184 episodes

The literary podcast presented by John Mitchinson and Andy Miller. Brought to you by Unbound. Visit www.backlisted.fm
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Backlisted Unbound

    • Arts
    • 4.7 • 430 Ratings

The literary podcast presented by John Mitchinson and Andy Miller. Brought to you by Unbound. Visit www.backlisted.fm
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Archive Books Special

    Archive Books Special

    Welcome to the third Backlisted Special. John and Nicky are joined by literary agents Becky Brown and Norah Perkins returning for their third appearance, having previously discussed the work of Barbara Pym and Dorothy B. Hughes. Becky and Norah are joint custodians of the Curtis Brown Heritage list of literary estates, so they have selected seven books from the archive – by women novelists, queer gardeners and anti-fascists - that they feel should be better known and more widely read and discussed. The timings may differ due to adverts:
    10'50 One Fine Day - Mollie Panter-Downes
    18'38 Mistletoe Malice - Kathleen Farrell
    27'51 The Charioteer - Mary Renault
    36'03 The Land and The Garden - Vita Sackville-West
    43'11 Merry Hall - Beverley Nichols.
    50'08 Conversations in Sicily - Elio Vittorini
    57'30 The Light and the Dark - C.P. Snow
    These specials are designed to fill the gap before the main show returns later in the Spring and feature guests discussing books drawn from an area they know and care about.
    * To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops.
    * For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm
    * If you'd like to support the show, receive the show early and get extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 1 hr 5 min
    Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys - rerun

    Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys - rerun

    This is the third in our re-released episodes – and only the second one we ever recorded. Has Jean Rhys’s reputation and influence grown since then? Does a seven-year-old Backlisted still pass muster? All this (and more) are considered in Andy’s new introduction. Enjoy!
    John and Andy are joined by novelist Linda Grant and Unbound's Mathew Clayton to discuss Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys, first published in 1939. Rhys is still best known for her 1966 novel, Wide Sargasso Sea, but as well as making a strong case for her earlier work, there is a lively discussion of perfume, the previously unheard-of genre of Scandinavian magic realism, and Andy spots a mistake in the best selling science book of all time.
    Timings: (may differ due to adverts)
    1'49 - A Winter Book by Tove Jansson
    9'46 - A Brief History of Time by Prof Stephen Hawking
    17'30 - Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys
    * To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops.
    * For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm
    * If you'd like to support the show, receive the show early and get extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 53 min
    Science Fiction Special

    Science Fiction Special

    Welcome to our second Backlisted special of 2023. Today we’re joined by the best-selling writer Una McCormack, returning for a record-breaking ninth appearance, having most recently participated in the Christmas episode dedicated to Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield.
    These specials are designed to fill the gap until the show proper returns in April. They differ from the usual Backlisted format in that they feature just one guest choosing a number of books in an area they know and care about.
    This discussion covers five books that have inspired Una as a writer of science fiction from childhood onwards. The books are:
    Sylvia Engdahl, The Far Side of Evil
    Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed
    Octavia Butler, Bloodchild and Other Stories
    Katharine Burdekin, Proud Man
    Vonda N. McIntyre, Star Trek: The Voyage Home
    * To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops.
    * For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit backlisted.fm
    *If you'd like to support the show, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at patreon.com/backlisted


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    • 1 hr 2 min
    Fungus The Bogeyman by Raymond Briggs - Revisited

    Fungus The Bogeyman by Raymond Briggs - Revisited

    In memory of Raymond Briggs we are replaying the episode where John and Andy were joined by author-illustrator Nadia Shireen and writer Andrew Male for a smellybration of Fungus the Bogeyman (1977) by the great Raymond Briggs. The much-loved and bestselling picture book Andrew describes as "the children's Anatomy of Melancholy". We consider Briggs's life and work in full: Father Christmas, The Snowman, When the Wind Blows, Ethel & Ernest and the sepulchral Time For Lights Out (2019), his latest - and perhaps last - book; we also hear several times from the (often very funny) author himself.
    Also in this episode Andy talks about issues raised by reading Laugh a Defiance, a long out-of-print memoir by campaigner Mary Richardson; while John shares his enthusiasm for Jessica Au's new novel, Cold Enough For Snow (Fitzcarraldo).
    Timings: (may differ due to variable advert length)
    10:12 - Laugh A Defiance by Mary Richardson
    17:56 - Cold Enough For Snow by Jessica Au
    23:31 - Fungus the Bogeyman by Raymond Briggs
    * To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops.
    * For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit backlisted.fm
    *If you'd like to support the show, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at patreon.com/backlisted

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 1 hr 15 min
    Backlisted Special - The books of our childhood

    Backlisted Special - The books of our childhood

    Welcome to our first Backlisted special of 2023. Today we’re joined by the award-winning novelist and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce, an official friend of Backlisted, who returns for the first time since his appearance on the Christmas 2021 episode on The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit, one of our most popular shows. These specials are designed to fill the gap until the show proper returns in April. They differ from the usual Backlisted format in that they feature just one guest choosing a number of books in an area they know and care about. The discussion covers examines what inspired Frank’s love of reading when he was growing up, and includes favourite books by T.H. White, Ursula K. Le Guin, Joan Aiken, Tim Hunkin and Richmal Crompton.
    * To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops.
    * For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm
    *If you'd like to support the show, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted
    Image Credit: Archives New Zealand from New Zealand, CC BY-SA 2.0

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    • 56 min
    The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins - rerun

    The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins - rerun

    In memory of the great Carmen Callil, we are replaying the first of her two appearances on Backlisted. Joining Andy and John in this episode is Carmen Callil, the legendary publisher and writer, who is best know for founding the Virago Press in 1972. Once described by the Guardian as ‘part-Lebanese, part-Irish and wholly Australian’, Carmen settled in London in 1964 advertising herself in The Times as ‘Australian, B.A. wants job in book publishing’. After changing a generation’s taste through her publishing at Virago, and in particular the Virago Modern Classics, which continues to bring back into print hundreds of neglected women writers, Carmen went on to run Chatto & Windus and became a global Editor-at-Large for Random House. In 2006 she published Bad Faith: A History of Family & Fatherland, which Hilary Spurling called ‘a work of phenomenally thorough, generous and humane scholarship’. Appointed DBE in 2017, she was also awarded the Benson Medal in the same year, awarded to mark ‘meritorious works in poetry, fiction, history and belles-lettres’. The book under discussion is one of her favourite novels, The Tortoise & the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins, first published by Gollancz in 1954 and triumphantly reissued by Virago Modern Classics in 1983. Also in this episode we explore the new audio version of one our favourite writer’s best novels - The Unfortunates by B.S. Johnson, famously published in a box containing 27 randomly ordered sections in 1969. And last but very much not least: this episode also features our very first canine guest - Effie, Carmen’s extremely well-behaved border terrier.
    Timings: (may differ due to variable advert length)
    8'10 - The Unfortunates by B.S.Johnson
    21'16 - The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins
    * To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops. * For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm *If you'd like to support the show, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 1 hr 5 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
430 Ratings

430 Ratings

Dehradun Jo ,

Life Affirming, Life Enhancing, Life Changing

I love every single thing about this podcast. My life is immeasurably better because of it.

Sarah 613 ,

New old books

Fun & informative. Many new authors I’ve found by listening to this podcast. Thriftbooks and Amazon sends me new or used books that I am compelled to order because of ‘Blacklisted’ recommendations.

changcao27 ,

Best book podcast

Best companions on book journeys. Thank you for your hard work and infectious compassion for books.

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