Backlisted

The literary podcast that has been giving new life to old books since 2015. For show notes visit backlisted.fm and get an extra two shows a month by supporting the pod at patreon.com/backlisted

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271 episodes
Updated Tuesday

Episodes271

Newest first

A Marsh Island by Sarah Orne Jewett
For this episode we are joined by the writer, Noreen Masud, author of the acclaimed memoir, A Flat Place (currently shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction). The book she has chosen to discuss is A Marsh Island, a 19th century American novel by Sarah Orne Jowett, who is usually considered one of the foremost proponents of American regionalism – an assumption this episode investigates. The book was first serialised in the Atlantic Monthly magazine in 1885 and published by Houghton Miffl
Apr 22, 2024 · 1 hr 7 min
The Children of Men by P.D. James
Novelist Andrew Hunter Murray and biographer Laura Thompson join us to discuss The Children of Men (1992), a dystopian thriller by the late P.D. James. The author is probably best remembered as one of Britain's greatest exponents of detective fiction, an heir to the Golden Age of female novelists such as Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy Sayers et al. In The Children of Men, however, James depicts a nightmare near-future in which the world is literally coming to an end. The book became a bes
Apr 8, 2024 · 1 hr 15 min
All My Pretty Ones by Anne Sexton
Award-winning poet Emily Berry joins us to consider the work and troubled life of Anne Sexton. We focus on her brilliant second collection All My Pretty Ones (1962). Sexton was a trailblazing American poet of the so-called 'confessional' school of the 1960s, one whose writing continues to provoke controversy and debate; her friends and contemporaries included Sylvia Plath and John Berryman. We hear from Sexton herself, in recordings of readings and interviews, and fronting own experimental jazz-
Mar 26, 2024 · 1 hr 8 min
Coffee Table Books
This fully illustrated, lavishly produced episode of Backlisted represents the last word in coffee table books. Join John, Andy and Nicky as we dip into the origin, design and continuing appeal of specialist hardcover publishing, via some of our favourite cookery books, exhibition catalogues and sumptuous volumes simply too beautiful to leave on the shelf. Thank you to our Patrons for their contributions to our virtual quarto library; as you will hear, we loved making this show, which is as deep
Mar 12, 2024 · 1 hr 4 min
A Life in Movies by Michael Powell
This episode of Backlisted is devoted to A Life in Movies (1986), the first volume of memoirs of the filmmaker Michael Powell who, with his partner Emeric Pressburger, is responsible for some of the finest, most magical and soulful films ever to come out of the UK: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, and many more. Joining us for a discussion of Powell's life and work - and his vision of cinema as a space in which all the other arts may find expression - are memo
Feb 27, 2024 · 1 hr 13 min
Scouse Mouse by George Melly
This episode was recorded in the great city of Liverpool and celebrates the life and work of a great Liverpudlian: George Melly, sometime writer, jazz and blues singer, artist, critic, lecturer and aficionado of surrealism. We are joined by two resident experts: the writer Jeff Young and the playwright and screenwriter, Lizzie Nunnery. The book under discussion is Melly’s Scouse Mouse, which is chronologically the first part of Melly’s memoirs. It was first published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in
Feb 13, 2024 · 1 hr 4 min
Love On The Dole by Walter Greenwood
We are joined by the writer Andrew Hankinson to discuss Walter Greenwood’s classic novel of Northern working-class life. First published in 1933, Love on the Dole, revolves explores the fortunes of the Hardcastle family, who live in industrial Salford in the 1930s, just as the Depression is beginning to bite. Greenwood’s authentic portrayal of the corrosive effects of mass unemployment and poverty was well received by critics, but it wasn’t until the 1934 stage version had become a hit, that the
Jan 30, 2024 · 1 hr 3 min
Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
For this first episode of 2024 we are joined by the chair of Virago Press, Lennie Goodings to discuss a novel by her fellow Canadian, Margaret Laurence. First published in 1964, The Stone Angel is a landmark in modern Canadian fiction. The narrator is the unforgettable Hagar Shipley, a spiky, sharp-tongued, proud and profane ninety-year-old who is trying to resist her family’s attempts to transfer her into a nursing home. This battle is interwoven with memories of her long and difficult life, mu
Jan 16, 2024 · 1 hr 5 min
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
For this year’s Backlisted Christmas Special we are joined by the poet and novelist Clare Pollard and our producer Nicky Birch to discuss not just a book, but adaptations of a book – and there are hundreds to choose from – and all have contributed to making it perhaps the most famous Christmas story of them all: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Written in six weeks in 1843, it was a massive and immediate success, selling out its first run of 6,000 copies by Christmas Eve. It has been in pri
Dec 25, 2023 · 1 hr 13 min
Briggflatts by Basil Bunting
Today’s episode focusses on a single long poem – Briggflatts by the Northumbrian poet Basil Bunting. It was recorded live in St Mary’s Church, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, as part of the Woodstock Poetry Festival. Andy and John are joined by Neil Astley, the founder of Bloodaxe Books, who knew and published Bunting, and Kirsten Norrie, a poet and composer who writes and performs under her Highland name, MacGillivray. The episode begins and ends with recordings made in 1977 of Bunting reading from t
