Rippling Pages: Interviews with Writers

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Liam Bishop curating the best writers to help you with your writing

  1. 4D AGO

    Joanna Pocock on writing about kindness and perspective on the American Road

    America is a place that has compelled countless writers to travel its vast and varied landscapes.  Perhaps you’ve done it yourself. But what happens when you feel compelled to do it all again? That’s the question at the heart of Joanna Pocock’s essay, Greyhound (Fitzcarraldo Editions). Named after the iconic bus company whose intercity network carries passengers from Detroit to Los Angeles — and which Joanna relies on for her own journey — Greyhound revisits familiar motels, crossings, and bus stations she first encountered years before. Joanna’s writing has appeared in Granta, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, and The London Review of Books, among others. GREYHOUND is her second book, and her first, SURRENDER, won the Fitzcarraldo essay prize. Remember to like, share, follow, subscribe or leave a review if you enjoy the show.    Reference Points - 1.40 - is Joanna a city or a country writer  - 3.20 - where the journey starts -  6.15 - why are there not more women on the road? -  09.00 - starting in Canada. -  11.05 - Borders -  12.15 - the people Joanna meets -  16.05 - the sense of perspective. -  17.50 -  people Joanna sees - 19.30 - Amarillo and fecal dust  - 23.00 - rippling pages podcast -  24.05 - the cost of travel -  26.35  - the bus as a political space -  30.30 - the enduring appeal of the American road. ***** Tickets for Agnes Lidbeck in Conversation  https://www.nextchapterleeds.co.uk/events/p/theripplingpagesliveoctober ***** Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop all books are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medi Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages  Reference Points Ansel Adams Lewis Baltz Simone de  Beauvoir - America Day by Day Jack Kerouac - On the Road Irma Kirtz - The Great American Bus Ride Ethel Mannin - An America Journey Benjamin Markovits - The Rest of Our Lives William Least Heat-Moon - Blue Highways Ed Ruscha The Salt Path - Raynor Winn

    36 min

  2. SEP 28

    Ask the Host! Liam on Latest Reads, Favourite Bookshop, and Reality TV

    Welcome to the second edition of Rippling Pages: Ask the Host! It's time to answer some more questions from you, the listeners! So, that’s what I’ve done: I’ve picked out some questions from the Rippling Pages inbox, and answered them! In this episode, I answer: - What I have been reading lately? - How are my French lessons going?  - How do I prepare for interviews? - What is my favourite bookshop? - What is my favourite season? - Who's going to win the Premier League and Women's Super League? Got a question yourself? Why not leave a review and a question and I might pick out one for a future show! ***** Tickets for Agnes Lidbeck in Conversation  https://www.nextchapterleeds.co.uk/events/p/theripplingpagesliveoctober ***** Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop all books are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medi Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages  Reference Points Books On the Clock by Claire Baglin (translated by Jordan Stump). Daunt Books Lanre Bakare - We Were There (Penguin Books) The Unreliable Nature Writer by Claire Carroll  (Scratch Books)  Joy is My Middle Name by Sasha Debevec-McKenney (Fitzcaralldo Editions ) Failed Summer Vacation by Heuijung Hur (translated by Paige Aniyah Morris) Scratch Books Noreen Masud  - A Flat Place (Penguin Books) White Spines by Nicholas Royle (Salt Books)  Two Days, One Night (2014, directed by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne)

    17 min

  3. SEP 18 · BONUS

    BONUS! Gurnaik Johal on Objects, Perfect Art and Buster Keaton

    “It’s almost a perfect work of art.” This is some bonus content from the previous episode with Gurnaik Johal where we talk about objects of influence.    The return of a potentially holy river in the Indian mountains - is it a sign of a new age, a divine intervention, or simply the workings of nature? These are the questions at the heart of Gurnaik Johal’s novel, SARASWATI, published by Serpent’s Tail. Frauds, politicians, mystics, writers, and the family who own the farm in which the river exists, are caught up in trying to determine what the return of the SARASWATI river means. It is a novel that is truly global in its scope, set in Canada, India, the Chagos Islands, and Wolverhampton. It was named as a Guardian newspaper selection for 2025, and shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. Gurnaik was a winner of the Galley Beggar short story prize.  Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop all books are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medi Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages

    6 min

  4. SEP 4

    Gurnaik Johal on Rivers, Family and Pub Chats

    The return of a potentially holy river in the Indian mountains - is it a sign of a new age, a divine intervention, or simply the workings of nature? These are the questions at the heart of Gurnaik Johal’s novel, SARASWATI, published by Serpent’s Tail. Frauds, politicians, mystics, writers, and the family who own the farm in which the river exists, are caught up in trying to determine what the return of the SARASWATI river means. It is a novel that is truly global in its scope, set in Canada, India, the Chagos Islands, and Wolverhampton. It was named as a Guardian newspaper selection for 2025, and shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. Gurnaik was a winner of the Galley Beggar short story prize.  Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop all books are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medi Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages   Rippling Points 1.55 - what is the SARASWATI? 3.35 - the family connection  6.45 - river symbolism  8.20 - characters in the novel  10.30 - family dynasties and novels  11.55- reclamation 14.45 - rippling pages bookshop  15.30 - border conflicts  18.40 - human connection between  21 - romance in the novel  23.20 - the chagos islands  27.50 - how people communicate  29.30 - from short stories to novels  31.15 - being faithful to reality  34.35 - more advice for writers

