Podcast appearances and mentions of Lennie Goodings

If 18-year-old Sam was here now, today's episode would be a real pinch-me moment. Back in the mid-80s, I was a student in Birmingham when I first stumbled upon the dark green spine that was the hallmark of a newish publisher called Virago. It started with one book in particular – The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood. Reading that book changed my life, as I don't doubt many Virago books have done for many people over the years.Virago launched 50 years ago this month and, for much of that time, my guest, Lennie Goodings, was at the heart of things. Lennie joined virago in 1978 as part-time office slave. Rose to Publisher and is now Chair. Lennie has published a host of influential writers including Atwood, Angela Carter, Sarah Waters, Maya Angelou, Audre Lorde and many more. She has also, latterly, become a much needed advocate for the rights of older women in the workplace.I met Lennie at home in North London to talk about 50 years of feminism and publishing books by and for women, the moment she realised her life didn't have to be defined by who she married and where she got her drive to make a difference. We also discussed the older women who've shaped her, the importance of bringing your A-game and why ageism is the next frontline.* You can buy all the books mentioned in this podcast at The Shift bookshop on Bookshop.org, including A Bite of the Apple by Lennie Goodings and the book that inspired this podcast, The Shift: how I lost and found myself after 40 - and you can too, by me.* And if you'd like to support the work that goes into making this podcast and get a weekly newsletter plus loads more content including transcripts of the podcast, please consider joining The Shift community. Find out more at www.theshiftwithsambaker.substack.com• The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker and edited by Emily Sandford. If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate/review/follow as it really does help other people find us. And let me know what you think on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An independent review launched after up to 15 babies died at a hospital trust will be published later this morning. The report into maternity services at East Kent Hospitals, which is expected to be "harrowing", examined up to 200 cases involving mothers and babies. The medical experts reviewed an 11-year period from 2009 at two hospitals in Margate and Ashford. Two mothers who lost their babies at a hospital trust at the centre of a maternity scandal say they felt they were blamed for the deaths. Earlier our presenter Krupa Padhi spoke to one of those mothers Helen Gittos as she and her husband Alan, and other families, waited to be allowed to read the report. They lost their daughter Harriet in 2014. The cartoonist Kate Beaton has written a memoir about her time working in the oil fields of Canada aged 21 to pay off her student debt. Her memoir 'Ducks' tells of her loneliness and vulnerability in the male-dominated space and the kindness she found there too. The dirty machinery and blasted landscapes alongside the Northern Lights inspired her as an artist and her book offers a rare insight into the lives of the people who surface our oil . Carmen Callil, the publisher and writer who championed female writers and transformed the canon of English literature, has died of leukemia aged 84. She founded the feminist imprint Virago Press, where she published contemporary bestsellers including Margaret Atwood and Maya Angelou. She worked with writers such as Angela Carter, Alan Hollinghurst and Toni Morrison. She was also the first publisher of Hilary Mantel. We discuss her life with chair of Virago Press, Lennie Goodings, a long-term friend and former colleague of the late publisher and writer. Child-free women in the 20-something age bracket are sharing videos outlining what their day-to-day lives look like as #StayAtHomeGFs on TikTok. The hashtag has garnered 170 million posts and refers to one partner in a relationship whose role is to stay at home to look after their breadwinner boyfriend who goes to work and funds their lives. The content appears to be quite aspirational for many. We discuss the trend with the digital culture commentator Hannah Van de Peer and Alex Holder, a personal finance expert and author of Open Up: Why Talking About Money Will Change Your Life. Google searches for sterilisation peaked in the US in the aftermath of the overturning of Roe v Wade – and the morning after pill sold out. It's even made some women rethink whether or not they want children, and reports suggest younger women are even considering permanent sterilisation so they can't become pregnant again. 23-year-old Olivia from Massachusetts joins Krupa, alongside USA correspondent Holly Honderich and NHS gynaecologist Dr Larisa Corda, to chat about the implications of female sterilisation. Presenter: Krupa Padhi Producer: Kirsty Starkey Interviewed Guest: Helen Gittos Interviewed Guest: Kate Beaton Interviewed Guest: Lennie Goodings Interviewed Guest: Hannah Van de Peer Interviewed Guest: Alex Holder Interviewed Guest: Holly Honderich Interviewed Guest: Dr Larissa Corda