Dec 12, 2023 · 1 hr 7 min
Trustee From The Toolroom by Nevil Shute
For our 200th episode, we are joined by Richard Osman: television presenter, longtime Backlisted listener, and one of the bestselling authors in the world today. We discuss Trustee from the Toolroom (1960), the final novel by Nevil Shute Norway, whose other books include A Town Like Alice (1950) and On the Beach (1957), widely read in his lifetime but now somewhat forgotten or ignored. How did Shute's long and distinguished stint as an aeronautical engineer fit with his parallel career as a prom
Nov 28, 2023 · 1 hr 13 min
Plays, Books and Stories: Samuel Beckett
In this episode, we feature the life and work of Samuel Beckett, one of the most important and influential voices of 20th century literature. We discuss Beckett’s writing across five decades, including his essays, short stories, novels and plays: ‘Dante… Bruno. Vico… Joyce’; ‘More Pricks Than Kicks’; ‘The Unnamable’; Krapp’s Last Tape’; and the late masterpiece ‘Company’. And we also ruminate on the fact that Backlisted has now been going on (it must go on, it can’t go on, it’ll go on) for eight
Nov 14, 2023 · 1 hr 17 min
Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary by M.R. James
Pour yourself a glass of sherry and light a candle, as we dedicate this year's Halloween special to Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904), the first collection by M.R. James, probably the most celebrated and influential exponent of the weird tale. With the help of undead guests Andrew Male and Laura Varnam we illuminate the life and work of a strange and singular author, one whose writings, like the engraving in 'The Mezzotint', have truly taken on a life of their own.
Oct 31, 2023 · 1 hr 13 min
What Have We Been Reading? - October 2023
This is a new books special episode to fill the gap before we release the Hallowe’en episode next weekend and as part of our episode 200 celebrations. In it, we each select a book we’ve particularly enjoyed over the past year. Andy says The Sarah Book by Scott McClanahan (Tyrant Books) is the best novel he's read since Gwendoline Riley's My Phantoms and also his favourite; Backlisted Editor, Nicky talks about Wifedom by Anna Funder (Granta), an genre-busting account of the life Eileen Maud Blair
Oct 23, 2023 · 56 min
The True History of the First Mrs Meredith by Diane Johnson
Episode #197 is dedicated to our late friend Carmen Callil, the founder of Virago, an author in her own right and, on a couple of memorable occasions, a former guest on Backlisted. Joining us are the writer Rachel Cooke and critic and editor Lucy Scholes. Under discussion: The True History of the First Mrs Meredith and Other Lesser Lives by Diane Johnson, first published in 1972 and reissued in 2020 by New York Review Books. Is this imaginative, funny, heartfelt, headstrong book a novel, a biogr
Oct 9, 2023 · 1 hr 12 min
Esther Waters by George Moore
In this episode we discuss the controversial and ground-breaking novel, Esther Waters by the Irish novelist George Moore. We are joined by Tom Crewe, author of the prize-winning New Life (Chatto & Windus) and one of this year’s crop of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists. Esther Waters was first published in 1894 and is told almost entirely from the point of view of an illiterate working-class woman, who falls pregnant by a fellow servant, is abandoned by him, and decides to raise their ch
Sep 25, 2023 · 1 hr 5 min
Galapágos by Kurt Vonnegut
In this episode we are delighted to welcome 2023 Booker Prize Winner Shehan Karunatilaka to discuss Kurt Vonnegut’s eleventh novel, Galapágos. First published in 1985, it is one of his most radical, intricate and humorous works, a Darwinian satire narrated by a ghost from a million years in the future.
Sep 12, 2023 · 1 hr 13 min
A Kestrel For a Knave by Barry Hines (from Green Man Festival)
Author and illustrator Rose Blake and writer and musician Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne) joined Andy and John at the Greenman festival in Wales on August 18th 2023 to discuss Barry Hines's second novel A Kestrel for a Knave (1968) and, inevitably, the film adaptation Kes (1969), directed by Ken Loach from a screenplay by Hines himself. This episode was recorded in front of a large crowd of festivalgoers, most of whom had either read the book or seen the film, or both. Why does this apparently simpl
Aug 28, 2023 · 56 min
Summer Reading Special
This week, to mix things up a little, it’s our annual round-up of books, old and new, you might enjoy over the summer. John, Andy and Backlisted’s producer Nicky discuss: O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker (W&N Essentials); Sheep’s Clothing by Celia Dale (Daunt Books); The Stirrings: A Memoir in Northern Time by Catherine Taylor (Weidenfeld & Nicolson); Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry (Faber); A Spell of Good Things by Ayobami Adebayo (Canongate); and The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band Who Burned a Million Pounds (Weidenfeld and Nicolson). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 14, 2023 · 1 hr 3 min
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 31, 2023 · 1 hr

Backlisted

A Marsh Island by Sarah Orne Jewett

The Children of Men by P.D. James

All My Pretty Ones by Anne Sexton

Coffee Table Books

A Life in Movies by Michael Powell

Scouse Mouse by George Melly

Love On The Dole by Walter Greenwood

Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Briggflatts by Basil Bunting

Trustee From The Toolroom by Nevil Shute

Plays, Books and Stories: Samuel Beckett

Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary by M.R. James

What Have We Been Reading? - October 2023

The True History of the First Mrs Meredith by Diane Johnson

Esther Waters by George Moore

Galapágos by Kurt Vonnegut

A Kestrel For a Knave by Barry Hines (from Green Man Festival)

Summer Reading Special

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster