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Hello and welcome back to the Inklings Book Club podcast – this month our book club picks as The Emperor of Gladness and today we’re joined by the inimitable Ocean Vuong. Ocean is one of my favourite writers. His debut novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous won the American Book Award, The Mark Twain Award, and The New England Book Award, and has sold more than two million copies. He was the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius" Grant. His books of poems include Time is a Mother, a finalist for the Griffin prize, and Night Sky with Exit Wounds, winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Whiting Award, and the Thom Gunn Award. Today he joins us to talk about his newest novel Emperor of Gladness, which we recorded live in London at the Emmanuel Centre.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Doglas Stuart is the author of Young Mungo and the Booker-winning Shuggie Bain. Now, he's back with the captivating John of John. This episode was recorded live at Union Chapel in collaboration with Intelligence Squared so it is audio-only. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jodie Harsh is a music producer, DJ, and legendary drag artist. In her new memoir, You Had To Be There, she takes us on a journey through London nightlife, explores the venues that hosted iconic parties, and pays homage to those who left early. You Had To Be There is out now in paperback! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello and welcome to a very special mini series here on the Inklings Book Club podcast where we’ll be meeting each of the six shortlisted authors for the Women’s Prize for Fiction!  The Women’s Prize for Fiction is one of the most successful, influential and popular literary prizes in the world, championing and amplifying women’s voices and nurturing a global community of readers. The Prize was established in 1996 to highlight and remedy the imbalance in coverage, respect and reverence given to women writers versus their male peers, creating a platform for exceptional writing by women to shine. The Prize is awarded annually to the author of the best full-length novel of the year written in English and published in the UK. The winner receives £30,000, anonymously endowed, and the ‘Bessie’, a bronze statuette created by the artist Grizel Niven. Today we’re meeting, Lily King, author of Euphoria, The English Teacher, Writers & Lovers, and Heart The Lover, among others. Heart the Lover is her sixth novel, both a prequel and a sequel to the wildly successful Writers & Lovers – she’s the patron saint of love triangles. Even Pythagorus didn’t explore triangles as much as Lily King. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to our Women's Prize 2026 spotlight series. Today we’re joined by Marcia Hutchinson, whose debut novel The Mercy Step is shortlisted for this year’s Women’s Prize and just won the Discovery Prize at the British Book Awards! Following the life of a child from the womb to age eleven, Marcia Hutchinson crafts a sharply-witted and tender portrait of a young girl’s quiet rebellion in 1960s Bradford. Marcia also founded Primary Colours, a multicultural educational publishing and training company based in Huddersfield, who helped create resources on cultural education, for example celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Empire Windrush arriving in the UK.  Marcia was awarded an MBE in the Queens Birthday Honours list in 2010 for services to cultural diversity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to our special Inklings Book Club series spotlighting each of the Women's Prize for Fiction shortlisted authors. First up, we’re meeting Rozie Kelly, author of Kingfisher. This is her debut novel, about an academic married to a man who becomes infatuated with a female poet. Kelly finds beauty in the messiness of being human in this meditation on grief, power, desire, our search for identity, how we love and the consequences when we fall short. Rozie Kelly was shortlisted for the PFD Queer Fiction Prize 2023 and was one of the eight participants in the inaugural Prototype Development Programme 2024. Her debut novel Kingfisher won the NorthBound Book Award before being shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re joined by Anders Lustgarten whose new book Kill Billionaire follows a wise beyond her years 14 year old girl from rural Australia called Kayla, who starts taking down billionaires. I was so intrigued to ask Anders about crafting this character, and his outlook on the world. He is a talented playwright – with 12 original plays under his belt. Now he’s turning his pen to novel writing – and he’s here to tell us all about it.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greg James has been a presenter for BBC Radio 1 since 2007 where he now host the coveted breakfast show. He is also a children’s author, known for the Kid Normal series he writes with Chris Smith, and now his memoir is here. It’s called All The Best For The Future, and it’s a meditation on life and all its trimmings. My first ever job was at a plastic factory, and when I worked there I used to always listen to Radio 1 and my favourite radio DJ, Greg James. Listening to how he hosted his show made me want to be in this world, so today this is very full circle moment for me to be introducing Greg to the Inklings Book Club podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month we have been reading Nova Scotia House by Charlie Porter. I totally fell in love with this book which follows a gay couple called Johnny and Jerry in the 90s, as Jerry lives his final days. He is a victim of the AIDS crisis, and this book is both a celebration of his life. We continue to follow Johnny in the present day after Jerry has passed, with a few appearances from Gareth, Jerry’s best friend. We see what Jerry’s life could have been like if he had survived, like Gareth, and what his life could’ve been like if we was born a generation later, like Johnny. It’s moving and it’s so heartfelt, but also experimental in its writing style. For me, this book was a total triumph, I utterly adored it and I’m thrilled to be talking to Charlie Porter, its author today. Charlie is also a fashion journalist and the author of two non-fictioj title. His book Bring No Clothes explores the clothing choices of the Bloomsbury Group from a philosophical perspective, while What Artists Wear examines the clothes of various artists. Nova Scotia House is his debut novel, so please welcome to the Inklings Book Club, Charlie Porter! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re joined by poet, lecturer, and literary critic Seán Hewitt. Seán is the author of three original poetry collections, a memoir, and several curations of other poets’ work, from wood engravings to tales of love from the ancient world. His debut novel, Open, Heaven, was published last year and I utterly adored it. A man returns to the small village in which he first fell in love, which summons up memories of the charismatic and impulsive Luke. There’s gorgeous nature writing, and plenty of yearning, but also that perfect literary alchemy that happens when a poet writes a novel. I interviewed Seán at Waterstones with a bunch of you wonderful people – so, here’s what happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Benjamin Wood is the author of five novels, the first of which – called The Bellwether Revivals, was shortlisted for the 2012 Costa Book Awards and Commonwealth Book Prize. His fifth novel, Seascraper, won the Nero Book Award for fiction and was longlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Walter Scott Prize. Seascraper is a portal to the seaside where we follow a young man called Thomas who works a pretty archaic job as a seascraper, which his family rely on him to do. He dreams, however, of becoming a folk singer, and longs to perform at his local pub. One day he comes home to find a man called Edgar waiting for him – Edgar is a Hollywood producer who wants to shoot a film on the beach, and asks for Thomas’ help and expertise. The book is atmospheric and moving, at times capturing the isolation and monotony of the work and his aspirations to be anywhere else, and at other times fast-paced and intense – reminding us of the extreme danger of such a job. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello and welcome back to the Inklings Book Club podcast and our March book of the month!!! This month we read Martyr! By Kaveh Akbar, and I’ve loved reading all of your insights on the Fable app. You sent in thoughtful, astute, and perceptive questions, and today I had the privilege of posing them to Kaveh Akbar, the author of Martyr! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices