The Hypothetical Bookshelf

Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone
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The Hypothetical Bookshelf is a desert island discs for books. Inspired by Italo Calvino’s essay ‘Whom do we write for? Or The Hypothetical Bookshelf’ this is a podcast that asks writers what other works their writing is in conversation with, looking for the ways new work can make connections between different books on a writer’s and reader’s hypothetical shelf.   Interviewing a different author each time, writers are asked to name five books of fiction or non-fiction that can be put beside their own on that imaginary bookshelf. 

Episodes

  1. 23h ago

    Episode Nine: Emily Midorikawa

    This time we discover the five books from the hypothetical shelf of prize-winning author, Emily Midorikawa.  Emily’s debut novel, A Tiny Speck of Black and then Nothing, is published by Manilla Press and came out earlier this year (2026). Set in the Japanese city of Osaka in the early 2000s, it tells the story of two young women  – Anna and Loll, an English language teacher and a nightclub hostess  – and what happens when one of them suddenly disappears. Emily is also the author of the group biographies Out of the Shadows: Six Visionary Victorian Women in Search of a Public Voice and A Secret Sisterhood: The Literary Friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontё, George Eliot, and Virginia Woolf (cowritten with Emma Claire Sweeney). A winner of the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, Emily’s journalism has appeared in The Times, the Washington Post, the Daily Telegraph and TIME. She has lived in Japan and the UK, and is currently based in Washington DC. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Hosted by Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone. Music by Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Artwork by Esmé Conaghan. Check out Bookshop.org for books from the podcast and further news on Instagram.

  2. Sep 18

    Episode Eight: Edward Hogan

    This episode I speak with the award-winning Edward Hogan and we take a slightly different tac, diving into his favourite five short stories. Ed offers practical suggestions on how to improve your own short story writing and shares his prodigious insights into reading as a writer. Edward Hogan was born in Derby in 1980 and now lives in Brighton. He is a graduate of the MA creative writing course at UEA and a recipient of the David Higham Award. His first novel, Blackmoor, was shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, the Dylan Thomas Prize and won the Desmond Elliot Prize. His second novel, The Hunger Trace, was also published by Simon & Schuster and was shortlisted for the 2012 Encore Award. He is also the author of two novels for young adults, Daylight Saving, which was shortlisted for the 2013 Branford Boase Award, and The Messengers both published by Walker Books. His latest novel, The Electric, was published by John Murray in 2020. More recently, he has focused his attention on short fiction, and his stories have appeared in The Moth, and Best British Short Stories 2022. His story 'Single Sit' won the Galley Beggar Press Prize 2021, and 'Late Velvet' won the Dinesh Allirajah Prize in 2025. His stories have been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award, the V.S Pritchett Prize, and the Manchester Fiction Prize. His critical work has been published in Writing in Practice, and he has written for The Guardian, the BBC, and The Conversation.  He is also a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the Open University. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Hosted by Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone. Music by Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Artwork by Esmé Conaghan. Check out Bookshop.org for books from the podcast and further news on Instagram.

  3. Sep 4

    Episode Seven: Kiare Ladner

    This episode we talk to Kiare Ladner.  As a child, Kiare wanted to live on a farm, run an orphanage and be on stage. As an adult, she found herself working for academics, with prisoners and on nightshifts. Her short stories have been published in anthologies, broadcast on the radio and shortlisted in competitions, including the BBC National Short Story Award. Nightshift, about one woman’s obsessive interest in another, is her first novel, written while studying for a PhD. She grew up in South Africa and lives in London. Listen now to discover Kiare's top five books for her hypothetical shelf. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Hosted by Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone. Music by Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Artwork by Esmé Conaghan. Check out Bookshop.org for books from the podcast and further news on Instagram.

  4. Aug 21

    Episode Six: Lara Haworth

    This episode explores the five books chosen by the wonderful Lara Haworth. Lara is a writer, visual artist and filmaker. Lara's debut novel, Monumenta, was published by Canongate in July 2024. It was short-listed for the Nero Book Prize and the McKitterick Prize and was named a Financial Times Best New Debut. She teaches Short Story writing at City St Georges, University of London and co-hosts Field Ramble, a books podcast, with its founder Sam Reid.  ​​Her films have been selected for festivals including Japan International, Belgrade Film, New York Tri-State and Munich New Wave. She received the LGBT award for best film at Athens Monthly Film Festival. ​Her visual work has shown internationally at venues in Japan, Canada, Switzerland and Germany. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Hosted by Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone. Music by Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Artwork by Esmé Conaghan. Check out Bookshop.org for books from the podcast and further news on Instagram.

