris avec Olivia de Lamberterie. Isabelle Racicot et Patrick Masbourian ont vu pour nous After Life, de Ricky Gervais. Le mot à définir avec Gérard Beaudet; immobilier. Une entrevue avec François Delisle pour son film Ca$h Nexu$. Que regardent les Lituaniens? Le club de lecture avec Isabelle Craig qui a lu L'Amérique derrière moi, d'Erwan Desplanques , Sophie Lorain avec Réservoir 13, de Jon McGregor et Ogden Ridjanovic avec L'explosion de la tortue, d'Éric Chevillard.

Discussion Notes: Reservoir 13 In July we read Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor. Next month we will read Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn Rated: Clean Winner of the 2017 Costa Novel Award, Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor challenges reader expectations by subverting mystery tropes and dwelling on the aftermath of a disappearance, such as it may... The post Reservoir 13 | Jon McGregor | Literary Roadhouse Bookclub Ep 18 appeared first on Literary Roadhouse.

Discussion Notes: The Sympathizer In June we read The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Next month we will read Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor. Rated: Explicit Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize, this gripping novel centers around a mole in the Vietnamese army. The story follows his journey after he flees Vietnam. The book  is often funny, sometimes horrifying,... The post The Sympathizer | Viet Thanh Nguyen | Literary Roadhouse Bookclub Ep 17 appeared first on Literary Roadhouse.

In this episode, I interviewed Dan Raymond-Barker (on Twitter @danraybar), Books Sales and Marketing Manager at Myriad-New Internationalist. We have talked about what it means to work in a co-operative, the most important skills for aspiring book marketeers and the most interesting marketing campaign he has noticed this year.Support the podcast: https://ko-fi.com/publishinginsightGet in touch on Twitter @FlamFlam91 or write me an email at publishinginsight@gmail.comVisit my website: https://www.publishing-insight.com/Books mentioned: - Blacklisted by Dave Smith and Phil Chamberlain; - One World, a global anthology of short stories; - The Kennedy Moment by Peter Adamson; - Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor; - The Reservoir Tapes by Jon McGregor; - If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor; - Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie; - True Grit by Charles Portis. Thank you so much for listening! If you have enjoyed this episode please subscribe and share it with other people who may find it interesting as well.Portrait illustration by Ellie Beadle. Music: Dig the Uke by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. https://bit.ly/1VLy3cJ Ft: Kara Square.Support the show (https://ko-fi.com/publishinginsight)

Whether it’s Jefferson, Mississippi in the novels of William Faulkner, or coastal Maine in Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, or even the Shire, the small, tight-knit community has provided fertile ground for novelists. This month, we bring you a show dedicated to small towns in literature, partly recorded in front of a live audience at the Derby Book Festival, where we interviewed acclaimed author Jon McGregor about his latest novel, Reservoir 13. It tells the story of a girl's disappearance from a small village in the Peak District in England, and the aftershocks it leaves in the community for years to come. So listen in for our conversation with Jon, some thoughts about literary small town life, and join us in resisting the overwhelming urge to quote lyrics by Journey and John Cooger Mellancamp.

The £23m Weston Tower and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries at Westminster Abbey will be opening to the public next month. Architecture critic and historian Tom Dyckhoff gives his response to these two new additions to the abbey church, the site of all royal coronations since William the Conqueror in 1066.Why are so many British writers setting their stories in the countryside at the moment? From the second series of the BBC comedy drama This Country, to plays including Barney Norris's Nightfall, Joe White's Mayfly and Simon Longman's Gundog, and novels such as Jon McGregor's Reservoir 13 and Ali Smith's Autumn, writers are turning to a new vision of 'the pastoral' for inspiration. Writer Barney Norris joins novelist Sarah Hall - who was born and raised in the Lake District - to consider whether writing about the countryside has become part of the zeitgeist again and why.Gillian Allnutt's career as a poet stretches over four decades. In 2016 she was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. The poet discusses and reads from her new collection, Wake.Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Jerome Weatherald.

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.

We talk to three winners of The Costa Book Award 2017.  Jon McGregor talks about 'Reservoir 13', winner of the Novel of the Year, Rebecca Stott talks about her Biography of the Year 'In the Days of Rain: A Daughter. A Father. A Cult', and we go exploring with Children's Book of the Year winner, Katherine Rundell ... who also gives us the books of her life.

Reservoir 13 which won Costa Book Award is written by a British novelist Jon McGregor. It's about villagers living in an English rural area in wich a 13-year-old girl has disappeared. For more information visit www.krisland.ru

A special episode featuring all five winners of the Costa Book Awards 2017. The winner of the novel category Jon McGregor talks about how he wrote his stunning portrait of an English country village, Reservoir 13. Katherine Rundell, winner of the children's book category, reveals how she ate tinned tarantula for her adventure story The Explorer. The biography winner Rebecca Stott discusses In the Days of Rain which tells the story of her family's life in a cult and how they escaped. The novelist Louise Doughty discusses the late Helen Dunmore and her last collection of poems, Inside the Wave, which was awarded the poetry prize. And debut novelist Gail Honeyman discusses how she wrote Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine which won the Costa First Book Award.

