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The award-winning Jamaican novelist Marlon James on his Booker-shortlisted novel The Disappearers, as he and presenter James Crawford explore its connections to three other books. The Disappearers starts with eight men in Jamaica in 1988 meeting in private to rehearse a play. The group are attacked by a violent mob, and for the survivors, recovery is as much emotional as it is physical. Through the lives of the men, the novel explores the realities of queer life in Jamaica during the 1980s and 1990s. For his three influences, Marlon chose Jessica Hagedorn’s Dogeaters (1990), John Rechy’s The Sexual Outlaw (1977), and Roberto Bolaño’s The Savage Detectives (2007). Producer: Rachael O’Neill Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

The award-winning writer Louise Kennedy speaks to Radio 4's Take Four Books about her latest novel, Stations, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other literary works. Stations follows Róisín McCaffrey as she meets and Red Camelin as a teenager in their small Irish hometown in 1982. Red's reputation for trouble precedes him – but Róisín finds herself swept up in his storm, and soon their connection deepens. For her three influences Louise chose: I Could Read The Sky by Timothy O’Grady and Steve Pyke (1997); The Grass Arena by John Healey, now printed as a Penguin Classic, (1988); and J.D Salinger's Franny and Zooey (1961). Louise Kennedy grew up a few miles from Belfast. She is the author of the acclaimed short-story collection, The End of the World Is A Cul de Sac which won the John McGahern Prize. Her debut novel Trespasses, published in 2022, has been translated into over twenty languages. It won Eason Novel of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards, Best Debut at the British Book Awards and the McKitterick Prize, and was also shortlisted for several awards including the Women's Prize for Fiction, the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and Barnes and Noble Discover Prize. In 2025, Trespasses was made into a limited TV series by Channel 4, starring Lola Petticrew, Tom Cullen and Gillian Anderson. Before starting her writing career, Kennedy spent nearly thirty years working as a chef. She lives in Sligo. Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

The award-winning Irish writer, Donal Ryan, speaks about his latest novel, Where Are The Kings, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other books. Set in rural Ireland, Where Are The Kings, follows the character of Jack between the ages of twelve and fourteen as he attempts to deal with his mother's sudden death for which he feels a measure of guilt. Donal has won Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards three times. In 2025 he won the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, and he has twice been longlisted for the Booker Prize. For his three influences Donal chose: Emma Donoghue’s Room (2010) which was later turned into a film five years later directed by Lenny Abrahamson; Frank McCourt’s best-selling memoir Angela’s Ashes (1996); and Kent Haruf’s Plainsong (1999). Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

The award-winning Irish writer Sebastian Barry speaks to Take Four Books about his latest novel, The Newer World, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other books. The Newer World takes us back into post-civil war America as we follow the character of Tennyson Bouguereau, a formerly enslaved man, and nascent singer as it turns out, who is forced to leave his home for fear of being killed, and heads to Nashville, until a surprising trip to Victorian England changes things. Sebastian Barry was the laureate for Irish Fiction from 2018 to 2021 and is a two-time winner of both the Costa Book of the Year and the Walter Scott prize for historical fiction. For his three influences he chose: The American Spelling Book by Noah Webster (1783); Army Life in a Black Regiment by Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1869); and A Journey in the Back Country by Frederik Law Olmstead (1860). Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

The New York writer and two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Colson Whitehead, speaks to Take Four Books about his latest novel, Cool Machine, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other books. In three interlinking stories, Cool Machine - the final instalment in Colson's Harlem Trilogy - showcases the grit and grandeur of 1980s New York through its underground wheeler-dealer protagonist, Ray Carney, who runs a furniture business on 125th Street with a lucrative side hustle. For his three influences Colson chose: Junky by William Burroughs (1953); One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1967); and The Hunter by Richard Stark (1962). Richard Stark was the pen name of Donald Edwin Westlake. This episode was recorded at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was an BBC Audio Scotland production.

Presenter James Crawford speaks to award-winning Mexican American novelist and essayist Valeria Luiselli about her latest novel, Beginning Middle End, and its three key literary influences. In the novel, a mother and her twelve-year-old daughter travel across a wildfire-stricken Sicily in search of family history, archaeology, and the inner-workings of story itself. Along the way, the mother remains in contact with her own mother in Mexico, who may be beginning to experience dementia. Valeria’s three influences are Natural History by Pliny the Elder (1st century AD), Dart by Alice Oswald (2002), and On Nature by Empedocles (c.450 BC). The audio extract comes from the audiobook of Beginning Middle End. Producer: Rachael O'Neill Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

The writer M. John Harrison speaks to Take Four Books about his latest novel, The End of Everything, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other works. The End of Everything follows the characters of Phillip Tennent and his elderly aunt Marnie. A crisis has happened. The exact nature of which remains obscure, but government barely functions, the seas are full of new creatures and Europe has been mislaid. Is this the end? For his three influences M. John Harrison chose: The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham which was published in 1961 and released as a film two years later; Drought by J. G. Ballard from 1965; and a short story called The Same Dog by Robert Aickman from 1974. Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Presenter James Crawford speaks to American author and humourist David Sedaris on his new collection of essays, The Land and Its People. From navigating the realities of ageing to reflecting on his personal relationships, Sedaris explores a wide range of experiences across the book's 28 essays. He also discusses the three works that inspired the collection: Raymond Carver's Cathedral (1981), Joy Williams's Taking Care (1982), and Alan Bennett's Talking Heads (1988). Producer: Rachael O’Neill Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Scottish crime writer Christopher Brookmyre speaks to Take Four Books this week about his latest novel, Quite Ugly One Evening, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its links to three other books. Chris's new book, Quite Ugly One Evening, is a locked-room mystery with a twist, and we're back with one of his most beloved characters - the maverick Scottish investigative journalist Jack Parlanbane, who thrives on chasing stories in unlikely places. For his three influences Chris plumped for: The Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks, from 2007; The Proof of My Innocence by Jonathan Coe from 2024; and Grown Ups, by Marian Keyes, from 2020. Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This is a BBC Audio Scotland production.

The award-winning Irish writer, Liz Nugent, speaks to Take Four Books about her latest novel, The Truth About Ruby Cooper, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other works of fiction. Ruby Cooper and her sister, Erin, live an idyllic life in their close-knit church community in Boston. But when Ruby is sixteen, she is involved in an incident that causes her family’s world to implode. For her three influences Liz chose: Ian McEwan's Atonement from 2001, the book was later adapted into a film of the same name starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy; Patrick McCabe's The Butcher Boy from 1992; and Patrick Süskind’s 1985 novel, Perfume. This episode was recorded in front of an audience at the Hay Festival 2026. Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Presenter James Crawford speaks to award‑winning American author Elizabeth Strout - winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and a two‑time Booker Prize nominee - about her new book The Things We Never Say and its three key literary influences. In Elizabeth's latest novel, we are taken to the New England coast, where we follow the life of history teacher Artie Dam, who is struggling to cope with the way the modern world is changing around him. Elizabeth’s three influences are The Stories of William Trevor by William Trevor (1983), Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925), and Middlemarch by George Eliot (1872). Producer: Rachael O’Neill Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

The Bangladeshi-born British writer, Tahmima Anam, speaks to Take Four Books about her latest novel, Uprising, and together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other works of fiction. Set on a fictional, sinking island, Uprising, is told from the perspective of a group of children who witness their mothers living lives of cruelty and servitude. Tahmima Anam is a multi-award-winning writer and journalist. In 2013 she was named as one of the 'Best Young British Novelists' by Granta. She also holds a PHD in anthropology from Harvard University. For her three influences, Tahmima chose: The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka, from 2012; Sultana’s Dream by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain from 1905; and Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed, also from 2012. This episode was recorded at the Hay Festival. Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

The bestselling author of Hamnet returns with her tenth novel - Land - which is a soaring history set in Ireland in the years before and after the Great Famine. Maggie has sold more than eight million books worldwide and is translated into 44 different languages. She won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2020. For her three influences Maggie chose: Joseph O’Connor’s Star of the Sea from 2002; Marie Heaney’s Over Nine Waves from 1994, which is a retelling of many of the Irish myths; and the non-fiction book, Map Of A Nation, by Rachel Hewitt from 2010. Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

The Booker Prize-winning Scottish author, Douglas Stuart, speaks to Take Four Books about his latest novel, John Of John, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other works of fiction. John Of John follows the character of John-Calum Macleod who, when his art school education comes to an end, catches the ferry home to the island of Harris to find that not much has changed except for him. In the windswept croft where he grew up, Cal resumes his old life, caught between the two poles of his childhood: his father John, a sheep farmer, weaver, and pillar of their local Presbyterian church, and his Glaswegian grandmother Ella, who has kept a faltering peace with her son-in-law for decades. For his three influences Douglas chose: The Lost Language of Cranes, by David Leavitt from 1986; Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson, from 2004; and John McGahern’s Amongst Women, from 1990. This episode was recorded at the Hay Festival 2026. Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was an BBC Audio Scotland production.

Imani Thompson speaks to Take Four Books about her debut novel Honey. Together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other literary works. In Honey, PhD student Yrsa doesn't set out to kill. But after an incident involving a bee sting gone wrong, she suddenly feels alive. So she starts to think about what justice could look like, if she took it in to her own hands... Imani's three chosen influences for this episode are Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman from 2001; Girl by Jamaica Kincaid from 1978; and Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde from 2016. Producer: Caitlin Sneddon Editor: Gillian Wheelan This is a BBC Audio Scotland production.