Our guest on episode 78 is poet Blake Auden, who has almost 300,000 Instagram followers and is known for speaking openly about mental health. He also has four collections of poems out in the world, and the most recent is Murmuration, which came out in October. He and I talked about what therapy and writing have in common, how he approaches social m…

My guest in this special bonus episode is Robinne Lee, the author of my favourite read of 2021, The Idea Of You. She's not British, but I loved this book so much that I wanted to bring you this interview anyway! Robinne and I talked about her origin story as a fanfic writer, why she chose to make her main character French, why love stories that don…

I’m so excited to bring you an interview with none other than Sophie Kinsella, who’s known to many as the queen of British chick lit and the author of the mega-bestselling Shopaholic series. We talked about her new book The Party Crasher, how being a musician and being a writer are interconnected, what it’s been like to be a comedy writer over the …

This month’s guest is Kirsty Capes, author of the novel Careless. We talked about why she wanted to write about female friendship, what it was like to study with Bernadine Evaristo, why it's especially important for kids in the foster care system to see themselves reflected in books, and a whole lot more. ***** Want to help the Brit Lit Podcast sur…

This month’s guest is Mary Pauline Lowry, who wrote The Roxy Letters. Mary is married to a Brit, and she had lots of fascinating insights about the cultural differences between the countries, and I loved talking to her back about Bridget Jones and Jane Austen too. The Roxy Letters was one of my favourite reads of 2020. It was really fun and just wh…

Our guest on episode 74 of the Brit Lit Podcast, is Lizzy Dent, who wrote The Summer Job, and who’s also a YA author -- as Rebecca Denton, she wrote This Beats Perfect, among other books. She and I talked about her favourite food writing, what it’s like to have a novel come out during a pandemic, why we love the book Anxious People by Fredrik Backm…

Our guest on episode 73 of the Brit Lit Podcast is Danielle Wood who, as Minnie Darke, wrote one of Claire's very favourite books of recent years, called Star Crossed. Among other things, she discussed what makes One Day by David Nicholls such an amazing novel, and gave some recommendations for books by Tasmanian authors. Want to help the Brit Lit …

Our guest today is Sareeta Domingo, who’s the author of both adult and young adult fiction, and most recently the editor of the collection called Who's Loving You: Love Stories by Women of Colour. She talks about romantic reads she loves, the process of putting together an anthology, why books by British authors of colour are important, and more. *…

Today, we hear from Naoise Dolan, who’s an Irish author and the writer of the Women’s Prize longlisted novel Exciting Times. She and I talked about cultural and literary differences between the UK, the US, and Ireland, what we both think about the idea of “likeable” characters, some great Irish authors, and more. ***** Want to help the Brit Lit Pod…

Happy Independent Bookstore Day! I work part-time in a lovely bookshop on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, and in this bonus episode, I interview my boss, Laurie Gillman, who founded the shop five years ago, to talk about what goes into starting and running a bookshop. Laurie and I talked about what makes East City Bookshop special, some fun stories …

Our guest on episode 70 is Sophie Cousens, the author of the romantic novel This Time Next Year. She and I talked working in TV taught her about storytelling, what she misses about London, the special island where she lives now, her next book, and more. ***** Want to help the Brit Lit Podcast survive and thrive? Here are some painless ways. ***** B…

Our guest today is Lorraine Brown, whose debut novel Uncoupling came out a couple of weeks ago in the UK, and will be out in the US as The Paris Connection this summer. It’s a delightful love story which made for a great start to my reading year. Lorraine spoke to me just before her novel was published, and we had a meandering chat about all kinds …

Our guest today is Cherie Jones, whose Barbados-set novel How The One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House is hot off the press and has won praise from all quarters. Cosmopolitan calls it “visceral and haunting” and Bernadine Evaristo says that it’s “a hard-hitting and unflinching novel from a bold new writer who tackles head-on the brutal extremes of pat…

Our guest today is bestselling novelist Milly Johnson, who’s the author of many books of romantic fiction, most recently I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day. Milly has had a fascinating career, including as a greetings card joke writer, and I hope you’ll enjoy learning about that as much as I did! She talks to us about Christmas themed-book reco…

Our guest on episode 66 is Lucy Farfort, who’s the illustrator of the gorgeous new picture book Afraid of the Dark, written by Isabel Otter and Sarah Shaffi. It’s a lovely book about moving house, new beginnings, friendship and finding ways to cope with fear. Lucy and I talked about the process of illustrating books, advice for anyone who’d like to…

Our guest on episode 65 is Annie Lyons, who, among other books, is the author of the lovely, heart-warming novel Eudora Honeysett Is Quite Well, Thank You, known in the US as The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett. It’s about an older woman who grew up in the Second World War and is now at the end of her life, and kind of over the whole thing, and …

Our guest today is Gillian Harvey, the author of Everything Is Fine. She and I talked about how she ended up living in France, how social media can affect our self-worth, and more. ***** Want to help the Brit Lit Podcast survive and thrive? Here are some painless ways. Books Mentioned on the Podcast: Everything is Fine, by Gillian Harvey A Year in …

Our guest on episode 63 is Robert Webb, who, as well as being a writer, is an actor, best known for the hit British comedy Peep Show. He’s the author most recently of the novel Come Again. He describes that novel like this: Middle-aged widow time travels back to 1992 and tries to save future dead husband when he is an annoying student. Grief, nosta…

Today, we’re revisiting our interview with Diana Evans from a couple of years ago, as well as hearing about new books out this month. Diana Evans is the author of three novels, 26a, The Wonder, and most recently Ordinary People, which came out this spring in the UK to much acclaim and is out this week in the US. She talked to Claire about her favou…

On episode 62, we hear from Rachel Winters, the author of the rom com Would Like to Meet. She and I talked about our favourite rom coms in both books and film form, advice for people wanting to get into publishing, books featuring older people, and more. Books Mentioned on the Podcast: (buy them all here) Would Like to Meet, by Rachel Winters You D…

On episode 61, we hear from Rosanna Amaka, whose debut novel The Book of Echoes came out in the now long-distant era of February this year, though I spoke to her just before her publication date. The Book of Echoes is a powerful novel that encompasses several different points in history, including the slave trade and the Brixton Riots. Alex Wheatle…

On Episode 60, our guest today is Clare Pooley, who’s known for her blog Mummy Was a Secret Drinker. She's the author most recently of the heart-warming novel The Authenticity Project. Clare Pooley and I talked about up lit, the importance of community, how writing a novel compares to writing a memoir, and more. Books Mentioned on the Podcast: The …

Our guest on episode 59 is Dolly Alderton. As well as being half of the High Low podcast, Dolly is also a successful journalist and columnist, and her novel, Ghosts, is forthcoming later this year. Her bestselling memoir Everything I Know About Love came out in the UK in 2018, and is finally out in the US this month, in hardcover, ebook and also au…

On episode 58, we hear from Erin Somers, the American author of the novel Stay Up with Hugo Best. From time to time on the podcast, I interview people who are not British, for their take on UK books and culture, and it was great to chat to Erin about what differentiates British humour from American humour in particular. We talked about the American…

Our guest on episode 57 is Talia Hibbert, who’s the author of many romance novels including, most recently, Get a Life, Chloe Brown. We talked about the illustrated cover trend, how she got her start writing novels, what it’s like to get picked as a Book of the Month author, and more. Books Mentioned on the Podcast: Get a Life, Chloe Brown, by Tali…