Behind the Books: Laura Hackett on Literary Criticism

Behind the Books: Laura Hackett on Literary Criticism

What does a literary critic actually do? How are books chosen for review? And do reviews still matter in the age of Goodreads, BookTok and social media? In this special Behind The Books episode of Tom's Book Club, Tom speaks to Laura Hackett, Deputy Literary Editor and Fiction Editor at The Times and The Sunday Times, about life as one of Britain's leading literary critics. Laura discusses the reviewing process, how she approaches a new novel, writing positive and negative reviews, dealing with authors' reactions, and the changing role of criticism in 2026. Behind The Books is our monthly bonus series exploring the wider literary world through conversations with the people who shape it, from booksellers and critics to editors, translators and illustrators. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Dave Eggers on Contrapposto

Bestselling author Dave Eggers joins Tom's Book Club to discuss his new novel, Contrapposto. Spanning almost seven decades, Contrapposto follows Cricket and Olympia, two friends united by a love of art and a belief that they can change the world. In this wide-ranging conversation, Dave Eggers discusses creativity, the power of art, the parallels between painting and writing, creating one of his favourite ever characters, and why this novel was more than twenty years in the making. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Bobby Palmer on Main Characters

Bobby Palmer joins Tom’s Book Club to discuss his new novel Main Characters, an ambitious love story told entirely through the eyes of friends, family, flatmates and strangers. In this episode, Bobby discusses the inspiration behind Main Characters, why he had wanted to write a love story for many years, and how he approached telling a relationship entirely through the perspectives of other people. He talks about creating dozens of narrators, writing humour, family and friendship, and the challenge of building two central characters who never tell their own story. Bobby Palmer is the author of Isaac and the Egg, a Waterstones Paperback of the Year, and Small Hours. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Elif Shafak on Writing, Memory and the Power of Fiction

Bestselling novelist and President of the Royal Society of Literature Elif Shafak discusses literature, storytelling and the writing life. In this wide-ranging conversation, Elif reflects on the books that have guided her through difficult times, growing up between cultures, writing in both English and Turkish, and why stories can cross borders more easily than people can. She discusses her acclaimed novel There Are Rivers in the Sky, the experience of being put on trial following The Bastard of Istanbul, and the challenge of inhabiting voices as varied as sex workers, archaeologists and even a fig tree. Elif also opens up about her unusual writing process, why she writes amid a "hullabaloo" of noise, her thoughts on artificial intelligence and literature, and her forthcoming novel, In One Brief Moment All Eternity, which she describes as "the novel I always wanted to write." ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Rachel Clarke on The Story of a Heart

Women's Prize-winning author and palliative care doctor Rachel Clarke joins Tom's Book Club to discuss The Story of a Heart, the book that won the 2025 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction. Following the announcement of this year's Women's Prize winners, we're revisiting this conversation with Rachel about the extraordinary true story of Keira, a young girl whose donated heart saved another child's life. Rachel discusses how she first discovered the story, the families at its centre, and the remarkable history of heart transplantation. She also reflects on balancing medicine with storytelling, the emotional challenges of writing about grief and hope, and the response the book has received from readers. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.