Rippling Pages: Interviews with Writers

Jo Scott-Coe on MASS

"It seemed to be a flashpoint moment, it was saying more than we thought it was saying."

Jo Scott-Coe joins me to talk about Charles Whitman, the man known as the 'Texas Tower Sniper'. In this discussion which touches on some challenging subjects, Jo discusses her book and the journey behind the writing of the book MASS: A Sniper, a Father, and a Priest (published by Pelekinesis Press)

Please be advised we recorded this conversation earlier this year and discuss issues of a sensitive nature

Rippling Points:

'Senseless Acts': the troubling terminology of describing acts as 'senseless'
Not an isolated incident: building up the picture and story of the crime.


Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop

Reference Points

Films

American Sniper (2014: directed by Clint Eastwood)
Spotlight (2015: directed by Tom McCarthy

Articles

More was found about Priest Leduc here following the publication of Jo's book:

https://www.pe.com/2019/02/16/priest-named-on-molestation-list-was-texas-snipers-scoutmaster-friend-and-confidant/

Jessie Greengrass on the High House

'All the way through the book, it should feel like there's going to be some kind of ending which will enable a potential future'


What a pleasure to welcome Jessie Greengrass to talk about the High House! (Buy here). We talk about the climate crisis and writing about the end times.


Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop

Rippling Points:

• Is this the end for me, you, all of us? What's it like writing about characters and limited horizons?
• The history of flooding: researching local and national history for lessons about the past and the future.

Reference Points:

Books

• Sight, Jessie's first novel
• An Account of the Decline of the Great Auk, According to One Who Saw It, Jessie's collection of short stories
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• Alice Oswald.
• Liable to Flood (1974) - J.R Ravensdale

We also discussed the Eyemouth Fishing Disaster, and the 1953 North Sea Flood which Jessie researched for the novel.

Jeff Chon and Hashtag Good Guy with a Gun

"The thing I learned last year is that the product is sometimes the problem"

Jeff Chon joins me to discuss his novel, Hashtag Good Guy with a Gun, published by the exciting Sagging Meniscus press (buy here)

Please be advised we recorded this conversation earlier this year and discuss issues of a sensitive nature with some instances of strong language




Rippling Pages:

• Good guys and bad guys: a troubling distinction
• What's it like writing about people we really do not like?

Reference Points

Books
Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger 
Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

Films
Death wish (1974: Michael Winner; 2018 remake starring Bruce Willis and directed by Eli Roth
Falling Down (1993: Joel Schumacher)
Fight Club (1999: David Fincher)
Taxi Driver (1976: Martin Scorsese)

Superheroes
Superman

Essays
Alex Diggins on Hashtag Good Guy with a Gun for 3:AM Magazine

 

Khalisa Rae and Ghost in a Black Girl’s Throat

'The south is a living breathing thing in this book. it's a personality.'

Really excited to have American poet, Khalisa Rae, join me for series two, episode two!

Khalisa is here to talk about Ghost in a Black Girl's Throat, published by Red Hen Press (buy here)

Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop

Rippling Points:

• Title collection: the story of a title
• Surrounded by the best: environments of poetic creativity and support

Reference Points

Writers
Maya Angelou
Dasan Ahanu
James Baldwin
Gwendolyn Brooks
Jericho Brown
Camonghne Felix
Nikky Finney
Siarra Freeman
Ada Limón
Toni Morrison
Alice Walker

Interview between Khalisa and the writer/photographer Rachel Eliza Griffiths

 

Polly Barton and Fifty Sounds

Welcome Back! Series Two: Horizons is here with Polly Barton.

"I wanted to give people tools they could then forget about for the rest of the book."

Polly Barton is here to talk about Fifty Sounds, winner of the Fitzcarraldo Essay Prize 2019. (BUY HERE!)

Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop

Rippling Points:

• Loving others and loving language: is there one without the other?
• Wittgenstein: even he got it wrong at times

Reference Points:

Books
Ray Monk - Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius

Theory
John Bowlby's Theory of Attachment

Jacqueline Bishop on Jamaican Women Writers

"The sense we don't have to trample on each other, to amplify each other, we can heal and nurture each other."


Jacqueline Bishop is here to talk about her collection of interviews, The Gift of Music and Song: Interviews with Jamaican Women Writers

(Buy here!)

It's a perfect way to conclude the 'Finding Room' series - promoting the voices of some fantastic Jamaican women writers.

Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop

Rippling Points:

• Voices of nurturing and healing: Jamaican women writers
• Changing conceptions of society, but preserving these writers

Reference Points

We mention a lot of writers in this episode because the book is about writers. But it does cause us to reflect on some other names too

Monique Roffey - (Monique selected Jacqueline's book as a cultural highlight in the Guardian)

Jane Austen

Jean Rhys

Kamau Braithwaite

George Lamming

Derek Walcott