It’s been my pleasure to be involved with a number of podcasts focusing on reading and/or translation in recent months in various capacities – as a guest, interviewer and producer. As such, I thought I’d give a roundup of some of my favourites, not least because I suspect people who like this blog would enjoy them.
The Books Up Close podcast is a reading nerd’s delight, focusing on all things close reading. It’s hosted by poet and academic Chris Lloyd, who is not only an expert on contemporary US literature, cultures of the US South and cultural memory but also a wonderful reader and interviewer. I was very honoured to participate in an episode devoted to my latest book, Relearning to Read.
Those who enjoy books about reading should also check out the episode with Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, whose book Look Closer is a joyous hymn to the pleasures of taking a microscope to texts. He and I were guests on BBC Radio 4’s culture programme Front Row at the start of this year, in a segment discussing the UK’s National Year of Reading.
Meanwhile, from Hyderabad comes the wonderful Harshaneeyam podcast, long-form conversations with leading authors and dedicated readers to document the heart of modern Telugu fiction and other aspects of cultural exchange. It was my joy to be a guest a few weeks back and spend an hour exploring the pleasures and challenges of not-knowing.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the microphone, I have the privilege of producing the Collected podcast from the Royal Literary Fund, a UK charity set up in 1790 to support writers. We’ve had a wonderful array of guests, including Elif Shafak, Hanif Kureishi and the Rwandan genocide survivor and prolific author Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse. Two of my favourite recent episodes are interviews with award-winning translator and author Daniel Hahn, and a conversation I had with Daisy Buchanan, author of Read Yourself Happy.
If you get a chance to listen to any of them, I’d love to hear your thoughts. And if there are any books-based podcasts you think I might appreciate, please let me know!