Literary Friction

Ever wonder if you're with the flock, or against it? British author and psychiatric doctor Joanna Cannon’s debut novel The Trouble with Goats and Sheep (a Sunday Times bestseller) explores how we treat - or more often mistreat - people who don't quite fit in. It tells the story of two young girls who decide to investigate a housewife’s disappearance from their tight-knit estate during the heat wave of 1976, and the unlikely truth they uncover. In honour of rebels and misfits everywhere, our theme this month is BLACK SHEEP. Join us as we interview Joanna, and discuss our favourite literary characters who stand on the margins - from Holden Caufield to Jane Eyre to Oscar Wao and more.

We are incredibly excited to be joined by American artist and writer Chris Kraus, here to discuss her novel I Love Dick. A feminist classic from the 90s recently published in the UK for the first time, I Love Dick is a hybrid of memoir, fiction and theory that focuses on the main character’s desire for an academic named Dick. We rarely see the object of our desire for what they really are, and literature has always been a rich medium through which to explore these romantic abstractions. So this month's title, taken from an anecdote in I Love Dick, is the perfect starting point for a show all about the sometimes troubling vagaries of our deepest longings.

The body – especially the female body – has forever been an object of literary fascination and desire. But what about the intimate bits that make us squirm, the pungent underarms, abject anuses? Welcome to VILE BODIES, a show dedicated to literature’s uncomfortable relationship with all things corporeal, from Philoctetes' festering foot, to James Joyce’s filthy letters to his wife, to the Vagina Monologues. We interviewed brilliant comedian and writer Sara Pascoe about her debut, ANIMAL, an illuminating and hilarious tour of the female body that isn’t afraid to tackle topics like abortion, pubic hair and consent. Tune in and let's get nasty!

Spring has sprung, so we're going down the rabbit hole with Kevin Barry, who joins us this month to talk about Beatlebone, his wonderful novel about a very famous John's quest to reach a tiny island that he owns in Clew Bay, off the West Coast of Ireland. Inspired by his trip, our theme is about all those literary escapes to the ends of the earth and to the centre of the mind. We'll be following that elusive rabbit's fluffy tail and lighting out for the territory with Huck Finn, breaking out of jail with the Count of Monte Cristo, and getting lost in all kids of mythical adventures. Come along for the ride.

Harry Parker's debut novel Anatomy of a Soldier is narrated by objects, 45 things – ranging from dog tags to a bomb to a mattress – that witness the life of Captain Tom Barnes during and in the aftermath of war in the Middle East. Inspired by the novel, our theme is OBJECTS, and in addition to interviewing Harry we look at all those things that populate our favourite books, from King Arthur's Excalibur to Desdemona's handkerchief.

In January we teamed up with our friends at Faber Social and put together an evening of live literary excitement with the theme of 'New Voices'. It was a total sell out, but if you couldn't get a ticket, never fear! Here it is, for your listening pleasure. Tune in to hear readings from some of the fabulous Faber New Poets and bestselling debut author Joanna Cannon, followed by a four-way interview with authors Evie Wyld and Ned Beauman. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Oz, that mythical land, where days are hotter than chilli sauce and water goes down the plughole the wrong way... This month we're talking to Evie Wyld about her books 'All the Birds, Singing', and 'Everything is Teeth', both set in Australia. From the writing of Miles Franklin to Richard Flanagan via the mad world of Paul Jennings, we chat about Australia's many depictions in literature, but we also ponder the metaphorical meaning behind that nickname: Oz as the foreign, the distant, the magical and the exotic; something that the Antipodean has long represented for damp and green Britain.

Christmas is all about kids, big and small, so our present to you is our Arrested Development show from earlier this year - we were joined by the wonderful (and Lena Dunham fave) Emma Jane Unsworth to talk about Animals, her raucous second novel about two friends who are in no hurry to grow up. Long live Peter Pan!

This month novelist Sara Taylor joins us for a show all about literary families that span multiple generations. From the Forsytes of The Forsyte Saga to the Buendías of One Hundred Years of Solitude, we continue to be fascinated by stories that follow bloodlines across decades. In Sara’s beautifully-written debut novel The Shore, multiple descendants of one family live and survive on a group of islands in the Chesapeake Bay off the coast of Virginia.

This month we're joined by author and journalist David Cavanagh for a show all about music in literature. David's book, Good Night and Good Riddance, is an impressive analysis of DJ John Peel's extraordinary career, and how his eclectic taste shaped the British music scene.

This month we're interviewing Max Porter about his first book, Grief is the Thing with Feathers, which features Crow – antagonist, trickster, healer, babysitter – who visits a family after losing their mother. Inspired by Crow, we're discussing talking animals: not just our favourite childhood bears and bunnies, but the complex creatures in books for grown ups.

This month’s theme is Corpses, and our guest is Caitlin Doughty, whose book Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: and Other Lessons from the Crematory is a fascinating, honest, and often hilarious memoir about her life as a mortician. We also talk literary corpses in all their various states of decomposition.

This month we interview Guardian First Book Award winner Petina Gappah, whose new novel THE BOOK OF MEMORY is narrated by an albino woman convicted of murder in Harare, Zimbabwe. We also discuss confessions in literature, from St Augustine to James Frey.

This month’s guest is Sarah Perry, who joins us to talk about her gothic, dreamy debut novel AFTER ME COMES THE FLOOD. The theme is imposters, encompassing everything from Mr. Ripley to why we all identify with the Wizard of Oz.

This month we talk to Ramita Navai about her fascinating book CITY OF LIES: Love, Sex, Death & the Search for Truth in Tehran, and discuss the hidden cities of literature, both real and imaginary.

Joining us this month is Patrick Barkham, whose book COASTLINES: The Story of our Shore is a history of the swathes of English coast protected by the National Trust. We also talk about the British coast in literature, from Brighton Rock to Chesil Beach.

This month we talk to Terry Stiastny, whose debut novel ACTS OF OMISSION won the Political Novel of the Year. We also discuss politics in literature. What makes a good political book? Is a novel a good form of protest?