Literary Friction

Dark humour - do you love it or hate it? Do you find it cathartic or macho? Can humour ever be too dark, and is it a useful political tool? This month our guest is the one and only Lorrie Moore, who joined us to talk about her latest novel, I Am Homeless if This is Not My Home, a story about grief and ghosts and history that is equally funny as it is philosophical. It follows Finn, who in 2016 is visiting his dying brother in a hospice in New York. Finn's stay is interrupted by the news that his ex-girlfriend Lily, who worked as a therapy clown, has killed herself, which sets off a road trip with her talking corpse. All this is punctuated by letters from a boarding house proprietor in the post-Civil War American South, about a mysterious lodger that has come to stay… Tune in for all of this, plus the usual recommendations. Recommendations on the theme, Dark Comedy: Octavia: Hot Milk by Deborah Levy Carrie: My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh General Recommendations: Octavia: Open Throat by Henry Hoake Lorrie: Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck Carrie: The Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Céspedes Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/july-dark-comedy-with-lorrie-moore Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction Email us: litfriction@gmail.com Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction

From Pride and Prejudice to Detransition, Baby, the romcom can be an enduring source of great pleasure, fun and comfort. This month we’re thrilled to welcome the American writer Curtis Sittenfeld to talk about her latest novel Romantic Comedy, a smart and funny story about how love can upend all kinds of preconceptions and expectations. It also gave us the perfect opportunity to think about the possibilities of the genre more generally, and whether it can ever escape the imprint of the patriarchal and heteronormative structures that underpin so many classic love stories. Recommendations on the theme, Romantic Comedy: Octavia: A Room With A View by E.M. Forster Carrie: Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny General Recommendations: Octavia: August Blue by Deborah Levy Curtis: Everything's Fine by Cecilia Rabess Carrie: Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/june-2023-romantic-comedy-with-curtis-sittenfeld Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction Email us: litfriction@gmail.com Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction

Do you like reading about writers? What does good writing about the act of writing do? And what happens when you write a real writer into a novel? Our guest this month is Tan Twan Eng, who joined us to talk about his third novel The House of Doors. Based around the writer W. Somerset Maugham’s stay on the Island of Penang, in what was then Malaya, in 1921, it's also about the stories he learns from the couple he stays with there, and the interplay between their fact and his fiction. We’ll be talking about the real and imagined writers that we’ve loved in fiction, the art of writing about writing, and the authors we’d most love to read a novel about - enjoy! Recommendations on the theme, Writing About Writers: Octavia: Aliens & Anorexia by Chris Kraus Carrie: Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday General Recommendations: Octavia: Greek Lessons by Han Kang Twan: Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively Carrie: Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/may-2023-writing-about-writers-with-tan-twang-eng Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction Email us: litfriction@gmail.com Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction Also, very excitingly, O's memoir This Ragged Grace has been selected as the Bookshop.org book of the month for June! So, if you'd like to read it, they're offering all wonderful Literary Friction listeners free shipping and 10% off if you pre-order it from them at the following link, using the code Ragged10: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/this-ragged-grace-a-memoir-of-recovery-and-renewal-octavia-bright/7400323?ean=9781838857462

What's the relationship between feminist writing and feminist activism? What does it mean to be a feminist killjoy, and what can we learn from her? This month, we're joined by scholar and writer Sara Ahmed to answer these questions and more, as we talk about her brilliant latest book, The Feminist Killjoy Handbook. In it, Sara shows how although the label ‘killjoy’ has often been used to dismiss feminism by claiming that it causes unhappiness, in fact, assuming the identity of the feminist killjoy is a path of liberation and change. We’ll also be talking more generally about the intersections of feminism and literature, the feminist writers who have inspired us, and thinking through what books can do when it comes to the continued struggle for gender equality. Also, very excitingly, O's memoir This Ragged Grace has been selected as the Bookshop.org book of the month for June! So, if you'd like to read it, they're offering all wonderful Literary Friction listeners free shipping and 10% off if you pre-order it from them at the following link, using the code Ragged10: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/this-ragged-grace-a-memoir-of-recovery-and-renewal-octavia-bright/7400323?ean=9781838857462 Recommendations on the theme, Feminism: Octavia: The Penguin Book of Feminist Writing, edited by Hannah Dawson Carrie: Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde General Recommendations: Octavia: One Small Voice by Santanu Battacharya Sara: Our Sister Killjoy by Ama Ata Aidoo Carrie: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/april-2023-feminism-with-sara-ahmed Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction Email us: litfriction@gmail.com Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction

Dancing can be about escape, about pleasure, but it can also be about protest. It can be a powerful means of expression, but how does writing capture all that movement and rhythm? And what does good writing about dancing do? With us this month is Jaqueline Crooks to talk about her dynamic first novel, Fire Rush, an intoxicating story about the dub reggae scene in 70s and 80s London. Told from the perspective of a young Black woman named Yamaye, it’s also about love, loss, freedom and finding family. In honour of Crooks’ evocative depiction of the dub scene - and especially the dancing that goes on in it - we’re dedicating this show to dance in all its forms. We’ll be talking about dance subcultures, our favourite dance scenes in literature - from balls to clubs - and lots more, plus all the usual recommendations. Enjoy! Recommendations on the theme, Dancing Time: Octavia: At The Old Place by Frank O’Hara Carrie: The Instant by Amy Liptrot General Recommendations: Octavia: Older Brother by Mahir Guven, translated by Tina Kover Jaqueline: Radical by Xiaolu Guo Carrie: Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/mar-2023-dancing-time-with-jaqueline-crooks Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction Email us: litfriction@gmail.com Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction

When journalists write books, how do they balance the potentially tricky relationship between weaving a compelling narrative and sticking to the facts? What's the role of storytelling in reportage? And what are the ethics of reporting on other peoples' lived experiences? This month our guest is Tania Branigan, foreign leader writer at The Guardian and author of Red Memory: Living, Remembering and Forgetting China’s Cultural Revolution. Tania was a correspondent in China for seven years, and Red Memory is about the Cultural Revolution, a decade of upheaval, purging and torture that began under Chairman Mao in 1966. Crucially, it’s also about the act of both remembering and forgetting this period, and the role the Chinese government and people have played in that process. Listen in for our chat with Tania, an exploration of journalism in literature and all the usual recommendations. Recommendations on the theme, Journalism: Octavia: Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion Carrie: The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean General recommendations: Octavia: Archaeology of Loss by Sarah Tarlow Tania: The Soviet Century, archaeology of a lost world by Karl Schlogel Carrie: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell by Susanna Clarke Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/feb-2023-journalism-with-tania-branigan Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction Email us: litfriction@gmail.com Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction

Portraits of real people abound in books. There are novels that use transcribed conversations, like Sheila Heti’s How Should A Person Be, or fiction based on historical or even living people, like Curtis Sittenfield’s Rodham. Our guest this month is the writer Kathryn Scanlan who joined us from the States to talk about her riveting new novel, Kick the Latch, which is based upon a series of conversations that Kathryn had with a woman named Sonia about her joyful and brutal life as a trainer for racehorses. Lydia Davis called Kick the Latch a “magical act of empathic ventriloquy”, and this show is about literature that engages in similar ways with the lives of others. We’ll be getting into things like the ethics of writing from another life in fiction, the art of biography, and our favourite literary portraits, plus all our usual reading recommendations. Recommendations on the theme, The Lives of Others: Octavia: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Carrie: Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow General recommendations: Octavia: Avalon by Nell Zink Kathryn: Guston in Time: Remembering Philip Guston by Ross Feld Carrie: Foster by Claire Keegan Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/jan-2023-the-lives-of-others-with-kathryn-scanlan Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction Email us: litfriction@gmail.com Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction