Take Four Books

BBC Radio 4

Presenter James Crawford looks at an author's latest work and delves further into their creative process by learning about the three other texts that have shaped their writing.

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68 episodes
Updated July 26

Episodes68

Newest first

Jul 27, 2025 · 28 min
Denise Mina
Multi-award-winning writer Denise Mina discusses her new novel, The Good Liar.
Jul 20, 2025 · 28 min
Gurnaik Johal
Gurnaik Johal tells Take Four Books about his debut novel, Saraswati.
Jul 13, 2025 · 28 min
Colm Tóibín
Colm Tóibín on his latest novel, Long Island, and its connections to three other works.
Jun 29, 2025 · 28 min
Madeleine Thien
Madeleine Thien speaks about her new novel and explores its links to three other works.
Jun 22, 2025 · 28 min
Wendy Erskine
Wendy Erskine talks about her new novel and explores its connections to three other works.
Jun 15, 2025 · 28 min
Elif Shafak
Elif Shafak speaks about her latest novel and explores its links to three other works.
Jun 8, 2025 · 28 min
Andrew Miller
Andrew Miller on his new book, The Land in Winter, and its links to three other works.
May 25, 2025 · 28 min
Seán Hewitt
Seán Hewitt discusses his debut novel, Open, Heaven, and its three literary influences.
May 18, 2025 · 28 min
Ocean Vuong
Writer and poet Ocean Vuong talks about his latest novel and its three key influences.
May 11, 2025 · 28 min
Ben Okri
Writer and poet Ben Okri talks about his new novella and its three key influences.
Apr 27, 2025 · 28 min
Vincenzo Latronico
Vincenzo Latronico on his new novel Perfection and its connections to three other works.
Apr 20, 2025 · 28 min
Xiaolu Guo
Xiaolu Guo talks about her new novel and explores its connections to three other books.
Apr 13, 2025 · 28 min
Andrew O'Hagan
Three-times Booker nominated Scottish author Andrew O’Hagan on his novel Caledonian Road.
Mar 30, 2025 · 28 min
Eoin McNamee
Eoin McNamee talks about his new novel and explores its connections to three other works.
Mar 23, 2025 · 28 min
David Szalay
David Szalay talks about his new novel and the three other works that helped to shape it.
Mar 16, 2025 · 28 min
Eimear McBride
The award-winning author Eimear McBride talks about her new novel and its three influences
Mar 9, 2025 · 28 min
Tash Aw
Novelist Tash Aw speaks about his new book, The South, and three key literary influences.
Feb 23, 2025 · 28 min
Laurent Binet
French author Laurent Binet tells us about his new book and its three influences.
Feb 16, 2025 · 28 min
Susan Barker
Writer Susan Barker speaks about her new book - Old Soul - and three other influences.
Feb 9, 2025 · 28 min
Emma Healey
Best-selling author Emma Healey tells us about her new book Sweat and its three influences