Podcasts about london literature festival

This week's book guest is She Speaks!: What Shakespeare's Women Might Have Said by Harriet Walter.In a truly special episode live from Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of the London Literature Festival 2024 Sara and Cariad are joined by the one and only Dame Harriet Walter to talk about her new collection of speeches for thirty of Shakespeare's women.Harriet is one of Britain's most esteemed Shakespearean actors, a stalwart of the RSC she has won an Olivier Award, been nominated for both Tony and Emmy Awards and has starred in the likes of Killing Eve, Ted Lasso and Succession.Her new book re-imagines what some of Shakespeare's women might have been secretly thinking and lets them speak their minds. In this episode they discuss Shakespeare for Breakfast, acting, croissants, the Edinburgh Festival and Patrick Stewart's wig.Thank you for reading with us. We like reading with you!Trigger warning: In this episode we discuss suicide and death.Harriet's book She Speaks!: What Shakespeare's Women Might Have Said is available to buy here. Follow Sara & Cariad's Weirdos Book Club on Instagram @saraandcariadsweirdosbookclub and Twitter @weirdosbookclub Recorded live at the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of the London Literature Festival 2024 and edited by Naomi Parnell for Plosive.Artwork by Welcome Studio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month as World Book Club continues its year-long season celebrating the Exuberance of Youth it also celebrates the 20th anniversary of the programme. To mark this happy occasion World Book Club are guests of the London Literature Festival at the South Bank Centre on the River Thames and Harriett Gilbert talks to Bangladeshi-born British novelist Tahmima Anam about her enthralling novel, A Golden Age. Winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award, A Golden Age is a story of passion and revolution, of hope, faith and unexpected heroism in the middle of chaos. Set against the backdrop of the Bangladesh War of Independence we follow Rehana, a mother struggling to protect her children as the civil war intensifies. Wanting only to keep them safe she finds herself facing a heartbreaking dilemma in a war that will eventually see the birth of Bangladesh. (Picture: Tahmima Anam. Photo credit: Abeer Y Hoque.)

Spurred on by the war in Ukraine, we're seeing a worldwide shift to green energy, with the global demand of fossil fuels now expected to peak in 15 years - a dose of optimism ahead of COP27. The climate conference kicks off in Egypt on November 6, and the team brings a round-up of what we can expect. Maddie and Rowan also discuss their recent visit to the London Literature Festival, where they saw Greta Thunberg speak.‘Marsquakes' studied by NASA's InSight lander suggest Mars may still be volcanically active - and it may have a subsurface water table similar to the one on Earth. The team says this is exciting news for the prospect of life existing on the Red Planet.“A victory not only for the region, but for humanity and life itself.” Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has been unseated by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The team explains how Bolsonaro has presided over climate catastrophe, and why this news has sparked celebration - and relief - from environmentalists.Genetically modified mosquitoes have been released in a city in Brazil. The team explains how UK-based biotechnology firm Oxitec have done this in an effort to find ways to eliminate mosquitoes. The insects transmit deadly diseases like malaria, which kills more than 600,000 people a year.And we bring you a controversial ‘Lifeform of the Week' - everyone's most hated amphibian, the cane toad. Quite disturbingly, the team explains how new x-ray video footage shows that cane toads lick their own hearts when they swallow prey. Gross. On the pod are Rowan Hooper, Madeleine Cuff, Sam Wong, Chris Simms and Alexandra Thompson. To read about these subjects and much more, you can subscribe to New Scientist magazine at newscientist.com.Events and discount codes:Early bird offer: newscientist.com/earlybird22 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grace talks to games designer Nick Murray about his work on the upcoming Poetry Games Exhibition at the National Poetry Library for this year's London Literature Festival. Like his work, this is an unguided exploration of the human condition, namely, being 'niche', the Queen's passing and the importance of zombie unions. If you're looking to start a cult or reconnect with your dead tamagotchi then listen on. Find more of Nick's work at: cassettewitch.itch.io Find more from San Clemente at: sanclemente.co.uk Poetry Games opens on 20th October. You can find it online and at The National Poetry Library (in Royal Festival Hall).

Friendship in Fiction: a special programme from London Literature Festival

Friendship in Fiction: a special programme from London Literature Festival

The London Literature Festival runs at the Southbank Centre from 21 to 31 October, bringing 10 days of the very best of live literature to the capital. This year the festival invites you to celebrate the joys and complexities of friendship with writers, poets, musicians, scientists and comedians. Georgina Godwin took a walk around the venue with Ted Hodgkinson, head of literature and spoken word at the Southbank Centre.

Star Wars actor Anthony Daniels joins puppeteer and actor Brian Herring to reflect on his time playing one of the most famous droids in cinematic history. Recorded at London Literature Festival, this podcast sees Daniels discuss his new book I Am C-3PO - The Inside Story, a memoir of both himself and his best known role. Daniels talks of his approach to writing the book and his childhood want to be an actor, before going on to discuss his role in the Star Wars films. Hear about the difficulties of honing the character of a droid whose expression never changed, the challenges of working with non-speaking robot co-stars, and incredibly enthusiastic directors alike, and how he feels about the potential end of Star Wars.

