Rippling Pages: Interviews with Writers

Welcome to the latest episode of the Rippling Pages. I’m having a coffee with Lee Cole, the American writer from Kentucky. And we’re talking about balancing the feelings and ethics of writing about home. Now living a humdrum life in Kentucky, Emmett spends his days packing boxes in a warehouse. But what happens when he begins to dream of another life—and when those dreams start to fracture his family relationships? These questions lie at the heart of Fulfilment, Lee Cole’s second novel. The book follows two half brothers whose clashing ambitions—Emmett’s longing to be a screenwriter and his brother’s academic ideals about “rural despair”—go beyond a simple difference in worldview. Something deeper threatens to pull them apart. Lee is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, is also the author of Groundskeeping. Both his novels were published by Faber in the U.K. The New York Times has described his work as “Anne Tyler by way of Sally Rooney.” Originally from Kentucky, Lee joins me today from Philadelphia. Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop all books are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod   Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medi   Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages   1.35 - Ann Tyler and Sally Rooney 5.05 - why Kentucky  7.25 - people who leave and stay in small towns  9.30 - why does Emmett wish he had what Joel has? 11.10 - southern fried rendition of Marx 12.10 - warehouses  16.12 - the difficulty of warehouse jobs  18.30 - Kentucky’s beauty  19.45 - backgrounds and worldviews  21.45 - guilt about writing about home or  22.30 - rippling pages bookshop 23.35 - Alice’s role 26.15 - Alice’s dream of owning a farm  28.50 - knowing what our desires are  32.50 - writing about writers impulses Books Wendell Berry Annie Dillard Sigmund Freud Aldo Leopold Karl Marx Sally Rooney  Anne Tyler John Updike   

I’m talking with the essayist Joanna Pocock, and this is some bonus content from our original interview. America is a place that has compelled countless writers to travel its vast and varied landscapes.  Perhaps you’ve done it yourself. But what happens when you feel compelled to do it all again? That’s the question at the heart of Joanna Pocock’s essay, Greyhound (Fitzcarraldo Editions). Named after the iconic bus company whose intercity network carries passengers from Detroit to Los Angeles — and which Joanna relies on for her own journey — Greyhound revisits familiar motels, crossings, and bus stations she first encountered years before. Joanna’s writing has appeared in the LA Times, Guardian US and the Nation among others. GREYHOUND is her second book, and her first, SURRENDER, won the Fitzcarraldo essay prize. Remember to like, share, follow, subscribe or leave a review if you enjoy the show. Joanna is talking about objects of influence, which are: Her notebooks Her photographs  Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop all books are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medi Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages 

I’m talking to the Swedish writer, Agnes Lidbeck, in this special edition live episode of the Rippling Pages! We really did have a coffee with one of the world’s, one of Sweden’s most interesting writers, because as we were live in person with a live audience in Leeds! Life is full of adjustments - perhaps there isn’t a bigger adjustment than having children. But what happens when you start to question your role in this adjustment? Crucially, what happens when a mother starts to question her role in this adjustment.  These are the questions at the heart of Agnes’s novel, SUPPORTING ACT, published by Peirene Press and translated by Nichola Smalley.  It’s a beautiful novel about fierce devotion in the face of fierce questions that need to be asked about why certain people seem to take on certain roles in society. Agnes is the author of five novels, but this was her first novel, and it’s her first to be translated into English. She is a renowned name in Sweden on TV, radio, and Swedish letters. This book alone was the winner of the prestigious Bourous Debut Novel Prize. This is part of Modern Culture’s programming of events called Stories from Sweden, so thanks to Martin Colthorpe for help making this happen.  Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop all books are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medi Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages    Rippling Points 0.15 introductions.  3.25 - Agnes time in Leeds 4.35 opening to the novel 6.05 - Agnes and Jens 10.05 - Agnes’s reading  14.00 - touch and tactility    17.10 - Swedish society and parental leave 19.50 - spiritual and physical pain of Anna.  22.00 - Jens and Ivan 24.25 - why is Ivan so compelling to Anna 27.15 - grips of passion   29.00 - rippling pages bookshop  30.15 - different modes of time  35.30 - Anna’s dark thoughts  38.15 - Agnes’s next book  40.45 - frustration and being kind to Anna 42.30 - a strange interaction in the street! 45.00 - questions from the audience - do you have a different relationship with Anna as a result of the translation  47.30 question from audience - is Anna a detached person, or detached as a result of motherhood. 49.00 - the power of translation  Reference Points Hjalmar Söderberg  Baruch Spinoza  Leo Tolstoy - Anna Karenina  Annie Ernaux  Wretchedness - Andrzej Tichý (translated by Nichola Smalley)

