Sir Ben Okri and Colum McCann join Joe Haddow for a war of the words...

This is Ben's second appearance on Book Off! (The first author to ever appear on the pod twice)

Let's see if he's learnt anything from the last time!

He chats about his woozy new novella - "Madame Sosostris And The Festival For The Broken-Hearted' - and the poem that inspired it. We also learn he has read 'War & Peace' FOUR times! And so we get a full Ben Okri style review...

Colum's new novel - 'Twist' - is a darkly epic tale of connection, disconnection and destruction. He chats about his research on ships in South Africa and his fascination with what's under the sea - deep down.

The writers also discuss the importance of artists and books in this turbulent time, and recommend us some brilliant novels too.

THE BOOK OFF

"Le Grand Meaulnes" by Alain Fournier

VS

"When The Bulbul Stopped Singing" by Raja Shehadeh

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.