The YourShelf Podcast

The YourShelf Podcast returns for three very special episodes celebrating our Books of the Year 2021! In episode fifteen, YourShelf's chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) interviews Lauren Groff (one of his favourite ever writers), to discuss YourShelf's Fiction Book of the Year 2021, Matrix. They explore ideas of utopia, reclamation through historical fiction, and lesbian rebel nuns, as well as book recommendations (and more) from Lauren. For full show notes, see here: https://podcast.yourshelf.uk/episodes/15.Thanks for listening, and thanks to Lauren for such a brilliant conversation!LinksInstagramTwitterPodcastYourShelfEpisode NotesJay quizzes Lauren on her bookshelves, the books that made her and more.Lauren shines a light on her dazzling novel Matrix, and its roots in the Eve narrative and  obscure twelfth-century French poetry. Lauren discusses reclamation and modern commentary through historical fiction, the meaning of utopia, and the glory of lesbian rebel nuns.Jay wraps up the interview by asking Lauren about her favourite things from 2021 and what she's looking forward to in 2022.Check out episodes thirteen and fourteen for our poetry and non-fiction books of the year, with interviews from Naomi Morris and Michelle Orange.Thank you to Sound Editor, Toby Ollis-Brownstone.

The YourShelf Podcast returns for three very special episodes celebrating our Books of the Year 2021! In episode fourteen, YourShelf's chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) interviews Michelle Orange to discuss YourShelf's Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2021, Pure Flame. They explore ideas surrounding mother-daughter relationships and female legacies through narrative, as well as book recommendations (and more) from Michelle. The episode ends with Michelle flipping the tables to grill Jay on his 2021 reading project and The YourShelf Press. For full show notes, see here: https://podcast.yourshelf.uk/episodes/14.Thanks for listening, and thanks to Michelle for such an iridescent conversation! LinksInstagramTwitterPodcastYourShelfEpisode NotesJay quizzes Michelle on her bookshelves, the books that made her and more.Michelle explores the long creative process behind her striking memoir, Pure Flame. Michelle considers mother-daughter relationships, the treachery of storytelling, and the boundless influence of Susan Sontag.Jay wraps up the interview by asking Michelle about her favourite things from 2021 and what she's looking forward to in 2022.Check out episodes thirteen and fifteen for our poetry and fiction books of the year, with interviews from Naomi Morris and Lauren Groff.Thank you to Sound Editor, Toby Ollis-Brownstone.

The YourShelf Podcast returns for three very special episodes celebrating our Books of the Year 2021! In episode thirteen, YourShelf's chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) interviews Naomi Morris to discuss YourShelf's Poetry Book of the Year 2021, Hyperlove, with topics ranging from love and sex to obsession and extremity, erasure and theory, as well as book recommendations (and more) from Naomi. For full show notes, see here: https://podcast.yourshelf.uk/episodes/13.Thanks for listening, and thanks to Naomi for such a brilliant conversation!LinksInstagramTwitterPodcastYourShelfEpisode NotesJay quizzes Naomi on her dream literary dinner party, the books that made her and more.Naomi discusses the creation and reception of her collection of poetry, Hyperlove. Naomi explores ideas of sex and love addiction, the erasure of the self in love and spirituality, and why Angel Olsen is her twenty-first century mystic.Jay wraps up the interview by asking Naomi about her favourite things from 2021 and what she's looking forward to in 2022.Check out episodes fourteen and fifteen for our non-fiction and fiction books of the year, with interviews from Michelle Orange and Lauren Groff.Thank you to our Sound Editor, Toby Ollis-Brownstone.

CONTENT WARNING:  This episode touches on subjects of sexual assault/rape, trauma, and physical and mental illness. Please use your discretion when listening. If you are affected by any of the issues discussed in this episode, reach out to helplines or charities such as Rape Crisis, Survivors UK, Women's Aid, Mind, Mental Health Foundation, CALM, or any other organisation you might know of or prefer.Please note that due to recording this episode over Zoom, there are some slight background noises we couldn't control throughout the episode, particularly around 44mins in and onwards.Special thank you to our new Sound  Editor Toby Ollis-Brownstone for coming on board The YourShelf Podcast team!The YourShelf Podcast is back from hiatus! In the twelfth episode of The YourShelf Podcast, Not Looking Away, our chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) sits down with writer Lucia Osborne-Crowley to discuss her new book My Body Keeps Your Secrets, and her 2019 memoir I Choose Elena. For full show notes, see here: https://podcast.yourshelf.uk/episodes/12.Thanks for listening, and thanks to Lucia for such a galvanising conversation! LinksInstagramTwitterPodcastYourShelfEpisode NotesJay quizzes Lucia on her bookshelves, the books that made her, the book she would live in, and her dream podcast guest.Lucia discusses the legacy of trauma both personally and socially, and how that shaped her writing career through her first two books, I Choose Elena (2019) and My Body Keeps Your Secrets (2021). They discuss the practice of writing a book utilising personal experience and over a hundred interviews, as well as legacies of trauma and ideas of accountability (individual and systemic), "the gift of language", and the importance of not looking away from the pain and suffering of ourselves and others.Jay wraps up the interview by asking Lucia about her future projects and upcoming books she's excited about.Lucia closes with a reading from My Body Keeps Your Secrets.Thanks for listening and tune in again soon for (lucky) Episode Thirteen!

To support our work and listen to additional content from previous episodes, see here: https://patreon.com/yourshelf and follow us on social media @_yourshelf_ (note: there is no Patreon episode for either of our Books of the Year 2020 episodes). In our latest, eleventh episode of The YourShelf Podcast, Prose Book of the Year 2020, our chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) catches up with Doireann Ní Ghríofa to discuss Doireann's book A Ghost In The Throat, the life of Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, Dubh's poem Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire which survives in the Irish oral tradition, motherhood, voices, astonishment, Doireann's forthcoming bilingual collection of poetry (due spring 2021), and a recap of the best books of 2020. For full show notes, see here: https://podcast.yourshelf.uk/episodes/11. Thanks for listening.LinksPatreonInstagramTwitterPodcastYourShelfEpisode NotesJay asks Doireann about the books that made her, what her bookshelves look like, and what book she'd send backwards in time if she could. (from 0:01)Doireann explains the origins of her book A Ghost In The Throat, her poetry work including (in English) Clasp and Lies (a bilingual publication), the life and work of Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, astonishment, engineering the breath in the white space on the page, and more. (from 11:40)Doireann recaps her favourite books and TV shows of 2020, recommends some titles for 2021, and muses on what's next from her. (from 54:20)Doireann gives a special reading of a passage from A Ghost In The Throat. (from 1:12:23)The books and authors discussed in this episode include: the work of Edmund Lenihan, the artist Dorothy Cross' Montenotte, Tramp Press' 'Recovered Voices' series, Lucy Ellmann’s Ducks, Newburyport, Max Porter's Grief Is The Thing With Feathers, and Han Kang's The White Book.Doireann's 2020 highlights include Sara Baume’s handiwork, Celia Paul’s Self-Portrait, Ella Frears’ Shine, Darling, Seán Hewitt’s Tongues of Fire, Mark O’Connell’s Notes from an Apocalypse, and Janet Malcolm's The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. Aside from books, Doireann also recommends repeatedly rewatching the 2017 film The Meyerowitz Stories, and the 2020 TV series The Queen's Gambit and Ratched.Doireann's most anticipated releases of 2021 include Megan Nolan’s Acts of Desperation and Kerri Ní Dochartaigh’s Thin Places.Doireann's book A Ghost In The Throat is available now from Tramp Press. Her poetry collections Clasp and Lies are available now from Dedalus Press. Her next collection is forthcoming in Spring 2021.Thanks for listening and tune in again soon for new episodes embracing all the books 2021 has to offer.

To support our work and listen to additional content from previous episodes, see here: https://patreon.com/yourshelf and follow us on social media @_yourshelf_ (note: there is no Patreon episode for either of our Books of the Year 2020 episodes). In our latest, tenth episode of The YourShelf Podcast, Poetry Book of the Year 2020, our chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) catches up with Seán Hewitt to discuss Seán's book Tongues of Fire, the work of Gerard Manley Hopkins, Hewitt's forthcoming memoir (due 2022), and a recap of the best books of 2020. For full show notes, see here: https://podcast.yourshelf.uk/episodes/10. Thanks for listening.LinksPatreonInstagramTwitterPodcastYourShelfEpisode NotesJay asks Seán about what book world he would live in, what his bookshelves look like, and who he'd invite to a literary dinner party. (from 0:01)Seán explains the origins of his book Tongues of Fire, his pamphlet Lantern, the scope of nature poetry, timeliness vs timelessness, the influence of Gerard Manley Hopkins and more. (from 9:20)Seán recaps his favourite books, albums and TV shows of 2020, recommends some titles for 2021, and hints at his forthcoming memoir, All Down Darkness Wide, due out 2022. (from 44:50)Seán Hewitt gives a special reading of Jay's favourite poem in Tongues of Fire, 'Adoratrion'. (from 1:01:03)The books and authors discussed in this episode include: Philip Pullman's Northern Lights, the works of Flann O'Brien, Virginia Woolf, James Baldwin, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Christopher Marlowe and William Blake, Thomas Hardy's Jude The Obscure, Hera Lindsay Bird by Hera Lindsay Bird, Alice Oswald's Dart, Freya Daly Sadgrove's Head Girl, Mark Doty's My Alexandria, Wayne Holloway-Smith's Love After Love, and the works of Ocean Vuong, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Karin Boye and J.M. Synge.Seán's 2020 highlights include Claudia Rankine's Just Us, Hilary Fannin's The Weight of Love, Rachel Long's My Darling From The Lions, Eavan Boland's The Historians, Robin Robertson's Grimoire, Jane Mead's World of Made and Unmade, and Caleb Femi's Poor. Aside from books, Seán's other 2020 highlights include the albums What's Your Pleasure? by Jessie Ware and Roísín Machine by Roísín Murphy, the TV shows Schitt's Creek and The Crown, and playing the Nintendo game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.Seán's most anticipated releases of 2021 include Niven Govinden's Diary of a Film, Jackie Kay's Bessie Smith, Andrew McMillan's Pandemonium, Kayo Chingonyi's A Blood Condition, and Jen Hadfield's The Stone Age.Seán's book Tongues of Fire is available now from Jonathan Cape. His academic volume J.M. Synge: Nature, Politics, Modernism is available from Oxford University Press, 7 January 2021.Thanks for listening and tune in again very soon for our second Book of the Year episode, with Doireann Ní Ghríofa!

To support our work and listen to additional content, see here: https://patreon.com/yourshelf and follow us on social media @_yourshelf_. In our latest, ninth episode of The YourShelf Podcast, Natural Strangeness, our chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) catches up with Rebecca Tamás to discuss her book Strangers: Essays on the Human and Nonhuman, books, ecology and ecocriticism, the work of Ana Mendieta, and more. For full show notes, see here: https://podcast.yourshelf.uk/episodes/9. Thanks for listening.  LinksPatreonInstagramTwitterPodcastYourShelfEpisode NotesJay asks Rebecca about what book world she would live in, what her bookshelves look like, and who she'd invite to a literary dinner party. (from 1:00)Rebecca explains the origins of her book Strangers: Essays on the Human and Nonhuman, staying positive in the face of the climate emergency, the role of ecocriticism, and the intersection of ecology, feminism, mysticism and more. "Environmentalism is for everyone." (from 4:45)Finally, Rebecca discusses the last book she read, and hints at what she's working on next. (from 34:55)Rebecca Tamás gives a special reading of a passage from Jay's favourite essay in Strangers, 'On Panpsychism'. (from 37:10)Jay wraps up with the books and authors that were discussed in the episode: Dodie Smith’s I Capture The Castle, the works of Jamaica Kincaid and Jean Rhys, the anonymous Middle English poem Gawain and the Green Knight, the poet Bhanu Kapil, Daisy Lafarge’s Life Without Air, AK Blakemore’s forthcoming book The Manningtree Witches, Clarice Lispector’s The Passion According to GH, Ariana Reines’ The Cow, and Joanna Pocock’s Surrender. (41:25)Rebecca's book Strangers: Essays on the Human and Nonhuman, is available now in a gorgeous second printing from indie publisher extraordinaire Makina Books. Her debut collection of poetry, WITCH, is available from Penned In The Margins.Thanks for listening and tune in again soon for our special Books of the Year episodes!

To support our work and listen to additional content, see here: https://patreon.com/yourshelf and follow us on social media @_yourshelf_. In our latest, eighth episode of The YourShelf Podcast, Spooky Stories, our chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) catches up with writers Daisy Johnson and Julia Armfield to discuss books, horror stories and scary movies, what makes a good spooky story, and their respective short story collections, Fen and Salt Slow. For full show notes, see here: https://podcast.yourshelf.uk/episodes/8. Thanks for listening.  LinksPatreonInstagramTwitterPodcastYourShelfEpisode NotesJay asks Daisy and Julia about what their bookshelves look like, whose ghost they want book recommendations from, and which character they'd be in a horror movie. (from 1:31)Daisy discusses her latest novel, the horror novel Sisters, as well as her debut short story collection, Fen. Julia discusses her debut short story collection, Salt Slow. Together they discuss each other's work, bodily horror, dread, and what makes a good story. (from 5:22)Finally, Daisy and Julia discuss what they're working on now, and what they're currently reading. (from 40:15)Jay wraps up with the books and authors that were discussed in the episode: the work of Shirley Jackson, Stephen King's The Shining, Jeanette Winterson's The Daylight Gate, Catriona Ward's The Last House on Needless Street, Carmen Maria Machado, Helen Oyeyomi, Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects, Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides, HP Lovecraft, a biography of Shirley Jackson, Arthur Machen's The Great God Pan, the short stories of Kelly Link, Susan Hill's The Woman In Black, Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby, Stephen King's Revival, Jessie Greengrass, and Walter Tevis' The Queen's Gambit. (44:30)Daisy's latest book, Sisters, is out now, as well as her two previous books, Everything Under and Fen. Julia's debut collection of short stories, Salt Slow, is also available now. Their bonus episode together is available on our Patreon page now - Daisy and Julia each read a short passage from their work, and give some horror film recommendations for Halloween.Thanks for listening and tune in again soon for Episode Nine.