America is a place that has compelled countless writers to travel its vast and varied landscapes.  Perhaps you’ve done it yourself. But what happens when you feel compelled to do it all again? That’s the question at the heart of Joanna Pocock’s essay, Greyhound (Fitzcarraldo Editions). Named after the iconic bus company whose intercity network carries passengers from Detroit to Los Angeles — and which Joanna relies on for her own journey — Greyhound revisits familiar motels, crossings, and bus stations she first encountered years before. Joanna’s writing has appeared in the LA Times, Guardian US and the Nation among others*. GREYHOUND is her second book, and her first, SURRENDER, won the Fitzcarraldo essay prize. Remember to like, share, follow, subscribe or leave a review if you enjoy the show. *please note that I state an incorrect list of publications in the intro. Amended here! Reference Points - 1.40 - is Joanna a city or a country writer  - 3.20 - where the journey starts -  6.15 - why are there not more women on the road? -  09.00 - starting in Canada. -  11.05 - Borders -  12.15 - the people Joanna meets -  16.05 - the sense of perspective. -  17.50 -  people Joanna sees - 19.30 - Amarillo and fecal dust  - 23.00 - rippling pages podcast -  24.05 - the cost of travel -  26.35  - the bus as a political space -  30.30 - the enduring appeal of the American road. ***** Tickets for Agnes Lidbeck in Conversation  https://www.nextchapterleeds.co.uk/events/p/theripplingpagesliveoctober ***** Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop all books are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medi Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages  Reference Points Ansel Adams Lewis Baltz Simone de  Beauvoir - America Day by Day Jack Kerouac - On the Road Irma Kirtz - The Great American Bus Ride Ethel Mannin - An America Journey Benjamin Markovits - The Rest of Our Lives William Least Heat-Moon - Blue Highways Ed Ruscha The Salt Path - Raynor Winn  

Welcome to the second edition of Rippling Pages: Ask the Host! It's time to answer some more questions from you, the listeners! So, that’s what I’ve done: I’ve picked out some questions from the Rippling Pages inbox, and answered them! In this episode, I answer: - What I have been reading lately? - How are my French lessons going?  - How do I prepare for interviews? - What is my favourite bookshop? - What is my favourite season? - Who's going to win the Premier League and Women's Super League? Got a question yourself? Why not leave a review and a question and I might pick out one for a future show! ***** Tickets for Agnes Lidbeck in Conversation  https://www.nextchapterleeds.co.uk/events/p/theripplingpagesliveoctober ***** Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop all books are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medi Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages  Reference Points Books On the Clock by Claire Baglin (translated by Jordan Stump). Daunt Books Lanre Bakare - We Were There (Penguin Books) The Unreliable Nature Writer by Claire Carroll  (Scratch Books)  Joy is My Middle Name by Sasha Debevec-McKenney (Fitzcaralldo Editions ) Failed Summer Vacation by Heuijung Hur (translated by Paige Aniyah Morris) Scratch Books Noreen Masud  - A Flat Place (Penguin Books) White Spines by Nicholas Royle (Salt Books)  Two Days, One Night (2014, directed by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne)

“It’s almost a perfect work of art.” This is some bonus content from the previous episode with Gurnaik Johal where we talk about objects of influence.    The return of a potentially holy river in the Indian mountains - is it a sign of a new age, a divine intervention, or simply the workings of nature? These are the questions at the heart of Gurnaik Johal’s novel, SARASWATI, published by Serpent’s Tail. Frauds, politicians, mystics, writers, and the family who own the farm in which the river exists, are caught up in trying to determine what the return of the SARASWATI river means. It is a novel that is truly global in its scope, set in Canada, India, the Chagos Islands, and Wolverhampton. It was named as a Guardian newspaper selection for 2025, and shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. Gurnaik was a winner of the Galley Beggar short story prize.  Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop all books are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medi Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages 

The return of a potentially holy river in the Indian mountains - is it a sign of a new age, a divine intervention, or simply the workings of nature? These are the questions at the heart of Gurnaik Johal’s novel, SARASWATI, published by Serpent’s Tail. Frauds, politicians, mystics, writers, and the family who own the farm in which the river exists, are caught up in trying to determine what the return of the SARASWATI river means. It is a novel that is truly global in its scope, set in Canada, India, the Chagos Islands, and Wolverhampton. It was named as a Guardian newspaper selection for 2025, and shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. Gurnaik was a winner of the Galley Beggar short story prize.  Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop all books are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medi Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages   Rippling Points 1.55 - what is the SARASWATI? 3.35 - the family connection  6.45 - river symbolism  8.20 - characters in the novel  10.30 - family dynasties and novels  11.55- reclamation 14.45 - rippling pages bookshop  15.30 - border conflicts  18.40 - human connection between  21 - romance in the novel  23.20 - the chagos islands  27.50 - how people communicate  29.30 - from short stories to novels  31.15 - being faithful to reality  34.35 - more advice for writers 

“I think when you’re young you really allow yourself to be stupid.” Welcome to part 2 of my conversation with Yan Ge. Yan Ge is here to discuss her life and writing. She was born in Chengdu, Sichuan Province People’s Republic of China. Emerging as a prodigious writer in Chinese and Sichuanese, she was named as one of China’s twenty future literary masters by People Magazine. In 2012, she was chosen as Best New Writer by the Prestigious Chinese Literature Media Prize. For English language readers, Nicky Harman first translated her novella, White Horse, for Hope Road publishing in 2014, a story about young girls negotiating adolescence in the presence of a mysterious white horse. Then, four years later, Nicky translated The Chilli Bean Paste Clan in 2018, published by Balestier. Elsewhere arrived in 2023 (Faber), and Yan Ge treated us to a new dimension of her work entirely: short fiction and, for the first time, written in English.   Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop on bookshop.org.uk are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink  Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages    Rippling Points Chapters  - 3.30 - writing parts of ourselves that are distinct  - 7.35 - SBoC taking off  - 10.05 - identifying vulnerabilities  - 12.15 -all consuming spells of writing  - 16.45 - finding balance  - 20.15 - inspired by a younger self - 24.40 - The Chilli Bean Paste Clan - 27.35 - food in Yan ges work - 31.35 - Yan’s parents   - 35.02 - Another Liam!   Reference Points Nicky Harman Jeremy Tiang  

”If I enter a project knowing what I’m going to do, confidently, I wouldn’t do it.” It’s Women in Translation Month! Yan Ge is here to discuss her life and writing. She was born in Chengdu, Sichuan Province People’s Republic of China. Emerging as a prodigious writer in Chinese and Sichuanese, she was named as one of China’s twenty future literary masters by People Magazine. In 2012, she was chosen as Best New Writer by the Prestigious Chinese Literature Media Prize. For English language readers, Nicky Harman first translated her novella, White Horse, for Hope Road publishing in 2014, a story about young girls negotiating adolescence in the presence of a mysterious white horse. Then, four years later, Nicky translated The Chilli Bean Paste Clan in 2018, published by Balestier. Elsewhere arrived in 2023 (Faber), and Yan Ge treated us to a new dimension of her work entirely: short fiction and, for the first time, written in English.   Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop on bookshop.org.uk are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink  Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages    Reference Points George Saunders   Rippling Points  Chapters 02.30 - connected by Leeds 4.20 - Drifting from the Chinese language 5.45 - Writing elsewhere in English 09.20 - Transforming the process 10:50 - A new relationship with language  14:05 - Linguistic and cultural experiences of the characters 16:47- Happiness 19:24 - Contentment and striving  21:00 - Rippling Pages Bookshop 23:41 - Making writing hard and easy 28:26 - Having belief  

“She starts having an experience to see her own life as a more shifting sands that isn’t to be fear but in fact to be enjoyed.”   Kimberly Campanello is here to talk about her novel, USE THE WORDS YOU HAVE (Somesuch Editions). It’s a sweltering summer in Bretagne, France. K, an American exchange student, is navigating more than just unfamiliar streets. She’s finding a new language. This is bonus content from the previous episode.  In this bonus content, I’ve asked Kimberly to provide me with some objects that Kimberly associated with writing the book, USE THE WORDS YOU HAVE. It’s an interesting and new way to think about influence, and a way to understand both the book and the writer a bit more.  We talk about a flag, a musician, Alan Stivell, and something called a ‘Fest Noz’, all of them relating to the culture of Brittany where the novel is set. Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop on bookshop.org.uk are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink  Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages  Rippling Points 1.54 - Proust and Memory 04.01 - Objects of influence 06.21 - Fest Noz 07.01 - Alan Stivell 08.29 - The Brittany Flag, the Blanche Ermine   Reference Point Jonathan Culler Arthur Rimbaud  

“How do you sound like you know what you’re doing when you don’t have the words” Kimberly Campanello is here to talk about her novel, USE THE WORDS YOU HAVE (Somesuch Editions). It’s a sweltering summer in Bretagne, France. K, an American exchange student, is navigating more than just unfamiliar streets. She’s finding a new language. Kimberly’s work moves between forms, genres, and histories. She’s the author of MOTHERBABYHOME (zimZALLA), a harrowing and formally innovative response to Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes, is held in the national poetry special collections across the U.K and Ireland. Her poetry has appeared in publications like Granta, The White Review, and The Poetry Review, and essays in Tolka. And, this year, her poetry collection, AN INTERESTING DETAIL was released by Bloomsbury.  Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop on bookshop.org.uk are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink  Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages  Rippling Points 01:30 - Motherbabyhome 02:07 - From motherbabyhome to Use the words you have 05:38 - What is the novel about 08:02 - Sounding like you know what you’re doing when you don’t 09:51 - Differences poetry and the novel 11:46 - Who is K 14:16 - Belief and reading 15:58 - Making sense through Rimbaud 16:28 - Life in the Midwest 20:03 - Rippling Pages Bookshop 21:05 - K in Paris 22:16 - K’s notebook 25:37 - Wonky translations 29:19 - Kimberly’s notebooks. Reference Points Hart Crane Dante Marguerite Duras Annie Ernaux Tony Harrison Marcel Proust Arthur Rimbaud  Nathalie Sarraute Bruce Omar Yates review https://thelondonmagazine.org/review-use-the-words-you-have-by-kimberly-campanello/

“I found myself writing an apology letter…and I didn’t know what I was apologising for.” In Uttama Kirit Patel’s novel, The Shape of an Apostrophe (Serpent’s Tail), Lina is pregnant, and she’s finding that this seemingly salubrious society is not congenial and accommodating to the difficult challenges of an unplanned pregnancy. Uttama, born to Gujarati parents who then since found their way to the United Arab Emirates via Kampala, Surat, Pondicherry and Colchester. Her short fiction was nominated for the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for emerging writers. Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop on bookshop.org.uk are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink  Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages  Reference Points Helen Phillips - The Need Rippling Points .30 - Uttama's life living around the world. 2.47 - An unexpected pregnancy 3.45 - Limited reproductive rights and setting the novel in Dubai 5.47 - writing a novel about someone who doesn't want children 6.30 - Uttama writing an apology letter to herself 7.59 - On desire 11.17 - Lina's relationship with her parents 12.57 - Does Lina have a support network? 14.03 - Lina's husband and her mother-in-law 16.44 - Is Lina's mother-in-law a feminist? 22.27 - Uttama's interest in sea-life. 24.10 - Lina's feeling of loss 26.41 - Lines, traces and artistry of Lina in the novel. 32.45 - Uttama's writing journey