    37 min

  5. AUG 21

    Yan Ge Part 2 on Vulnerabilities, Younger Selves, Parents

    “I think when you’re young you really allow yourself to be stupid.” Welcome to part 2 of my conversation with Yan Ge. Yan Ge is here to discuss her life and writing. She was born in Chengdu, Sichuan Province People’s Republic of China. Emerging as a prodigious writer in Chinese and Sichuanese, she was named as one of China’s twenty future literary masters by People Magazine. In 2012, she was chosen as Best New Writer by the Prestigious Chinese Literature Media Prize. For English language readers, Nicky Harman first translated her novella, White Horse, for Hope Road publishing in 2014, a story about young girls negotiating adolescence in the presence of a mysterious white horse. Then, four years later, Nicky translated The Chilli Bean Paste Clan in 2018, published by Balestier. Elsewhere arrived in 2023 (Faber), and Yan Ge treated us to a new dimension of her work entirely: short fiction and, for the first time, written in English.   Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop on bookshop.org.uk are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink  Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages    Rippling Points Chapters  - 3.30 - writing parts of ourselves that are distinct  - 7.35 - SBoC taking off  - 10.05 - identifying vulnerabilities  - 12.15 -all consuming spells of writing  - 16.45 - finding balance  - 20.15 - inspired by a younger self - 24.40 - The Chilli Bean Paste Clan - 27.35 - food in Yan ges work - 31.35 - Yan’s parents   - 35.02 - Another Liam!   Reference Points Nicky Harman Jeremy Tiang

    37 min

  6. AUG 7

    Yan Ge Part 1 on Happiness, Elsewhere, and Striving

    ”If I enter a project knowing what I’m going to do, confidently, I wouldn’t do it.” It’s Women in Translation Month! Yan Ge is here to discuss her life and writing. She was born in Chengdu, Sichuan Province People’s Republic of China. Emerging as a prodigious writer in Chinese and Sichuanese, she was named as one of China’s twenty future literary masters by People Magazine. In 2012, she was chosen as Best New Writer by the Prestigious Chinese Literature Media Prize. For English language readers, Nicky Harman first translated her novella, White Horse, for Hope Road publishing in 2014, a story about young girls negotiating adolescence in the presence of a mysterious white horse. Then, four years later, Nicky translated The Chilli Bean Paste Clan in 2018, published by Balestier. Elsewhere arrived in 2023 (Faber), and Yan Ge treated us to a new dimension of her work entirely: short fiction and, for the first time, written in English.   Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop on bookshop.org.uk are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink  Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages    Reference Points George Saunders   Rippling Points  Chapters 02.30 - connected by Leeds 4.20 - Drifting from the Chinese language 5.45 - Writing elsewhere in English 09.20 - Transforming the process 10:50 - A new relationship with language  14:05 - Linguistic and cultural experiences of the characters 16:47- Happiness 19:24 - Contentment and striving  21:00 - Rippling Pages Bookshop 23:41 - Making writing hard and easy 28:26 - Having belief

    34 min

  7. JUL 24

    Kimberly Campanello - Bonus Content with memory, flags and music

    “She starts having an experience to see her own life as a more shifting sands that isn’t to be fear but in fact to be enjoyed.”   Kimberly Campanello is here to talk about her novel, USE THE WORDS YOU HAVE (Somesuch Editions). It’s a sweltering summer in Bretagne, France. K, an American exchange student, is navigating more than just unfamiliar streets. She’s finding a new language. This is bonus content from the previous episode.  In this bonus content, I’ve asked Kimberly to provide me with some objects that Kimberly associated with writing the book, USE THE WORDS YOU HAVE. It’s an interesting and new way to think about influence, and a way to understand both the book and the writer a bit more.  We talk about a flag, a musician, Alan Stivell, and something called a ‘Fest Noz’, all of them relating to the culture of Brittany where the novel is set. Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop on bookshop.org.uk are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink  Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages  Rippling Points 1.54 - Proust and Memory 04.01 - Objects of influence 06.21 - Fest Noz 07.01 - Alan Stivell 08.29 - The Brittany Flag, the Blanche Ermine   Reference Point Jonathan Culler Arthur Rimbaud

    13 min

  8. JUL 10

    Kimberly Campanello on Autofiction, the Midwest, and Notebooks

    “How do you sound like you know what you’re doing when you don’t have the words” Kimberly Campanello is here to talk about her novel, USE THE WORDS YOU HAVE (Somesuch Editions). It’s a sweltering summer in Bretagne, France. K, an American exchange student, is navigating more than just unfamiliar streets. She’s finding a new language. Kimberly’s work moves between forms, genres, and histories. She’s the author of MOTHERBABYHOME (zimZALLA), a harrowing and formally innovative response to Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes, is held in the national poetry special collections across the U.K and Ireland. Her poetry has appeared in publications like Granta, The White Review, and The Poetry Review, and essays in Tolka. And, this year, her poetry collection, AN INTERESTING DETAIL was released by Bloomsbury.  Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop on bookshop.org.uk are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink  Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages  Rippling Points 01:30 - Motherbabyhome 02:07 - From motherbabyhome to Use the words you have 05:38 - What is the novel about 08:02 - Sounding like you know what you’re doing when you don’t 09:51 - Differences poetry and the novel 11:46 - Who is K 14:16 - Belief and reading 15:58 - Making sense through Rimbaud 16:28 - Life in the Midwest 20:03 - Rippling Pages Bookshop 21:05 - K in Paris 22:16 - K’s notebook 25:37 - Wonky translations 29:19 - Kimberly’s notebooks. Reference Points Hart Crane Dante Marguerite Duras Annie Ernaux Tony Harrison Marcel Proust Arthur Rimbaud  Nathalie Sarraute Bruce Omar Yates review https://thelondonmagazine.org/review-use-the-words-you-have-by-kimberly-campanello/

    35 min
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Liam Bishop curating the best writers to help you with your writing

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