Simon and Rachel speak with Lennie Goodings, chair of Virago Press. Born in Canada, Lennie came to Britain in the 1970s and joined Virago as a publicist in 1978. In subsequent roles—first in marketing, then as publisher—Lennie has worked with authors including Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, Sarah Waters and Linda Grant. She won the Bookseller's Industry Award for Editor and Imprint of the Year in 2010, a Lifetime's Achievement Award at the Women of the World festival in 2018 and was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2020. Her book, "A Bite of the Apple", a memoir-cum-history of Virago, was published in 2020 by Oxford University Press. We talked to Lennie about the early years of her career, the intimacy of editing a writer's work and how the business of feminist publishing has evolved. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/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.

Virago is a London-based British publishing company committed to publishing women's writing and books on "feminist" topics.  Established by women in the 1970s in tandem with the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM), Virago has done much to address inequitable gender dynamics in the publishing world, and, unlike anti-capitalist publishing ventures, has branded itself a commercial alternative in a male dominated publishing industry, seeking to compete with mainstream international presses.   Initially known as Spare Rib Books, Virago was founded by  Carmen Callil in 1973 primarily to publish books by women writers. From the get-go the company sought two sorts of books: original works, and out-of-print books by neglected female writers. The latter were reissued under the "Modern Classics" label, which launched in 1978   In 1982, Virago became a wholly owned subsidiary Random House, USA, but in 1987 Callil, Lennie Goodings and others put together a management buy-out. After a downturn in the market, the board decided to sell Virago to Little, Brown, of which Virago became an imprint in 1996 (with Lennie as Publisher).  In 2006, Virago became part of the Hachette publishing group with Lennie acting as editor and publisher. She is now Chair of Virago.   Today the company's stated mission is to "champion women's voices and bring them to the widest possible readership around the world. From fiction and politics to history and classic children's stories, its writers continue to win acclaim, break new ground and enrich the lives of readers."   I met Lennie via Zoom to talk about her life with Virago, as described in her new memoir A Bite of the Apple, published by OUP around the world, and by mighty Biblioasis in Canada. 

Playwright, novelist, and screenwriter Emma Donoghue hosts a conversation with editor and author Lennie Goodings about her book, A Bite of the Apple: A Life with Books, Writers and Virago. Part memoir, part literary history, and part reflection on more than forty years of feminist publishing, A Bite of the Apple is a story of idealism and pragmatism, solidarity and individual ambition, of challenges met and the battles not yet won—and, above all, a steadfast celebration of the making and reading of books. Following the chronology of the press where she has worked nearly since its founding, Lennie Goodings tells the story of the group of visionary publishers and writers who have made Virago one of the most important and influential publishers in the English-speaking world. Like the books she has edited and published—by writers ranging from Maya Angelou and Margaret Atwood to Sarah Waters and Naomi Wolf—Goodings's contribution to the genre breaks new ground as well, telling a story of women in the world of work, offering much needed balance to the male-dominated genre of publishing memoirs, and chronicling a critical aspect of the history of feminism: how women began to assume control over the production of their own books.

With publishing pioneer Lennie Goodings of Virago & Donal Ryan.

How much courage does it take to write?In this episode of OurShelves Lucy Scholes interviews Lennie Goodings, Chair of Virago Press and author of A Bite of the Apple. We dive into stories about Maya Angelou and Rosamond Lehmann, the origins of Virago Press in the seventies, the narratives that shape our lives and the authors who continue to inspire Lennie's work and personal life.Join us for a conversation about courageous women, beautiful prose and the nature of storytelling.Books discussed in this episode include:Flights by Olga TokarczukDrive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga TokarczukHome by Marilynne RobinsonJack by Marilynne RobinsonI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya AngelouMouth Full of Blood by Toni MorrisonWe Need Silence to Find Out What We Think by Shirley HazzardDifficult Women by Helen LewisA Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca SolnitHouse in Paris by Elizabeth BowenRecommended Article: That Discomfort You’re Feeling is Grief by Scott BerinatoHome - an essay from Mouth Full of Blood by Toni Morrison What to watch: Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those ThingsTune in next time for more conversation about books, feminism and culture. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our Bookseller at Blackwell's Broad Street, Aleida, sat down with Lennie Goodings to discuss her book, A Bite of the Apple. "A Bite of the Apple is a celebration of writing, of publishing, and of reading." Follow us: Twitter: @blackwelloxford Instagram: @blackwelloxford YouTube: Blackwell's Oxford Website: www.blackwells.co.uk

In this episode of the Virago podcast editor Ailah Ahmed talks to Lennie Goodings about her book A Bite of the Apple - part memoir, part history of Virago Press and part thoughts on more than forty years of feminist publishing.Tune-in for Lennie Goodings, stay for the stories about Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood and a life in publishing. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today on Tea & Tattle Podcast, I’m joined by the editor and Chair of Virago Press, Lennie Goodings, to discuss Lennie’s debut book, A Bite of the Apple, which celebrates the joys of reading, writing and publishing and offers a unique look behind the scenes at an iconic feminist press. Lennie first joined the Virago team in the late ‘70s when she was newly arrived in London from Canada, and she writes about her extraordinary career with Virago, working with authors such as Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, Sarah Waters and so many other extraordinary women. Lennie shares openly about the challenges Virago faced in needing to turn a profit, but at heart being a deeply ideological company. Virago was integral in bringing feminist ideas and literature to the mainstream audience, and I was fascinated to read about the rise of feminism and also how post-feminism affected publishers like Virago.  I found A Bite of the Apple a deeply inspirational read, and it was such a privilege to talk to Lennie about her incredible career. This is the perfect episode for anyone interested in excellent literature and the world of publishing. Read the show notes: teaandtattlepodcast.com/home/128 Get in touch! Email: teaandtattlepodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @teaandtattlepodcast If you enjoy Tea & Tattle, please do rate and leave a review of the show on Apple Podcasts, as good reviews help other people to find and enjoy the show. Thank you!

Hosted by acclaimed author Cathy Rentzenbrink, the fourteenth edition of The Bookseller Podcast features Alice O'Keeffe, Caroline Sanderson and Philip Jones taking us on a world tour of book news and reviews for this month. We visit South Korea and the runaway success of Cho Nam-Joo's international bestseller Kim Ji-young, Born 1982; we explore Siberia and the Balkans in two terrifically transporting travel books; and we cross the Atlantic to the US-Mexico border where American Dirt is bringing a difficult conversation to the heart of the publishing industry. In author interviews, Cathy chats to Kiran Millwood Hargrave about her first novel for adults, The Mercies, a dark and chilling tale set on a remote island in 17th century Norway. We also hear from Lennie Goodings, whose book A Bite of the Apple covers 40 years of publishing and feminism in the heart of Soho. And playing us out – an extract from Actress written and read by Anne Enright. The Bookseller Podcast is a Heavy Entertainment Production.

