Ep. 30. Fatima Bhutto, The Hour of the Wolf

Ep. 33. Oluwaseun Olayiwola, 'Strange Beach'

In today's episode I walk to Oluwaseun Olayiwola about his poem 'Strange Beach' (the first one) from the book of the same name [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/strange-beach-oluwaseun-olayiwola/7741269?ean=9781804271551&next=t]. Oluwaseun (Seun) Olayiwola is a poet, critic, choreographer and performer based in London. His creative and critical work has been published in The Poetry Review, PN Review, The Telegraph, the TLS and elsewhere. His choreographic work has been presented at the V&A, The Place, The Central School of Ballet, and Studio Voltaire. He’s been commissioned by RSL, Ledbury Poetry Festival, Southwark Council, and Studio 3 Arts. Seun has an MFA in Choreography from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, where he was a Fulbright Scholar in 2018-2019. His debut collection was published by Fitzcarraldo Editions (UK) and Soft Skull Press (US). Since publication, Strange Beach has won an Eric Gregory Award and was Poetry Book Society Winter 2025 Special Commendation. Seun is an inaugural member of the Rose Choreographic School at Sadlers Wells East. He is a lecturer in dance in the Kingston School of Art and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Episode notes:  * Jorie Graham, 'Le Manteau De Pascal' * Negative Capability (Keats) * Claudia Rankine, Citizen * Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Spill * Christina Sharpe, In the Wake * Victoria Adukwei Bulley, 'The Ultra-Black Fish' [https://zencastr.com/z/A4HYRgcs] * Louise Glück * Robin Coste Lewis, Voyage of the Sable Venus * Maggie Nelson, Bluets  * Adam Phillips, The Life You Want  Book recs: * Claudia Rankine, Triage [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/triage-truth-art-and-fiction-claudia-rankine/3484f5f530eb993c?ean=9780241828564&next=t] * Christina Sharpe, Ordinary Notes [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ordinary-notes-christina-sharpe/7448029?ean=9781914198144&next=t] * Carmen Maria Machado, In the Dream House [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/in-the-dream-house-a-memoir-carmen-maria-machado/364838?ean=9781788162258&next=t] * Leo Bersani and Adam Phillips, Intimacies [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/intimacies-leo-bersani/2765997?ean=9780226043456&next=t]  Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]and subscribe to the Substack [https://booksupclose.substack.com/] for transcripts and more links. Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u]. Follow Seun on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/itsamule/?hl=en]. Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9].

Ep. 32. Kai Spellmeier, Boy Friends

In today's episode I talk to Kai Spellmeier about his new novel Boy Friends [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/boy-friends-kai-spellmeier/7982020?ean=9781526693549&next=t] (Bloomsbury 2026). Kai Spellmeier is a German author currently living in England. He has published several books in Germany, including YA novels and non-fiction, and he has been blogging about books on Instagram for many years. Boy Friends is his English language debut. Book Recs: * Nina LaCour, Everything Leads to You * Cameron Sullivan, The Red Winter * Douglas Stewart, John of John  Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]and subscribe to the Substack [https://booksupclose.substack.com/] for transcripts and more links. Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u]. Get more from Kai at his Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/kaispellmeier/?hl=en-gb].  Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9].

Ep. 31. Madeleine Dunnigan, Jean

In this episode I talk to Madeleine Dunnigan about her novel Jean [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/jean-madeleine-dunnigan/b88216b3b0a83992?ean=9781917092722&next=t] (2026) from Daunt. Madeleine Dunnigan is a writer and screenwriter from London. She was a Jill Davis Fellow on the MFA at New York University. While there she was awarded a Global Research Initiative Fellowship in Paris. Her first novel, Jean, was published by Daunt Books (UK) and W.W. Norton (US) in 2026 and will be translated into Spanish, German and Italian. Episode Notes: * Seán Hewitt, Open, Heaven (listen to my ep with him [https://zencastr.com/z/vhMtUJvj]); Philippe Besson, Lie With Me; Justin Torres, We the Animals Book Recs: * John McGahern, That They May Face the Rising Sun * Louise Kennedy, Trespasses * Madeleine Thien, Do Not Say We Have Nothing * Susanna Moore, In the Cut * Virginia Woolf, The Years * Octavia Butler's short stories and manifesto * Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous * Yoko Ogawa, Hotel Iris Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]and subscribe to the Substack [https://booksupclose.substack.com/] for transcripts and more links. Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u]. Get more from Madeleine on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/madeleine.dunnigan/] and at her website madeleinedunnigan.com.  Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9].

Ep. 30. Fatima Bhutto, The Hour of the Wolf

In this episode I talk to Fatima Bhutto about her book The Hour of the Wolf [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-hour-of-the-wolf-fatima-bhutto/9822d4c2aef1fdc2?ean=9781917092319&next=t](2026) from Daunt Books. Fatima Bhutto is the author of the novels The Runaways and the Women’s Prize for Fiction-longlisted The Shadow of the Crescent Moon, and the non-fiction New Kings of the World and Songs of Blood and Sword, which deals with her father’s murder and the Bhutto family’s history in Pakistani politics. Bhutto’s journalism and essays have appeared in the New Statesman, New York Times and Guardian, and elsewhere. Episode Notes: * Carmen Maria Machado, In the Dream House; Annie Ernaux, Simple Passion; Jill Ciment, Half a Life and Consent; Melissa Febos, 'In Defense of Navel Gazing'; Julie Myerson, The Lost Child. Book Recs: * Tareq Baconi, Fire in Every Direction and Hamas Contained * Helen Garner, This House of Grief * Mary Gaitskill, Veronica * Hiba Abu Nada, 'I Grant You Refuge' [https://proteanmag.com/2023/11/03/i-grant-you-refuge/] Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]and subscribe to the Substack [https://booksupclose.substack.com/] for transcripts and more links. Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u]. Follow Fatima on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/fbhutto/?hl=en] too. Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9].

Ep. 29. Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Look Closer: How to Get More Out of Reading

In this episode I talk to Robert Douglas-Fairhurst about his nonfiction book Look Closer: How to Get More Out of Reading [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/look-closer-how-to-get-more-out-of-the-books-you-love-robert-douglas-fairhurst/7824593?ean=9781911717317&next=t] (2025). Robert Douglas-Fairhurst was born in 1968 and lives in Oxford, where he is a Professor of English Literature and a Fellow of Magdalen College. His most recent books are Look Closer: How to Get More Out of Reading (2025) and Metamorphosis: a Life in Pieces (2023). Previous books include The Turning Point: A Year that Changed Dickens and the World (2021) The Story of Alice: Lewis Carroll and the Secret History of Wonderland (2015) and Becoming Dickens: The Invention of a Novelist (2011). His other publications include Victorian Afterlives (2002), and editions of A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, London Labour and the London Poor, The Water-Babies, and The Collected Peter Pan for Oxford World’s Classics, and A Tale of Two Cities for Norton. He is a regular reviewer and features writer for publications including the Times, Spectator, and Literary Review. He has worked as a historical consultant on BBC adaptations of Jane Eyre (2006), Emma (2009), and Great Expectations (2011), the 20-part BBC1/Red Planet series Dickensian (2015-16) and the Netflix feature films Enola Holmes (2019) and Enola Holmes 2 (2022). In 2015 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose] and subscribe to the Substack [https://booksupclose.substack.com/] for transcripts and more links. Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u]. Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9].