To support our work and listen to additional content, see here: https://patreon.com/yourshelf and follow us on social media @_yourshelf_. In our latest, seventh episode of The YourShelf Podcast, Fantasy City, our chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) catches up with writer Alex Pheby to discuss books, genre fiction vs literary fiction, the world of rights and publishing, and the ins-and-outs of Pheby's new fantasy novel, Mordew. For full show notes, see here: https://podcast.yourshelf.uk/episodes/7. Thanks for listening.  LinksPatreonInstagramTwitterPodcastYourShelfEpisode NotesJay asks Alex about who he'd like to get a book recommendation from, what book he'd like to live in, and what his home bookshelves look like. (from 0:48)Alex discusses the origins and influences of his new fantasy novel Mordew, the tensions between genre fiction and literary fiction, the complicated world of rights and publishing, and the darkly fantastical world of Mordew. (from 15:15)Finally, Alex discusses the future of the Mordew trilogy and what he's currently reading. (from 1:02:28)Jay wraps up with the books and authors that were discussed in the episode: the works of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, Jack Vance, JRR Tolkien, Paul Stanbridge, Albert Camus’ The Plague, Simon Gough’s The White Goddess, Eimear McBride's A Girl Is A Half Formed Thing, Jonathan Gibbs’ Randall, Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, Stephen King's Carrie, Lucy Ellmann’s Ducks, Newburyport, Graham Greene, Preti Taneja, Fritz Leiber's Swords and Deviltry, Iain M Banks, Hilary Mantel, and the short stories of Richard Yates. Jay also recommends two of his favourite fantasy/sci-fi writers, Ursula K LeGuin and Becky Chambers. (1:12:25)Buy, read and review Mordew now, available from all good bookstores! Alex's earlier novels Lucia and Playthings are also available for purchase. Alex's bonus episode is available on our Patreon page now.Thanks for listening and tune in again (very very very) soon for Episode Eight!

To support our work and listen to additional content, see here: https://patreon.com/yourshelf and follow us on social media @_yourshelf_. In our latest, sixth episode of The YourShelf Podcast, Given Stories, our chief curator Juliano Zaffino (Jay) catches up with writer Nikita Gill to discuss books, representation, girlhood, culture, inheritance and Nikita's first novel, The Girl and the Goddess. For full show notes, see here: https://podcast.yourshelf.uk/episodes/6. Thanks for listening.  LinksPatreonInstagramTwitterPodcastYourShelfEpisode NotesJay asks Nikita about her bookshelves, the books that made her, and which writers she'd want to play in a one-woman show. (from 1:15)Nikita explains why she decided to write her first YA novel in verse, The Girl and the Goddess, where the inspiration for the story came from, and what representation means to her and her work. (from 10:38)Finally, Nikita discusses her recent reads and upcoming projects, including a new collection, Where Hope Comes From, publishing Feb 2021. (from 1:10:50)Jay recommends signing up to our Patreon for access to exclusive content, including a  bonus episode with more content from the interview, where Nikita answers some phone-in questions, and gives a reading from The Girl and the Goddess.Jay wraps up with all the books that were discussed in the episode: Maya Angelou's I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Alice Walker's The Colour Purple, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Nikesh Shukla's Brown Baby, Salena Godden's Mrs Death Misses Death, the works of Amrita Sher-Gil and Sarojini Naidu, Dean Atta's The Black Flamingo, CS Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, Manjeet Mann's Run Rebel, the work of Yena Sherma Purmasir, Louise O'Neill's After The Silence, Savannah Brown's Sweetdark, and Poems To Save The World With, chosen and illustrated by Chris Riddell.Nikita Gill closes with a reading of the stunning poem 'A New City' from her YA novel in verse, The Girl and the Goddess. (from 1:25:33)Buy, read and review The Girl and the Goddess now, available from most bookstores! Nikita's earlier work is also available for purchase.Thanks for listening and tune in again (very) soon for Episode Seven!