Better off Read Pip Adam
-
- Arts
-
A podcast about reading and writing. Pip Adam speaks with writers about a book as a starting point to discussions about the craft of writing and the act of reading and how these two feed each other.
-
Ep 139: romesh dissanayake chats with Pip
In this episode I talk with romesh dissanayake.
romesh's amazing novel when I open the shop (Te Herenga Waka University Press) was launched about a month ago.
I was really grateful that romesh and I were able to have a chat. I asked romesh to bring along an object as a way into a conversation about his book and this stage of its publication. romesh suggested Água Viva by Clarice Lispector.
It was such a great conversation.
Here are some links about some of the things we talk about:
Trying to Keep it Sacred: A conversation with Olive Nuttall & romesh dissanayake in Starling
Louise Wallace – On poetic form in romesh dissanayake’s novel When I open the shop in The Poetry Shelf
You can support Better off Read financially at Buy Better off Read a Coffee
Better off Read is available on Spotify and most podcasting apps.
Better off Read is also available on PodBean
An RSS code is available here
Here is a link to the Better off Read website: https://better-read.com/
-
Ep 138: Sylvan Spring chats with Pip
In this episode I talk with Sylvan Spring about their incredible book Killer Rack.
https://teherengawakapress.co.nz/killer-rack/
In this episode we talk about a few things, so here are some links:
Sylvan spoke with kitten author Olive Nuttall in what is probably the best thing you'll read this year - thank you to The SpinOff:
‘So gay, thank you for noticing!’: Olive Nuttall and Sylvan Spring in conversation'
In the week leading up to our conversation Wellington-based singer-songwriter Vera Ellen and Georgia Gets By (Georgia Nott) announced they were pulling out of SXSW in protest at the festival's partnerships with tech companies RTX (formerly Raytheon), Collins Aerospace, and BAE Systems, which have been linked to manufacturing and supplying weapons to the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). You can read more here
You can also support both these artists through Bandcamp:
Vera Ellen https://veraellen.bandcamp.com/
Georgia Gets By https://georgiagetsby.bandcamp.com
We also talk about the terrible acts of censorship happening at State Library Victoria. You can read more about that at this link
Last night RNZ published this amazing essay by Henrietta Bollinger and I wanted to put a link to it here:
Why we cannot let the disability support changes happen
Thanks again for listening to the podcast.
-
Ep 137: Rachel O'Neill chats with Pip
In the most recent episodes I've been talking to people about where they are up to in their creative projects. I've asked these people to bring along an object they are 'using' for this stage of the project.
This episode was recorded at Randall Cottage while Rachel O'Neill was resident there.
You can read more about Rachel at their website:
https://rachel-oneill.com/
I have set up a Buy Me a Coffee for Better off Read. If you are able and willing you can make a donation here to help support the podcast:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/betteroffread
-
Ep 136: Whiti Hereaka chats with Pip
Last Thursday, Whiti Hereaka was kind enough to come into Wellington Access Radio and have a chat with me on the occasion of the end of the year.
I love talking to Whiti and I always learn heaps from her.
Whiti has amazing recommendations. I thought I’d list them below along with the songs Whiti chose, which I can’t play in the podcast for copyright reasons.
Whiti has a great Instagram
Songs chosen by Whiti:
Short and Roung by The Bug Club
Passionflower, Paperbacks and Woodlice by The Bug Club
Read the Room (feat. Laetitia Sadier) by Pearl & the Oysters
Books Whiti talks about:
You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann
Movies Whiti talks about:
Godzilla Minus One (2023)
The Boy and the Heron (2023)
Saltburn (2023)
TV Whiti Talks about:
After the Party (2023)
Deadloch (2023)
Homecoming (2018)
Pushing Daisies (2007)
-
Ep 135: Kerry Donovan Brown chats with Pip
Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be sharing some short chats I’m having with some of my favourite people. These are recorded at Wellington Access Radio and first appear on the Friday Drive show which I host with Amy Delahunty.
In this, the first of these chats, I talk to Kerry Donovan Brown.
I asked Kerry about what they have been up to this year, what they have enjoyed and how they are feeling about 2024.
In this recording, Kerry talks about two songs. Due to copyright I can’t play these in the episode and I was thinking of taking out the reference to them but they are such great recommendations I thought I’d keep Kerry’s descriptions in the recording and include a link to the music here:
https://youtu.be/EDKcbW0XDk0
https://youtu.be/cmDeCKY9XFU
-
Ep 134: Aaron Lister and Joan Fleming read response to Angela Lane's Phosphene
On 28 October 2023, City Gallery Wellington hosted an event to celebrate the opening of Angela Lane’s amazing exhibition Phosphene
As part of this event Joan Fleming and Aaron Lister wrote and read responses to these works.
Joan wrote a beautiful description of their work:
I read a short, strange essay about awe and the beauty experience with its inevitable fringe of disgust, and about withness and terror and the sun. Aaron Lister read something about Mary Shelley, the year without summer, and Frankenstein as the first climate change novel.
In this episode Joan and Aaron generously recorded these essays at Massey University.
I hope you enjoy these readings.
Customer Reviews
Great podcast!
A great podcast for those interested in literature and writing.
Great interviews
Really interesting range of books and people. Awesome to hear a literate NZ voice in podcasting