Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

In conversation with Olivia Scher, our European Literary Map of London Writer-in-Residence Joanna Elmy and writer, artist and director, Larisa Faber Larisa Faber talk about London: journeys, languages, writing and cultures. This episode explores central themes of identity, belonging, and how London shapes and is shaped by its rich tapestry of stories.

European Literary Map of London: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/european-institute/lost-found-european-literary-map-london

Bulgarian-born author and journalist Joanna Elmy was our 23/24 inaugural Writer in Residence. Joanna’s first novel Born of Guilt, written during her years in university, received a prestigious Bulgarian prize for emerging literature in 2022 and was shortlisted for several other national awards. During her four-week stay at UCL (24 April – 22 May 2024), Joanna engaged with academics across faculties, and worked on her second novel which features London prominently and explores ‘cities of the world’ – a modern take on urban spaces partly inspired by Italo Calvino’s approach to writing the city.

Writer, director and actor Larisa Faber collaborated with UCL European Institute and the UCL Faculty of Arts and Humanities in the summer term of 2024, in the context of the European Literary Map of London project, and an ongoing partnership with EUNIC London, the European Literature Network and the European Writers’ Festival, curated by Rosie Goldsmith. Larisa worked to develop an irreverently multivocal text about the politics of seasonal vegetables – which will feature on the European Literary Map of London as the first Luxembourgish entry.

Allan Sikk, Associate Professor in Comparative Politics at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, and Philipp Köker, Lecturer Political Science at Leibniz University Hannover join ‘Talking Europe’ to discuss their new book on political parties, how they change, and what this has to do with the people who make them up.

Party People: Candidates and Party Evolution is published with Oxford University Press, and available in hard cover, e-book and audiobook.

In conversation with Claudia Sternberg of the UCL European Institute, Allan and Philipp discuss why party systems have changed so radically across Europe, what we can learn from looking at parties in Central and Eastern Europe, and in what ways their analysis of 200,000 electoral candidates from over 60 elections across nine CEE democracies helps us to understand party change more broadly, including candidate turnover, party fission and fusion, programmatic change, and party leadership change.

European Literary Map: Ion Codru Drăguşanu read in Romanian by Oana Borlea-Stancioi by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Ion Codru Drăguşanu read in English by Oana Borlea-Stancioi by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Elif Shafak read in English by Olivia Scher by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Hans Christian Andersen read in Danish by Vincent Rasmussen by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast