Rippling Pages: Interviews with Writers

Nii Ayikwei Parkes and Azúcar

"We live in a world where we increasingly want to control everything...I hope that in fictional spaces, the effort of trying to keep up becomes so much you eventually say, hey, let's go."

Nii Ayikwei Parkes is here to discuss his second novel, Azúcar, published by Peepal Tree Press.

How do we grow in...

Fictional spaces: understanding when we're not in control
Real spaces: understanding control and conditioning

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Nii is also director of poetry publisher, Flipped Eye publishing. We featured Samatar Elmi and Katherine Lockton back in series one of the Rippling Pages for their new pamphlets. You can listen to those episodes here:

Samatar Elmi: https://ripplingpages.podbean.com/e/samatar-elmi-and-a-portrait-of-colossus/

Katherine Lockton: https://ripplingpages.podbean.com/e/katherine-lockton-on-paper-doll-flipped-eye-anniversary-part-1/

James Clarke and Sanderson’s Isle

"I hate judging characters - you have to have respect for people's origins."

James Clarke is here to talk about his new novel, Sanderson's Isle, published by Serpent's Tail (buy here)

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Rippling Points

Ebullient characters: stepping into the sixties and using real-life figures as reference points and inspiration

Lost and looking: writing characters that are lost and looking for someone, or maybe anyone.

Reference Points

Francis Bacon
Lucia Berlin
Patrick deWitt - The Sister's Brothers
Jack Kerouac
Ian Nairn
Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita
Terry Southern - The Magic Christian

Event with Charlie Baylis in Leeds - tickets here: 

Bloomsday special with Helen Palmer!

'I wanted to write a queer love story, Blackpool is crying out for literary renditions and I'm obsessed by Ulysses.'

Helen Palmer is here to talk about her Ulysses inspired queer love story, Pleasure Beach which is published by Prototype (more info here!)

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Rippling Points

• Corrie and the Tower: setting a novel in Blackpool. 
• Time please: The enduring appeal of a novel set in a day

Reference Points

James Joyce
Julia Kristeva
Coronation Street

Duncan Wiese and TITYRUS: A PASTORAL

"There is a genuine search for something - much of the time it turns out to be distraction."

Duncan Wiese joins me from Denmark to discuss his new collection of poetry based on Virgil's Eclogues, Tityrus: A Pastoral. Published by Lolli Editions (more info here!), the poems were translated by Max Minden Ribeiro (Pelle Hvenegaard’s Dear Zoe Ukhona and Finn Juhl: Life, Work, World by Christian Bundegaarand) and  Sam Riviere (81 Austerities, Kim Kardashian's Marriage)

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Rippling Points

Life in the twenties: Tityrus as an emblem of finding your way in life, sitting alongside pop culture.

Driven to distraction: how 'Rome's great poet's' ideas of the pastoral influenced a story of today.

Reference Points

Writers
Anne Carson
Virgil's Eclogues - You can read on Project Gutenberg for free here: 

TV Shows
Beverly Hills 90210
Friends
That 70's Show. 

 

Soraya Palmer and The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts

"I was interested in stories with stories and how the family used folklore to approach conflict"

Soraya Palmer joins me from Brooklyn to discuss her debut novel, recently released in the UK, The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts, published by Serpent's Tail (more info here!).

We speak about hauntings, family narratives, and Anansi the animal trickster!


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Rippling Points:

Tales from the Caribbean: myth and folklore re-told in modern day Brooklyn

Life inside the multiverse: seeing different aspects of characters through time.

Reference Points
Writers
Toni Morrison

Film and TV
Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The Exorcist

Myths and Folklore
Anansi
Ol Higue
Rolling Calf

Catalan Literature in Translation Special!

It's a Catalan Literature in Translation Special!

I'm delighted to welcome Mara Faye Lethem and Tiago Miller to discuss two recently released books from Catalonia

Irene Solà's When I Sing, Mountains Dance has has been re-released in paperback translated by Mara for Granta

Josep Maria Argemí's The Angel of Santa Sofia has been newly released and translated by Tiago for Fum d'Estampa


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Rippling Points:

Good and Evil: how the boundaries between what's right and wrong are blurred and might reflect debates about Catalonian history

The Catalan Language: Literature and it's role in keeping a language thriving

Reference Points:

Irene Solà's first novel Els dics (The Dams, L'Altra Editorial, 2018)

Jaume Cristòfol Pons Alorda
Jorge Luis Borges
Víctor Català
Jordi Cussa
Josep Palau i Fabre
Maria Mercè Marçal
Mercè Rodoreda
Marià Vayreda

Artists
Caravaggio
Salvador Dali

Mara's Essay in Lithub: https://lithub.com/author/marafayelethem/