The poet and activist Nikki Giovanni discusses the power of literature as she joins us for Poetry International and London Literature Festival. An undeniable cultural icon, Giovanni is the winner of numerous awards, including the Langston Hughes Medal and NAACP Image Award, as well as a Grammy Award nomination for her album The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection. She appears here at Southbank Centre in conversation with the British Ghanaian writer, Bridget Minamore.

Who is Odysseus? Why can't he get home? And will the gods help or hinder his journey? In this special episode, the TLS's Classics editor Mary Beard chairs a panel featuring the author and academic Simon Goldhill, the memoirist and translator Daniel Mendelsohn, the poet Karen McCarthy Woolf and the novelist Madeline Miller. This is a recording of a live event, staged in collaboration with the Southbank Centre’s London Literature Festival in October 2018. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Terry Gilliam​: screenwriter, film director, animator, comedian, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe appeared at London Literature Festival in October 2015 where he was interviewed by BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz. He discussed his life, career and his memoir, Gilliamesque: A Pre-Posthumous Memoir. “For me it was like coming to this country and finding an audience that I couldn’t find in America.” TERRY GILLiAM Gilliamesque: A Pre-Posthumous Memoir was an event presented by Intelligence Squared and Southbank Centre.

William Boyd takes to the stage alone to talk about his life as a creator of many fictions, beginning with the publication of his first novel, A Good Man In Africa in 1981, and ending with the story of his fictional artist that fooled many, Nat Tate... "The key factor in fiction is to make your readers believe in the truth of the story." WILLIAM BOYD This podcast is part of London Literature Festival 2017 at Southbank Centre southbankcentre.co.uk/londonlitfest For more of biggest and most influential names in modern literature southbankcentre.co.uk/literature

Goldie is an iconic figure whose contributions to the UK rave scene in the 1990s defined jungle. Now releasing a hard-hitting and intimate new memoir, Goldie talks candidly about his tumultuous life and career. "It's victimitus - playing the victim. Tiny violin. I'd rather an orchestra because that's what life's about, finding the orchestra in your own life." GOLDIE In his new book, Goldie charts the full span of his life and career, from West Midlands home-care system, to the heights of international fame and DJ stardom. He also reflects on the lifespan of a musical genre, and how a countercultural movement came to be gentrified. This podcast is part of London Literature Festival 2017 at Southbank Centre southbankcentre.co.uk/londonlitfest For more of biggest and most influential names in modern literature southbankcentre.co.uk/literature

Find out why Philip Pullman has returned to the realm of his trilogy, His Dark Materials. In this exclusive London launch of the highly anticipated La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One, Pullman reveals why he has come back to much-loved character Lyra Belacqua’s world 22 years after the first book. "I do actually believe in ghosts, fairies, hobgoblins; nature's spirits of every kind, because they help me write stories." PHILIP PULLMAN Pullman reflects on his writing process, what drew him back to Lyra’s world more than two decades after Northern Lights was first published, and why the struggle for freedom of expression against despotic rulers that has been at the heart of his books, is more pressing now than ever. This podcast is part of London Literature Festival 2017 at Southbank Centre southbankcentre.co.uk/londonlitfest For more of biggest and most influential names in modern literature southbankcentre.co.uk/literature

Southbank Centre's London Literature Festival presents Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first woman nominated for US president by a major party. In this candid interview with James Naughtie, she discusses her most personal memoir to date, What Happened, which depicts a tumultuous election that had the world on tenterhooks, filled with breathtaking highs and lows, stranger-than-fiction twists and allegations of sexism and Russian interference. "It was an assault against fact.There is no such thing as an alternative fact..." HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON In her only London appearance, she talks about the rituals, relationships and reading that got her back on her feet, and what the experience has taught her about life. This podcast is part of London Literature Festival 2017 at Southbank Centre southbankcentre.co.uk/londonlitfest For more of biggest and most influential names in modern literature southbankcentre.co.uk/literature

The Gunpowder Plot in a new tv dramatisation by Ronan Bennett plus presenter Rana Mitter explores anti-Catholic prejudice in Britain today with Catherine Pepinster and Tim Stanley, and historians Richard McGregor and Hans van de Ven discuss relations between Japan, US and China. And the Icelandic poet and songwriter Sjón on hisrole in Poetry International as it celebrates its 50th anniversary since it was founded in 1967 by former poet laureate Ted Hughes. Richard McGregor is former Beijing bureau chief for The Financial Times and the author of Asia's Reckoning: China, Japan, and the Fate of U.S. Power in the Pacific Century. Hans van de Ven has written China at War: triumph and tragedy in the emergence of the new China 1937 - 1952. He is Professor of Modern Chinese History, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Cambridge. 'Gunpowder' a 3-part TV series developed by Ronan Bennett, Kit Harington and Daniel West will air on BBC TV Poetry International is on London's Southbank from Friday 13th-Sunday 15th October as part of the London Literature Festival. Catherine Pepinster has written The Keys and the Kingdom: The British and the Papacy from John Paul II to Francis. You can hear Ronan Bennett's Private Passions on BBC Radio 3 on November 5th. Producer: Fiona McLean.