“When I set out to plan the business, I wrote ten words - the world I always kept coming to was community.” The Rippling Pages is all about curating the best writers to inspire you and your writing - today, we’re speaking to another curator. Eden Barnes is the owner of Next Chapter Books, an indie women-focussed bookshop in Leeds, and I had a quick chat with her in store.  There’s lots going on this week in Leeds. Leeds Lit Fest is starting, and it’s Indie Bookshop Week. Here someone who is at the centre of it. Eden tells us: The personal journey to opening a bookshop in Leeds Why she focusses women’s writing Balancing commercial and personal interests Creating a safe space and sense of community for readers What she’s got planned for next week and the rest of the year.   Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop on bookshop.org.uk are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink   Check out Next Chapter Books website: https://www.nextchapterleeds.co.uk/ Tickets for Leeds Lit Fest Events: https://www.leedslitfest.co.uk/ Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages 

"It is also difficult to imbue the people and the movements of the past with the complexities we offer ourselves."  If you were to meet a time traveller from the future, what would you ask them? This is the question Roisin Dunnett asks in her novel, A LINE YOU HAVE TRACED (Magpie Books/Oneworld Publications). Spanning over three centuries, three women are connected by forces they, at first, don’t understand. From post-WWI Britain, to East End London’s modern queer scene, to a portentous dystopian future, Roisin’s novel is coded with messages between the past, present and future. It's published by Magpie Books, an imprint of Oneworld.   You can buy A LINE YOU HAVE TRACED from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink   Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages    Rippling Points 2.01 - the past, present and future. 3.55 - is there a past event that influenced this novel? 6.45 - Narratives of women 10.16 - which character did Roisin write first? 11.33 - Why do characters feel out of time 13.02 - Visions and dreams in Roisin's novel 19.24 - what would we do if we could actually see the future? 24.30 - The marshes in Roisin's novel.  29.24 - Does your dad pick up litter? 30.59 - Roisin's writing journey     Reference Points Charles Dickens

“They got fired for that!” Katharina Volckmer is here to discuss her second novel, Calls May Be Recorded for Training and Monitoring Purposes (Indigo Press) and it was live at the Hyde Park Book Club! Thank you to the Hyde Park Book Club for hosting us and Next Chapter Books for supporting the event. This is the second part of our conversation.  Katharina’s first novel, THE APPOINTMENT, was translated into over fifteen languages, it was adapted for the stage starring Camille Cottin and was nominated for several prizes. Katharina is in ribald mode in this funny, outlandish, and yet, very melancholic novel about a man called Jimmie who works in a call centre. Jimmie helps holiday makers.  He placates their fears about sharks in the waters of Mykonos, Greece, among many other strange and wonderful challenges.  He also manages a complicated relationship with his mother and has a traumatic memory of an electric carving knife that threatens to burst to the surface. The Irish writer, Colm Tóibín, said the book is ‘filled with brilliant dialogue, unexpected turns, some very dirty talk with sudden bursts of hilarity, and then fierce sadness.’ A special treat here - Leeds based poet Kirsty Went gave a reading for, some of her work to open the event. We’ve re-recorded for the purposes of the podcast. You can buy CALLS MAY BE RECORDED FOR TRAINING AND MONITORING PURPOSES from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages  Where to find Next Chapter Books:  https://www.nextchapterleeds.co.uk/    Rippling Points  1.35 - writing about mothers and fathers 5.03 - clowns 9.45 - on jokes and fantasies  11.23 - Kirsty Went reading  14.19 - questions from the audience - where does the relentless comic vulgarity come from? 20.10 - question from the audience - does this book fit into the wonderfully weird fiction category? Can we have more daring takes in fiction?  23.35- question from the audience - did Katharina know the book would end in this subversive way?  Reference points Thomas Bernhard 

Katharina Volckmer is here to discuss her second novel, Calls May Be Recorded for Training and Monitoring Purposes (Indigo Press) and it was live at the Hyde Park Book Club! Thank you to the Hyde Park Book Club for hosting us and Next Chapter Books for supporting the event. Katharina’s first novel, THE APPOINTMENT, was translated into over fifteen languages, it was adapted for the stage starring Camille Cottin and was nominated for several prizes. Katharina is in ribald mode in this funny, outlandish, and yet, very melancholic novel about a man called Jimmie who works in a call centre. Jimmie helps holiday makers.  He placates their fears about sharks in the waters of Mykonos, Greece, among many other strange and wonderful challenges.  He also manages a complicated relationship with his mother and has a traumatic memory of an electric carving knife that threatens to burst to the surface. The Irish writer, Colm Tóibín, said the book is ‘filled with brilliant dialogue, unexpected turns, some very dirty talk with sudden bursts of hilarity, and then fierce sadness.’ You can buy CALLS MAY BE RECORDED FOR TRAINING AND MONITORING PURPOSES from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages  Where to find Next Chapter Books:  https://www.nextchapterleeds.co.uk/  Rippling Points 05.07 - Katharina's tour of Leeds. 05.49 - What's Katharina's novel about? 08.11 - Jimmie's need for the toilet in the opening scenes! 10.28 - A reading from the novel. 14.07 - Life in a call centre. 16.42 - Experience of moving abroad 19.03 - Why people overshare 20.33 - Differences between this novel and Katharina's previous novel 24.14 - Intimacy and speaking to strangers 26.14 - The other side of anonymity 28.25 - Kafka   Reference Points Franz Kafka The Appointment - Katharina Volckmer

Welcome to the first edition of Rippling Pages: Ask the Host! Over the years, I’ve been asking the questions, but it’s about time I answered some too. So, that’s what I’ve done: I’ve picked out some questions from the Rippling Pages inbox, and answered them! In this episode, I answer: - Where am I from? - Why did I start the podcast? - Who would I like to interview? - What books have I enjoyed recently? - Would I rather speak every language or to every animal?! Got a question yourself? Why not leave a review and a question and I might pick out one for a future show! ***** Tickets to Katharina Volckmer in conversation! https://www.seetickets.com/event/katharina-volckmer-in-conversation/hyde-park-book-club/3381984 ***** Don’t forget there’s a Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages ***** Lots of books and writer’s mentioned in this one Reference Points: Alice Chadwick - Dark Like Under (Daunt Books) Anton Chekhov Vincent Delacroix - Small Boat (Hope Road Publishing) - translated Helen Stevenson Gurnaik Johal - Saraswati (Serpent’s Tail) Vincenzo Latronico Tiago Miller Iris Mwanza Oluwaseun Olayiwola - Strange Beach (Fitzcarraldo Editions) Pola Oloixarac Mercè Rodereda Montserrat Roig - The Song of Youth (Fum d’Estampa) Montserrat Roig - Goodbye Ramona (Fum d’Estampa) Montserrat Roig - The Time of the Cherries (Daunt Books) Anthony Shapland - A Room Above a Shop (Granta Books) Olga Tokarczuk Virginia Woolf

"She finds herself in London working in a theatre having to touch people!"   Elaine Garvey, to discuss her novel, THE WARDROBE DEPARTMENT, published by Canongate Books. It’s 2002. Mairéad Sweeney has moved from rural Ireland to work in London’s West End. While the prestige of working in theatre doesn’t exactly wear off, the long hours and spoiled actors make Mairéad’s transition from Ireland more difficult than it should be. Things get even more difficult when Mairéad has to return home for her grandmother’s funeral. It’s here she begins to reconcile with the life, people and values she left behind. This is Elaine’s first book. She has been published in the Dublin Review and the Winter Papers, and has been awarded funding schemes by the Irish Department of Arts for her writing. ***** Tickets to Katharina Volckmer in conversation! https://www.seetickets.com/event/katharina-volckmer-in-conversation/hyde-park-book-club/3381984 ***** You can buy THE WARDROBE DEPARTMENT from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages Rippling Points 1.31 - Why the year 2002? 4.32 - books about women walking. 5.39 - who is Mairéad and why is she in London 7.39 - what is the wardrobe department 9.40 - shadowing the costume department! 12.10 - differences between London and Mairéad's home in Ireland. 13.34 - Mairéad's family. 14:40 - Mairéad's boss. 18.15 - Similarities to the Milkman 21. 16 - when is Mairéad's moment of realisation 23.48 - Choosing your words and religion. 27.29 - Is how Mairéad feels about Ireland different to Elaine? 29.15 - how the novel emerged from a short story. Reference Points Anna Burns - Milkman Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre Seamus Heaney - Sweeney Astray Hilary Mantel - The Mirror and The Light Herta Müller - The Land of Green Plums Rozsika Parker - The Subversive Stich Virginia Woolf - Mrs Dalloway

“It’s my mum’s favourite book that I wrote!” Benjamin Markovits is here to talk about his new and twelfth novel, THE REST OF OUR LIVES, published by Faber and Faber. Tom Layward has made a pact with himself. After his daughter moves out of college, he’s moving out too. His wife had an affair, and he feels like he owes himself a road trip across America. He takes  in the sights, sounds and basketball games of the American heartland and beyond. But he’s deferring some health issues and it seems like it’s only a matter of time before his body asks him to stop and slow down, some of which was inspired by Ben’s own experiences.   Ben’s novel, You Don’t Have to Live Like This, won the James Tait Black Prize for fiction. He was a Granta Best of Young British Novelists. His writing has featured prolifically in mainstream publications.  We discuss: Are families about power dynamics? Hear about Ben and I reflecting on our family life Is Steph Curry Benjamin’s new obsession instead of Michael Jordan? Why is Syme, Ben’s first novel, his mum’s favourite novel?   ***** Tickets to Katharina Volckmer in conversation! https://www.seetickets.com/event/katharina-volckmer-in-conversation/hyde-park-book-club/3381984 ***** You can buy THE REST OF OUR LIVES from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages

‘The people I like to write about are what I would describe as moderately successful failures.’ Benjamin Markovits is here to talk about his new and twelfth novel, THE REST OF OUR LIVES, published by Faber and Faber. Tom Layward has made a pact with himself. After his daughter moves out of college, he’s moving out too. His wife had an affair, and he feels like he owes himself a road trip across America. He takes  in the sights, sounds and basketball games of the American heartland and beyond. But he’s deferring some health issues and it seems like it’s only a matter of time before his body asks him to stop and slow down, some of which was inspired by Ben’s own experiences.   Ben’s novel, You Don’t Have to Live Like This, won the James Tait Black Prize for fiction. He was a Granta Best of Young British Novelists. His writing has featured prolifically in mainstream publications.  ***** Tickets to Katharina Volckmer in conversation! https://www.seetickets.com/event/katharina-volckmer-in-conversation/hyde-park-book-club/3381984 ***** You can buy THE REST OF OUR LIVES from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages Rippling Points 2.42 - Why Tom goes on a roadtrip 4.12 - Feelings of failure and sport 7.10 - Constructing the narrator 9.00 - Tom’s difference to other narrators of Ben’s 11.30 - Pick-up basketball 15.15 - East Coast privilege 16.00 - The NBA - basketball and race 21.20 - Katharina Volckmer in conversation  22.45 - Tom’s relationship with his children 23.57 - Tom and Ben’s illness 26.58 - Matters of life and death 28.10 - Doctors and writers 29.45 - Ben’s next steps Reference Points Philip Roth John Updike Ben’s novels The Syme Papers Playing Days You Don’t Have to Live Like This The Sidekick