Do men and women use the same language when talking about novels they have enjoyed? How have attitudes in publishing changed towards both readers and writers if figures show that women buy 80% of all novels ? Lennie Goodings is Chair of the Virago publishing house and has now written a memoir. She joins New Generation Thinkers Emma Butcher and Joanne Paul; and Helen Taylor, author of Why Women Read Fiction. Naomi Paxton hosts the conversation about writing and reading. Why Women Read Fiction: The Stories of Our Lives by Helen Taylor is out now and is being serialised as the Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qftk Lennie Goodings' has written A Bite of the Apple, A Life with Books, Writers and Virago. It is out from OUP in February 2020. Anne Bronte was born on 17 January 1820. Her second novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was published under the pen name of Acton Bell but following Anne's death in 1849 her sister Charlotte prevented republication saying "it hardly appears to me desirable to preserve. The choice of subject in that work is a mistake, it was too little consonant with the character, tastes and ideas of the gentle, retiring inexperienced writer." Emma Butcher from the University of Leicester researches the Brontes. Anne Dowriche (before 1560– after 1613) published Verses Written by a Gentlewoman, upon the Jailor's Conversion and a 2,400-line poem The French Historie. From a prominent Cornish family, she was a fervent Protestant. Joanne Paul from the University of Sussex is working on Anne Dowriche. New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to put research on the radio. You can find more New Research on the Free Thinking programme playlist https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03zws90

In honour of Equal Pay Day 2019, we welcome Carrie Gracie to the podcast. In this episode Carrie discusses her experience fighting for equal pay and her book, Equal, with Chair of Virago Press, Lennie Goodings.In January 2018, Gracie left her post as the BBC's China editor, following a career at the BBC that spanned more than three decades, in protest at unequal pay, publishing an open letter to BBC audiences and giving evidence before a parliamentary committee. Six months later, she won an apology from the BBC. She donated all her back pay to the gender equality charity, the Fawcett Society, to help low-paid women facing pay discrimination. She continues to serve as a BBC News presenter, and as a member of the 'BBC Women' group, she campaigns for a more equal, fair and transparent pay structure at the national broadcaster. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The modern world can make us feel like the walls are closing in, but a vanguard of writers are here to help us cope – and none more so than Matt Haig. After the storming success of Reasons to Stay Alive comes Notes on a Nervous Planet, a wise and witty guide to kicking the habits around everything from sleep to social media to work that are making us less happy. Enjoy an hour of conversation at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2019 that will soothe your 21st century anxieties. Chaired by Lennie Goodings.

Enter A Stranger City with Linda Grant.In this episode of the Virago podcast Lennie Goodings is in conversation with author Linda Grant, discussing her new novel A Stranger City.Linda Grant is author of five non-fiction books and seven novels. She won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2000 and the Lettre Ulysses Prize for Literary Reportage in 2006. The Clothes on Their Backs was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2008 and went on to win the South Bank Show Award. The Dark Circle was shortlisted for the 2017 Women's Prize for Fiction. About A Stranger City:When a dead body is found in the Thames, caught in the chains of HMS Belfast, it begins a search for a missing woman and confirms a sense that in London a person can become invisible once outside their community - and that assumes they even have a community. A policeman, a documentary film-maker and an Irish nurse named Chrissie all respond to the death of the unknown woman in their own ways. London is a place of random meetings, shifting relationships - and some, like Chrissie intersect with many. The film-maker and the policeman meanwhile have safe homes with wives - or do they? An immigrant family speaks their own language only privately; they have managed to integrate - or have they? The wonderful Linda Grant weaves a tale around ideas of home; how London can be a place of exile or expulsion, how home can be a physical place or an idea. How all our lives intersect and how coincidence or the randomness of birth place can decide how we live and with whom. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This month Chair of Virago Press, Lennie Goodings, chatted to Katie Hickman about her new book: She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen: British Women in India 1600 – 1900. She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen is an extraordinary and illuminating book that tells the incredible stories of the first British women to set foot in India - 250 years before the Raj. In this landmark book, celebrated chronicler, Katie Hickman, uncovers stories, until now hidden from history: here is Charlotte Barry, who in 1783 left London a high-class courtesan and arrived in India as Mrs William Hickey, a married 'lady'; Poll Puff who sold her apple puffs for 'upwards of thirty years, growing grey in the service'; Mrs Hudson who in 1617 was refused as a trader in indigo by the East Indian Company, and instead turned a fine penny in cloth; Julia Inglis, a survivor of the siege of Lucknow; Amelia Horne, who witnessed the death of her entire family during the Cawnpore massacres of 1857; and Flora Annie Steel, novelist and a pioneer in the struggle to bring education to purdah women. For some it was painful exile, but for many it was exhilarating. Through diaries, letters and memoirs (many still in manuscript form), this exciting book reveals the extraordinary life and times of hundreds of women who made their way across the sea and changed history.Find out more: https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/katie-hickman/she-merchants-buccaneers-and-gentlewomen/9780349008264/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This month we have a double-header for you on the Virago podcast. First up we have Susie Boyt discussing her latest novel, Love & Fame. And then we have Rachel Seiffert in conversation with Lennie Goodings talking about her novel Boy in Winter and the recently rediscovered classic, The Seventh Cross by Anna Seghers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Change is scary but often worth it. In fact for the world to move on, to be propelled forward, change is exactly what we need. Listen to inspiring women talk about the change we still need in terms of gender pay disparity, sexual assault, human rights and women in the workplace. Maybe it will inspire you to be the change that is needed. In this episode, you’ll hear from: Karen Mattison, an advocate for quality, flexible work arrangements for mothers. Alexandra Paul, an actor and environmental and animal rights activist whose activism has resulted in numerous arrests. Kyah Simon, a member of the Matildas, the Australian Women’s National Football Team. Lennie Goodings, who has worked in editorial roles for nearly 40 years at feminist publishing house, Virago. Louise Nicholas, a sexual violence survivor and anti-sexual violence activist. Graça Machel, an African stateswoman and the widow of two former presidents, Mozambique’s Samora Machel and South Africa’s Nelson Mandela. Fereshteh Forough, the founder of Code to Inspire, the first computer coding school for women in Afghanistan. Pamela Novo, a scholar and educator. Vidya Balan, a Bollywood actor and human rights activist. Sapana Thapa, a Nepalese social worker. Ann Sherry, a businesswoma and former head of Australia’s Office of the Status of Women. Inna Modja, an acclaimed musician based in France. She was born in Mali, and is a survivor of female genital mutilation. Sara Khan, an author and speaker, and co-founder of Inspire, a counter-extremism and women’s-rights organisation. Gail Kelly, former CEO of Westpac Group. Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defence Fund, and recipient of the American Presidential Medal of Freedom. Margaret Atwood, a critically acclaimed author and conservationist. The Emmy Award-winning series The Handmaid’s Tale, is based on her novel of the same name. Laura Dawn, a political activist, writer, musician and filmmaker. Jude Kelly, an award-winning British theatre and opera director.

Sinéad Gleeson speaks to Helen Simpson about ageing and fiction and to Lennie Goodings about Virago books. We also hear from Rory Gleeson about his debut novel, Rockadoon Shore.

  Welcome to the pilot episode of WORDS ON THE STREET, a new podcast about books and culture recorded in London. Hosted by writer and editor Elena Lappin, with guests: author Diana Athill, publisher Lennie Goodings, novelist Louisa Young, and featuring writer, photographer and jazz singer Cyndi Coyne. Co-produced by Elena Lappin and Katherine Stroud,…

What draws women to the extremes of war? Åsne Seierstad, acclaimed author of The Bookseller of Kabul and a seasoned war reporter, talks about being on the frontline; Erin Saltman, Senior Counter Extremism Researcher from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, tells us what makes young women slip from their families to go to Syria; and Imperial College psychiatrist Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones explores the behavioural science behind it all. Together with Lennie Goodings they discuss women and extremism, in this event recorded live at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

What draws women to the extremes of war? Åsne Seierstad, acclaimed author of The Bookseller of Kabul and a seasoned war reporter, talks about being on the frontline; Erin Saltman, Senior Counter Extremism Researcher from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, tells us what makes young women slip from their families to go to Syria; and Imperial College psychiatrist Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones explores the behavioural science behind it all. Together with Lennie Goodings they discuss women and extremism, in this event recorded live at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

In a special programme Ellah Allfrey, Sally Gardner, Sarah Hall, Lennie Goodings and James Runcie discuss with Mariella Frostrup why 2013 has been the Year of the Women Writers.