Well known for novels such as Cat’s Eye, Alias Grace, the MaddAddam Trilogy, and the Booker Prize-winning The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood has been in the news recently due to the appearance of her international bestseller The Handmaid’s Tale as a television series – some say, just in time for the age of Trump. In this one-time London appearance, Margaret Atwood reads from her work; then, in conversation with Gaby Wood, journalist and Literary Director of the Booker Prize Foundation, she discusses not only her career, but the past, present and future of her best-known novel and the real world it reflects. This podcast is part of London Literature Festival 2017 at Southbank Centre southbankcentre.co.uk/londonlitfest For more of biggest and most influential names in modern literature southbankcentre.co.uk/literature

Iconic fashion designer and activist Vivienne Westwood spoke about her love of great literature in this keynote talk. "Every book you read is connected in some way." VIVIENNE WESTWOOD This talk explores Westwood’s life in culture and her involvement with arts, politics and the environment. This podcast is part of London Literature Festival 2017 at Southbank Centre southbankcentre.co.uk/londonlitfest For more of biggest and most influential names in modern literature southbankcentre.co.uk/literature

The US-based author Teju Cole talks to Philip Dodd about a range of subjects from James Baldwin and the pressing political realities of Black Lives Matter to the creative potential of social media.Teju Cole is a photographer, art historian and writer. He was raised in Nigeria and lives in Brooklyn. His books are Open City, Every Day is For The Thief and his new collection of essays Known and Strange Things.The conversation was part of the London Literature Festival at South Bank Centre.Producer: Zahid Warley

Margaret Atwood and Naomi Alderman share an interest in science fiction, the role of women and the power of fiction. They are in conversation with Philip Dodd as part of a week of Free Thinking broadcasts tying into this year's London Literature Festival at Southbank Centre, London and its theme of Living in Future Times.Margaret Atwood's new novel Hag-Seed is a re-imagining of Shakespeare's The Tempest. She is also being awarded this year's Pen Pinter Prize.Naomi Alderman's new novel The Power will be published at the end of October. It imagines a world where women are endowed with an automatic power to hurt.Producer: Fiona McLean

Rana Mitter and guests will be broadcasting live from the Radio 3's pop up studio at Southbank Centre, London. Norman Ohler, author of Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany, will be revealing the role played by drugs such as methamphetamine in Hitler's downfall. Nikesh Shukla, a former writer in residence at the Royal Festival Hall, has edited a collection of essays called The Good Immigrant. He'll be joined by novelist Kamila Shamsie, who has been involved in a project re-imagining the Canterbury Tales by talking to refugees, to reflect on the impact of migration on individuals, families and beyond. Plus, Catherine Howell, curator of toys and games at the V&A Museum of Childhood and Marie Foulston, curator of video games at the V&A, consider the metamorphosis of gaming from tabletops to laptops. The Good Immigrant edited by Nikesh Shukla is a collection of essays by 21 British BAME poets, writers, journalists and artists. http://www.nikesh-shukla.com/ He is appearing at the Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival on 22nd October Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany is by Norman Ohler translated by Shaun Whiteside. Kamila Shamsie is discussing Refugee Tales with Josh Cohen and Catherine Bergvall as part of the London Literature Festival at Southbank on Saturday October 8th at 5pm. She is also giving the 7th Castlefield Manchester Sermon at 7pm on October 14th as part of Manchester Literature Festival which runs from October 7th - 23rd. http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/ Game Plan: Board Games Rediscovered is at the V&A Museum of Childhood, London E2, from 8 October to 23 April. Producer: Craig Templeton Smith

This week we are joined by poet Bridget Minamore, as we discuss gentrification, the physical geography of South London and her upcoming appearance at the South Bank Centre as part of The London Literature Festival. Bridget was also kind enough to perform two of her poems for us.

Spoken word is a form of poetry usually written to be performed in front of an audience, and often associated with hip hop culture. In recent years its popularity has soared in the UK – and now, as part of the London Literature Festival, the Southbank Centre is hosting the final of “Shake the Dust”, a national poetry slam for teenagers. So, what’s the difference between “page” and “stage” poetry? Does spoken word have a political bent? And can poets hope to change anything? Jan Dalley puts these questions to the poet, rapper and playwright Kate Tempest; poet and artistic director of the “Shake The Dust” Jacob Sam-La Rose; and critic Suzi Feay. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.