Our guest on episode 78 is poet Blake Auden, who has almost 300,000 Instagram followers and is known for speaking openly about mental health. He also has four collections of poems out in the world, and the most recent is Murmuration, which came out in October. He and I talked about what therapy and writing have in common, how he approaches social media so that it helps rather than hinders his mental health, and lots more. ***** Want to help the Brit Lit Podcast survive and thrive? Here are some painless ways. ***** Books Mentioned in this episode: Murmuration, by Blake Auden On Earth We're Bri ..read more

My guest in this special bonus episode is Robinne Lee, the author of my favourite read of 2021, The Idea Of You. She's not British, but I loved this book so much that I wanted to bring you this interview anyway! Robinne and I talked about her origin story as a fanfic writer, why she chose to make her main character French, why love stories that don’t end happily can have such a big impact on us both in fiction and in real life, and a whole lot more.   ***** Want to help the Brit Lit Podcast survive and thrive? Here are some painless ways. ***** Books Mentioned in this episode: The Id ..read more

I’m so excited to bring you an interview with none other than Sophie Kinsella, who’s known to many as the queen of British chick lit and the author of the mega-bestselling Shopaholic series.  We talked about her new book The Party Crasher, how being a musician and being a writer are interconnected, what it’s been like to be a comedy writer over the last year and a half, what her favourite biscuit is, and a whole lot more! ***** Want to help the Brit Lit Podcast survive and thrive? Here are some painless ways. ***** Books Mentioned in this episode: The Party Crasher, by Sophie Kinsella Con ..read more

This month’s guest is Kirsty Capes, author of the novel Careless. We talked about why she wanted to write about female friendship, what it was like to study with Bernadine Evaristo, why it's especially important for kids in the foster care system to see themselves reflected in books, and a whole lot more. ***** Want to help the Brit Lit Podcast survive and thrive? Here are some painless ways. ***** Books Mentioned in this episode: Careless, by Kirsty Capes The Tracey Beaker series, by Jacqueline Wilson No One Is Talking About This, by Patricia Lockwood All the Fun of the Fair, by Car ..read more

This month’s guest is Mary Pauline Lowry, who wrote The Roxy Letters. Mary is married to a Brit, and she had lots of fascinating insights about the cultural differences between the countries, and I loved talking to her back about Bridget Jones and Jane Austen too. The Roxy Letters was one of my favourite reads of 2020. It was really fun and just what I needed. It’s out now in paperback.   Mary and I talked about why we love epistolary novels, took a bit of an accidental deep dive into books about Hollywood, chatted about the difference between ..read more

Our guest on episode 74 of the Brit Lit Podcast, is Lizzy Dent, who wrote The Summer Job, and who’s also a YA author -- as Rebecca Denton, she wrote This Beats Perfect, among other books. She and I talked about her favourite food writing, what it’s like to have a novel come out during a pandemic, why we love the book Anxious People by Fredrik Backman, and more. ***** Want to help the Brit Lit Podcast survive and thrive?   Here are some painless ways. ***** Books Mentioned on the Podcast: Buy all the books available in the UK from Bookshop UK here  Buy all the books available in ..read more

Our guest on episode 73 of the Brit Lit Podcast is Danielle Wood who, as Minnie Darke, wrote one of Claire's very favourite books of recent years, called Star Crossed. Among other things, she discussed what makes One Day by David Nicholls such an amazing novel, and gave some recommendations for books by Tasmanian authors.  Want to help the Brit Lit Podcast survive and thrive?  Here are some painless ways. ***** Books Mentioned on the Podcast: Buy all the books available in the UK from Bookshop UK here  Buy all the books available in the US from Bookshop US here ***** In the ..read more

Our guest today is Sareeta Domingo, who’s the author of both adult and young adult fiction, and most recently the editor of the collection called Who's Loving You: Love Stories by Women of Colour. She talks about romantic reads she loves, the process of putting together an anthology, why books by British authors of colour are important, and more. ***** Books Mentioned on the Podcast: Buy all the books from Bookshop UK here Buy all the books available in the US from Bookshop US here ***** In the US and now the UK, buy your hardbacks and paperbacks from Bookshop.org  ..read more

Today, we hear from Naoise Dolan, who’s an Irish author and the writer of the Women’s Prize longlisted novel Exciting Times. She and I talked about cultural and literary differences between the UK, the US, and Ireland, what we both think about the idea of “likeable” characters, some great Irish authors, and more. ***** Want to help the Brit Lit Podcast survive and thrive?  Here are some painless ways. ***** Books Mentioned on the Podcast: Buy all the books from Bookshop UK here Buy all the books available in the US from Bookshop US here Exciting Times, by Naoise Dolan Grown ..read more

Happy Independent Bookstore Day! I work part-time in a lovely bookshop on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, and in this bonus episode, I interview my boss, Laurie Gillman, who founded the shop five years ago, to talk about what goes into starting and running a bookshop.  Laurie and I talked about what makes East City Bookshop special, some fun stories she has of hanging out with a few British authors, the challenges of the last year, her advice for anyone wanting to start a bookshop, and a whole lot more. ***** Want to help the Brit Lit Podcast survive and thrive?  Here are some painles ..read more