In this Christmas episode, Rob chats to Jon McGregor about Male oppression, obsession with the number thirteen, the art of the letter and how he constructed his multi-layered, much lauded and Booker longlisted novel, Reservoir 13. Rob and Kate and discuss the hottest thing in literature at the moment, Cat Person. If you are a big fan of Christmas crackers, geese, or the patriarchy, you will not like it. Special appearances by noisy security guard, mobile phone and (as you do) soil pipe. Enjoy!

Writers Jon McGregor and Cathy Rentzenbrink talk favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.

First Draft interview with Jon McGregor

Jon McGregoris a British novelist and short story writer. In 2002, his first novel was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize as its youngest contender. His second and fourth novels were longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2006 and 2017 respectively. In 2012, his third novel was awarded the International Dublin Literary Award. His most recent novel is Reservoir 13. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join John Wilson for a celebration of the power and possibilities of the short story as Chair of Judges Joanna Trollope announces the winner of the 2017 BBC National Short Story Award live from the Radio Theatre. The judging panel Eimear McBride, Jon McGregor and Sunjeev Sahota discuss the merits of the entries from the shortlisted authors. In contention for the £15,000 prize are Helen Oyeyemi, Benjamin Markovits, Cynan Jones, Jenni Fagan and Will Eaves.Radio 1 presenter Alice Levine will also announce the winner of the BBC Young Writers' Award and consider the strengths and emerging themes of the stories with fellow judge, the best-selling author Holly Bourne. The BBC National Short Story Award is presented in conjunction with BookTrust.Presenter : John Wilson Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

In this episode Kate makes a serious confession, and we try to figure out if The Trouble With Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon is set in an avenue or a cul-de-sac. We also tackle the more important question of whether it made a good book club book. In our interview Kate is put through her paces on a windy Hampstead Heath chatting to Emily Rhodes about her Walking Book Club. We end with some recommendations for your next book club read. • Get in touch with us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, follow us on Instagram @thebookclubreviewpod or leave us a comment on iTunes, we'd love to hear from you. • Books mentioned in this episode: The True Deceiver, Tove Jansson, West with the Night by Beryl Markham, All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West, The Living Mountain, Nan Shepherd, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee, Someone at a Distance, Dorothy Whipple, Beware of Pity, Stefan Zweig, Brodecks Report, Philippe Claudel, Westwood, Stella Gibbons, The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, The View from the Harbour, Elizabeth Taylor, Hot Milk, Deborah Levy, Breakfast with the Nikolides, Rumer Godden, The Summer Book, Tove Jansson • We recommend any branch of the Daunt bookshops, which can be found in Hampstead, Cheapside, Chelsea, Holland Park and Belsize Park. • For our next book club we will be reading and discussing The Prophets of Eternal Fjord by Kim Leine.

Mariella Frostrup talks to Jon McGregor about his new novel Reservoir 13, a haunting exploration of the impact of a missing child on a Derbyshire community. Polly Clark explains why she decided to fictionalize a less well known period in W H Auden's life when, as a young man, he worked as a school master in Scotland. Mariella is also joined by another devotee of Auden, writer Alexander McCall Smith, to discuss the poet's timeless appeal. We discusses the novel behind the film 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape?' which is being re-released. And Wendy Holden tells us about the Book She'd Never Lend.

Nina Raine's new play Consent at London's National Theatre explores the tricky intertwining of modern relationships and legal niceties The life of American poet Emily Dickinson is dramatised in Terence Davies' new film A Quiet Passion. Does enough happen to make it dramatically interesting? Jon McGregor's newest novel Reservoir 13 looks at a community exploring the loss of one family, as life goes on for everyone else Tate St Ives is reopening after many months of closure for development. The first exhibition is The Studio and The Sea We look at a couple of car-based TV comedies; Peter Kaye in Car Share + Miriam Margolyes in Bucket And in the podcast, our guests reveal what they enjoy in the world of arts when they're not reviewing it for us Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Katie Puckrik, Alex Clark and Kevin Jackson. The producer is Oliver Jones.

In this episode, Rob talks to the winner of the last ever Guardian First Book Award, Andrew McMillan, on "modern male anxieties" as the Guardian puts it, working out in gyms, trying to write like Jon McGregor, Creative Writing MAs (again), Horror as a gateway drug (again), and what it's like growing up Gay in Barnsley. NOTE: This was recorded before the terrible homophobic nightclub shooting in Orlando, which is why we don't talk about it in the interview and why I don't mention it in the intro.

In the first of a series of special London Short Story Festival 2015 podcasts, we showcase some of the highlights from this year's festival. Bask in a world of stories, words of wisdom and anecdotes from Ben Okri, Kevin Barry, Jon McGregor, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Marina Warner and many more. This podcast is made in association with Waterstones, with support from Arts Council England. spreadtheword.org.uk

Jon McGregor discusses his novel If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things

With James Naughtie. Doctors work under the oath 'do no harm', but the neurosurgeon Henry Marsh says the decision whether to operate on a brain is rarely that simple. His account of his working life Do No Harm has caught the attention of readers all round the country since its publication a year ago and has this week Do No Harm won the South Bank Award for Literature, as well being shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson, Costa, and Wellcome book prizes this year. Henry discusses his memoir Do No Harm which is startling in its candour. He gives an extraordinary insight into his own thought processes as well as into the world of neurosurgical briefing meetings and hospital policies. Each chapter's starting point is a real-life case study and the book conveys his fascination with the human brain as well as the compassion required of a brain surgeon. Henry is honest about how a doctor must strive for balance between personal involvement with the patient and objectivity about their case. He talks about his failures, and the exhilaration of success. As always on Bookclub a group of readers, this month including members of the medical profession, join in the discussion. July's Bookcub choice : If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor. Presenter : James Naughtie Interviewed guest : Henry Marsh Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Lucy Wood builds a story from glimpses and suggestions in ‘Notes from the House Spirits', says Jon McGregor

Lucy Wood builds a story from glimpses and suggestions in ‘Notes from the House Spirits', says Jon McGregor

Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young; Janet Suzman and Alan Howard on the art of acting; author Jon McGregor, winner of the lucrative International Impac Dublin Literary Award; and artist Rachel Whiteread.

With John Wilson, John reports from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, one of the contenders for the Art Fund Prize for museums, in the company of Alexander McCall Smith who has used it as a location in his novels. Front Row is reporting from all four shortlisted museums, before announcing the winner next Tuesday. Tom Cruise and Russell Brand star in Rock of Ages, a film adaptation of the jukebox musical, where classic 80s rock songs form the backdrop to a love story set on LA's Sunset Strip. Music writer Kate Mossman gives her verdict. The author of Afghan war novel The Watch, Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya, explains how he wrote the book without setting foot in the country or talking to a soldier, and offers his own thoughts on the reasons why other novelists have not tackled this controversial subject. And, an interview with Jon McGregor, winner of the lucrative International Impac Dublin Literary Award is which is voted for by libraries around the world. Producer Erin Riley.

Book Slam's 43rd podcast chops the dead wood, sets it ablaze and then burns an effigy of it, on it, so to speak ... Suffice to say, Elliott Jack and Francesca Beard (pictured, © Nick Cunard) introduce Jon McGregor and his brilliant collection of short stories 'This Sort Of Thing Doesn't Happen To Someone Like You', Rachel Rose Reid waxing Dickensian, Heidi Vogel being highly vocal and an ace new short story from Charles Beckett. Elliott steps out of the shadows, Francesca removes his spectacles and says, 'Miss Jones ...'

This month The Reading Room Book Group discuss Pantheon by Sam Bourne, Booker prize nominated author Jon McGregor talks about his new collection of short stories This Isn't the Sort of Thing That Happens to Someone Like You, we get another nomination for our list of 101 Books To Read Before You Die from poet Luke Wright, and we have poetry from Elaine Kazimierczuk.

Aminatta Forna explores the delights and challenges of the short story. Author and creative writing Tessa Hadley discusses the history and development of the short story, from Edgar Allan Poe, through Chekhov, Mansfield and Monroe, and short story writers Helen Simpson and Jon McGregor, along with Dept. Editor of Granta Magazine Ellah Allfrey discuss what makes a great short story.

Jon McGregor talks about reworking his first published story ‘What the Sky Sees’ from the female perspective and reads from both the original and updated version, ‘In Winter the Sky’.

Jon McGregor reads Wires from his new collection of short stories This Isn't The Sort Of Thing That Happens To Someone Like You, released in February 2012 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With John Wilson. A new film of John le Carre's classic novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy stars Gary Oldman as George Smiley, with John Hurt, Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch as fellow spies. Bridget Kendall, BBC diplomatic correspondent and former Moscow correspondent, gives her verdict. A re-print of John le Carre's book has also been brought out - and is available now. We pay tribute to artist Richard Hamilton, whose death at the age of 89 was announced today. Royal Ballet star Lauren Cuthbertson visits the Royal Academy's new exhibition Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement. She reflects on whether a 21st century ballerina has anything in common with Degas' 19th century depictions. Musician Laura Marling discusses about her new album and its literary influences, and performs in the Front Row studio. Jon McGregor talks about his short story, Wires, one of the five shortlisted for this year's BBC National Short Story Award. The award celebrates the best of contemporary British short fiction. The winning author, to be announced live on Front Row on Monday 26 September, receives £15,000 Producer Rebecca Nicholson.