  5. Aug 7

    Episode Five: Catherine Menon

    Episode Five explores the hypothetical shelf of the fabulous Catherine Menon. Catherine is Australian-British, has Malaysian heritage and lives in London. She is a University lecturer in robotics and has both a PhD in pure mathematics and an MA in Creative Writing. Fragile Monsters is her debut novel. Her short story collection, Subjunctive Moods, was published by Dahlia Publishing in 2018. Her short stories have won or been placed in a number of competitions, including the Fish, Bridport, Bare Fiction and Short Fiction Journal awards. Her work has been broadcast on radio, and she’s been a judge for several international short fiction competitions. If you're looking for an episode that examines the combined efforts of readers and writers, this is for you. Listen to find out Catherine's top five choices for her hypothetical shelf. And for those who listened extra hard, the book whose title I couldn't remember when discussed the first person plural voice, it was The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Hosted by Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone. Music by Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Artwork by Esmé Conaghan. Check out Bookshop.org for books from the podcast and further news on Instagram.

  6. Jul 24

    Episode Four: Courttia Newland

    The episode we take a look at the five books on Courttia Newland's hypothetical shelf. Courttia Newland is the author of nine books including his debut, The Scholar and the story collection, Cosmogramma. His work has appeared in many anthologies and been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. He is the co-editor of the seminal IC3 The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain, spanning poetry, to short fiction, memoir and essays. As a screenwriter he has co-written for the awarding winning BBC series Small Axe and The Woman in the Wall. He has a PhD in Creative Writing from Kingston University and his latest novel, A River Called Time, was published in 2021 shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Award Science Fiction Book of the Year in 2022. His collection of essays, The Art of Opposition: On Hope, Resilience, and Creative Expression Beyond the Mainstream comes out with Faber and Faber in July 2026. What will his five books be? Listen in to find out... I did promise to mention the name of the short story I discussed, when I remembered what it was called, so... we also spoke about 'Dark Neighbourhood' the title story of the collection of the same name, by Vanessa Onwuemezi published by Fitzcarraldo Editions. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Hosted by Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone. Music by Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Artwork by Esmé Conaghan. Check out Bookshop.org for books from the podcast and further news on Instagram.

  7. Jul 10

    Episode Three: Heidi James

    This episode we hear the five books on the hypothetical shelf of the prize-winning author, essayist, poet and podcaster, Heidi James. Her critically acclaimed novels include: The Mesmerist’s Daughter, Carbon, Wounding, So The Doves, and most recently, The Sound Mirror which has been described as ‘An exhilarating, heart-rending work’ by The Irish Times and as ‘An exceptional novel’ by The Guardian. She hosts the wonderful podcast, First Graft, inspiring and supporting all creatives with their first draft anxieties. She lectures in Creative Writing and English Literature and hosts writing and artists retreats in Sussex. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Hosted by Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone. Music by Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Artwork by Esmé Conaghan. Check out Bookshop.org for books from the podcast and further news on Instagram.

  8. Jun 26

    Episode Two: Hester Musson

    This episode we hear the five books on the hypothetical shelf of the bestselling author, Hester Musson. Hester's debut novel, The Beholders, was a Times bestseller, a Sunday Times historical book of the month and shortlisted for the HWA Debut Crown in 2024. Her second novel, The Night Hag, was published in February 2026.   Send us Fan Mail Support the show Hosted by Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone. Music by Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Artwork by Esmé Conaghan. Check out Bookshop.org for books from the podcast and further news on Instagram.

  9. Jun 12

    Episode One: Deepa Anappara

    The Hypothetical Bookshelf launches with the talented, award-winning Deepa Anappara. Deepa grew up in Kerala, southern India, and was an award-winning journalist in cities including Mumbai and Delhi. Her debut novel, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, was named as one of the best books of the year by the New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, Guardian, and NPR. It won the Edgar Award for Best Novel, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Indian Literature. It has been translated into over twenty languages. Deepa is also the co-editor, with Taymoor Soomro, of Letters to a Writer of Colour, a collection of personal essays on fiction, race, and culture. Her second novel, The Last of Earth, came out earlier this year. Listen for Deepa's five books, see bookshop.org for links to books discussed. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Hosted by Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone. Music by Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Artwork by Esmé Conaghan. Check out Bookshop.org for books from the podcast and further news on Instagram.

  • 9 Episodes

About

The Hypothetical Bookshelf is a desert island discs for books. Inspired by Italo Calvino’s essay ‘Whom do we write for? Or The Hypothetical Bookshelf’ this is a podcast that asks writers what other works their writing is in conversation with, looking for the ways new work can make connections between different books on a writer’s and reader’s hypothetical shelf.   Interviewing a different author each time, writers are asked to name five books of fiction or non-fiction that can be put beside their own on that imaginary bookshelf. 

Information

  • Creator
    Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Hypothetical Bookshelf
  • Show Website
    The Hypothetical Bookshelf