The London Magazine Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

On this episode of The London Magazine Podcast, we talk to poet and editor Paul Stephenson about his debut collection, Hard Drive, that has been shortlisted for the Polari Book Prize this year. Paul has previously published three poetry pamphlets (Those People, The Days that Followed Paris and Selfies with Waterlillies), and he occasionally teaches for the Poetry School.

We discussed absurdity and the limitations of language, poetry as a source of healing in times of grief and Paul’s broad use of form.

Timestamps:

0.05 – Intro

0.54 – Writing on trains and while travelling

2.07 – Paul reads ‘Anglepoise’, ‘The Thesis’, ‘Signature’, ‘Collecting you from Golders Green’ and ‘The Hymn of Him’

7.38 – Poetry as healing in times of grief

10.31 – Use of form: Oulipo restraints

12.03 – Logistics of putting together a poetry collection

15.08 – Absurdity, Auden and Alice Notley: the limitations of language

19.06 – Humour and emotion in poetry

22.32 – How to edit a poetry collection

26.00 – Labelling the collection as a ‘queer’ book

28.09 – The numerous meanings of the title: ‘Hard Drive’

29.29 – Things that had to be left unsaid in the collection

30.45 – The next book? Contemporary dating and situationships…

33.37 – Poets and art Paul’s been enjoying recently

35.22 – Paul reads ‘Writing to your Mother’

On this episode of The London Magazine Podcast, we talk to Joshua Jones, writer and artist from Llanelli in south Wales. Joshua was a Literature Wales Emerging Writer and a Hay Festival Writer at Work. He has published various poetry pamphlets, including Three Months in the Zebra Room and The City on Film, both out this year.

On this episode, we talk to Joshua about his book, Local Fires. A collection of interconnected short stories and his first work of fiction, Local Fires was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Polari First Book Prize.

We chatted about the benefits of multiple POVs and interconnected stories, how not to get sued when writing autofiction and Joshua’s love of Chicago indie rock band, Joan of Arc.

On this episode of The London Magazine Podcast, we speak with Ella Griffiths. Ella is an editor at Faber & Faber and the person behind the wonderful Faber Editions series. We chatted about her foreword to 'The Shutter of Snow' in our Feb/March issue of the magazine, the origins of Faber Editions itself and what the Faber archive is really like. Subscribe to The London Magazine now for just £33 a year https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/subscription/To feature in a future episode, send us your Literary Dilemmas https://bit.ly/3xVhPaNYou can follow us on Instagram @thelondonmagazine, and on Twitter @thelondonmag.

On this episode of The London Magazine Podcast, we speak with Max Wilkinson.

Max is a playwright and screenwriter whose award-winning play, Rainer, about a voyeuristic delivery rider riding around London, played at the Arcola Theatre last summer and is being produced for BBC Radio Four’s Afternoon play slot. His new piece, ‘Death of a Go-Go driver’, part of a longer play titled 'Ghost City', appeared in the January/February edition of the magazine.

We chatted about his presentation of London, why Old Kent Road can teach you everything you could hope to know about life and the ways in which artists like Burial and Aphex Twin influence his writing.

Oh, and we also introduce a new member of TLM team - hey Jamie!

Subscribe to The London Magazine now for just £33 a year https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/subscription/

To feature in a future episode, send us your Literary Dilemmas https://bit.ly/3xVhPaN

You can follow us on Instagram @thelondonmagazine, and on Twitter @thelondonmag.

We spoke to poet and essayist from Newry, Co. Down, James Connor Patterson. His debut collection bandit country has been nominated for the T.S. Eliot Prize 2022, and his writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Irish Times, New Statesman, Poetry Review and The Stinging Fly, among others.

We discuss two poems from bandit country in our December/January issue, the lingering effects of the Troubles on the 'ceasefire generation', and James gives one of our listeners advice on finding your authentic voice when writing.

Subscribe to The London Magazine now for just £33 a year https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/subscription/

Grab a copy of our December/January 2023 issue to support the UK's oldest literary journal https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/product/single-issue/

To feature in a future episode, send us your Literary Dilemmas https://bit.ly/3xVhPaN

You can follow us on Instagram @thelondonmagazine, Facebook 'The London Magazine' and on Twitter @thelondonmag.

We spoke to Matthew Turner, senior lecturer at Chelsea College of Arts who is currently finishing his first short story collection. His essays, reviews and short stories have been published in Art Review, Frieze, Gorse and elsewhere. In 2021 his story ‘Loom’ was included in Salt’s Best British Short Stories.

We discuss his new story in our December/January issue, 'Still Life', share our experiences with the supernatural, and Matthew gives one of our listeners his best tips for finding a mentor and community in the literary world.

Read Matthew's story 'Still Life' here: https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/article/fiction-still-life-by-matthew-turner/.. Get a copy of 'Loom' here: https://gordianprojects.com/loom/.

Subscribe to The London Magazine now for just £33 a year https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/subscription/

Grab a copy of our December/January 2023 issue to support the UK's oldest literary journal https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/product/single-issue/

To feature in a future episode, send us your Literary Dilemmas https://bit.ly/3xVhPaN

You can follow us on Instagram @thelondonmagazine, Facebook 'The London Magazine' and on Twitter @thelondonmag.

We spoke to award-winning poet, playwright, author and educator, Joelle Taylor. Her most recent collection, C+NTO & Othered Poems (Westbourne Press, 2021) was the winner of the T.S. Eliot Award 2021. She is co-curator and host of Out-Spoken Live, a live poetry and performance club in residence at the Southbank Centre.

We discuss her new poem in our October/November issue, 'the o god', as well as her award-winning collection C+NTO & Othered Poems, and Joelle gives one of our listeners her best tips for finding a literary community.

Read Joelle's poem 'the o god' here: https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/article/poetry-the-o-god-by-joelle-taylor/. Grab a copy of C+NTO & Othered Poems here: https://saqibooks.com/books/the-westbourne-press/cnto/.

Subscribe to The London Magazine now for just £33 a year https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/subscription/

Grab a copy of our October/November issue to support the UK's oldest literary journal https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/product/single-issue/

To feature in a future episode, send us your Literary Dilemmas https://bit.ly/3xVhPaN

You can follow us on Instagram @thelondonmagazine, Facebook 'The London Magazine' and on Twitter @thelondonmag.

We are joined by writer and publisher Sam Mills, author of The Quiddity of Will Self, and the memoir The Fragments of my Father (Fourth Estate, 2020). She is the co-founder of indie press Dodo Ink.

We discuss the enduring fascination with Pierre de Laclos' 1779 novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses and the many adaptations that have followed it, including the 1988 film staring Glenn Close and John Malkovich. Sam gives a listener some expert advice on memoir-writing, and reads from her beautiful memoir, The Fragments of my Father, which shines a light on being a carer.

To read Sam's essay 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses: A Book That Keeps Burning', go to : https://bit.ly/3CbVVRC. Grab a copy of The Fragments of my Father here: https://bit.ly/3EOUoUz

Subscribe to The London Magazine now for just £33 a year https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/subscription/

Grab a copy of our October/November issue to support the UK's oldest literary journal https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/product/single-issue/

To feature in a future episode, send us your Literary Dilemmas https://bit.ly/3xVhPaN

You can follow us on Instagram @thelondonmagazine, TikTok @thelondonmag and on Twitter @thelondonmag

We spoke to poet Holly Pester about her new 'Café Poems' in our August/September 2022 issue, as well as her 2021 poetry collection 'Comic Timing'.

We are treated to some wonderful readings by Holly, discuss the role that poetry plays in finding new ways of thinking while confronting everyday issues, and Holly gives one of our listeners some writing advice in our 'Literary Clinic'.

To read Holly's 'Café Poems', go to: https://bit.ly/3SdSPUl. You can grab a copy of 'Comic Timing' here: https://bit.ly/3RdXVyT.

Subscribe to The London Magazine now for just £33 a year https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/subscription/

Grab a copy of our August/September issue to support the UK's oldest literary journal https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/product/single-issue/

To feature in a future episode, send us your Literary Dilemmas https://bit.ly/3xVhPaN

You can follow us on Instagram @thelondonmagazine, TikTok @thelondonmag and on Twitter @thelondonmag

We spoke to author and poet Keiran Goddard about his new story in our August/September 2022 issue, 'A Season for Every Activity', as well as his 2022 novel 'Hourglass'.

We discuss the importance of finding your authentic voice when writing, how to sound funny on the page, and Keiran gives one of our listeners some writing advice in our 'Literary Clinic'.

To read Keiran's new story, go to: bit.ly/3zsr15Q. You can grab a copy of 'Hourglass' here: bit.ly/3BKe62a.

Subscribe to The London Magazine now for just £33 a year https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/subscription/

Grab a copy of our June/July issue to support the UK's oldest literary journal https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/product/single-issue/

To feature in a future episode, send us your Literary Dilemmas https://bit.ly/3xVhPaN

You can follow us on Instagram @thelondonmagazine, TikTok @thelondonmag and on Twitter @thelondonmag