In this SPOOKY Halloween special, we do things a little differently. I talk to Dr Kaja Franck about a section from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/345]. Dr Kaja Franck is a Lecturer in English Literature and Programme Lead for the online MA: Literature & Culture  at the University of Hertfordshire. Her research centres on monsters and monstrous animals. She has previously published on the depiction of werewolves in Dracula (1897), the Canadian Gothic and YA fiction, alongside organising international conferences on werewolves, vampires and faeries in literature and popular culture. Her monograph, The Ecogothic Werewolf in Literature: Wolves, Woods and Wilderness, emerged panting into the wild this year. More recent publications include chapters on troll horror, Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series (2005-8) and John Polidori's The Vampyre (1819). She has a soft spot for terrible shark horror. Episode references: * E. Gerard, The Land Beyond the Forest [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57168] * Sabine Baring-Gould, The Book of Were-Wolves [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5324] * John Polidori, The Vampyre [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6087] * Clemence Housman, The Werewolf [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-werewolf-fantasy-and-horror-classics-clemence-housman/96a39a42bb2cc794?ean=9781447499954&next=t] * Emily Habeck, Shark Heart [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/shark-heart-a-love-story-emily-habeck/7422751?ean=9781529432237&next=t] * Rachel Yoder, Nightbitch [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/nightbitch-rachel-yoder/7dcbfb3b0b36bee3?ean=9781529113990&next=t] Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. Find Kaja on twitter (@kajafranck). 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].

In this episode, we do things a little differently. I talk to Dr Danielle Cameron about the opening paragraphs of Joan Didion's essay 'Goodbye to All That' from her collection Slouching Towards Bethlehem [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/slouching-towards-bethlehem-joan-didion/6691583?ean=9780008284640&next=t](1968).  Danielle is a British Mauritian writer and academic based in London. She holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of East Anglia, and her interdisciplinary research focuses upon interrelationships between the writing of age in literature and sociological developments. Danielle is currently writing her first book, which explores how adulthood (as defined by marriage, mortgage and career) is a neoliberal construct, and the ways in which novels both reproduce and resist this norm. From the 2024/25 academic year, Danielle will be working as a Fellow in Interdisciplinary Social Science at the London School of Economics, where she will be teaching on the School's flagship interdisciplinary course LSE100 [https://www.instagram.com/lse_100/]. Episode references: * Elaine Castillo, How to Read Now [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-read-now-elaine-castillo/6895992?ean=9781838954956&next=t] * Danielle's book recs: Elaine Castillo, Moderation [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/moderation-elaine-castillo/7838540?ean=9781838954963&next=t]; Colson Whitehead, The Colossus of New York [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-colossus-of-new-york-colson-whitehead/555746?ean=9780708898765&next=t] and The Intuitionist [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-intuitionist-colson-whitehead/2522422?ean=9780708898475&next=t]; Christine Smallwood, The Life of the Mind [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-life-of-the-mind-sharp-and-funny-daily-mail-christine-smallwood/6162179?ean=9781787704268&next=t]; Vauhini Vara, Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/searches-vauhini-vara/7815223?ean=9781804710685&next=t]; Ariel Saramandi, Portrait of an Island on Fire [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/portrait-of-an-island-on-fire-ariel-saramandi/7824478?ean=9781804271612&next=t] Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. Find Danielle [https://www.instagram.com/daniellereadsandwrites/] and LSE100 [https://www.instagram.com/lse_100/] on Instagram. 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].

In this episode, we read a section from Harry Nicholas' memoir A Trans Man Walks into a Gay Bar : A Journal of Self (and Sexual) Discovery (2023) - it's on p.103 of the UK paperback. You can buy Harry's book from bookshop.org or your local indy store. Harry Nicholas is a writer, campaigner and gay trans man living in London. He has written for The Guardian, GQ and Dazed. A Trans Man Walks into a Gay Bar is his first book. Episode references: * Travis Alabanza, None of the Above: Reflections on Life Beyond the Binary [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/none-of-the-above-reflections-on-life-beyond-the-binary-travis-alabanza/9770e4fcbf2aeb44?ean=9781838854331&next=t&next=t]; Jack Parlett, Fire Island: A Queer History [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/fire-island-a-queer-history-jack-parlett/f549be1ca367a432?ean=9781783787029&next=t&next=t]; Lou Sullivan, Youngman: Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/youngman-lou-sullivan/6290471?ean=9781784877347&next=t]; Matthew Todd, Straight Jacket: Overcoming Society's Legacy of Gay Shame [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/straight-jacket-matthew-todd/3823263?ean=9780552778404&next=t]. * Nicola Dinan, Bellies [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/bellies-a-beautiful-love-story-irish-times-nicola-dinan/7546075?ean=9781804991237&next=t]; Andrew McMillan, Physical [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/physical-andrew-mcmillan/1473242?ean=9780224102131&next=t]; Joelle Taylor, The Night Alphabet [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-night-alphabet-the-electrifying-debut-novel-from-the-award-winning-poet-joelle-taylor/8184e3e7616e2e5e?ean=9781529430974&next=t&next=t]; Shon Faye, Love in Exile [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/love-in-exile-shon-faye/7685433?ean=9780241605981&next=t]; Hugo Greenhalgh, The Diaries of Mr Lucas [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-diaries-of-mr-lucas-notes-from-a-lost-gay-life-hugo-greenhalgh/7013de67c20d921d?ean=9781838958121&next=t&next=t]. Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. Find Harry on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/harrynicholas_/?hl=en]. 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].

In this episode, we read Jane Yeh's poem 'This Morning,' from her collection The Ninjas. You can read the poem online [https://www.poetryinternational.com/en/poets-poems/poems/poem/103-23145_THIS-MORNING], and buy this collection from your local bookshop, or at Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ninjas-jane-yeh/3126691?ean=9781847771476]. Jane Yeh was born in America and has lived in London since 2002. Her collection Discipline (Carcanet, 2019) was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. She was named a Next Generation poet by the PBS for her collection The Ninjas (Carcanet, 2012), and her first collection, Marabou (Carcanet, 2005), was shortlisted for the Forward, Whitbread, and Jerwood Aldeburgh poetry prizes. Episode references: * Jane's 'craft book' recs: Rishi Dastidar (ed.), The Craft [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-craft-a-guide-to-making-poetry-happen-in-the-21st-century-rishi-dastidar/2639756?ean=9781911027850];  Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/bird-by-bird-instructions-on-writing-and-life-anne-lamott/1818821?ean=9781786898555]; Richard Hugo, The Triggering Town [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-triggering-town-lectures-and-essays-on-poetry-and-writing-richard-hugo/3320816?ean=9780393338720] * Jane's recs: Morgan Parker, The Magical Negro [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/magical-negro-morgan-parker/2477654?ean=9781472154071]; Hala Alyan, The Twenty-Ninth Year [https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/the-twenty-ninth-year/]; Terrance Hayes, Lighthead [https://www.nationalbook.org/books/lighthead/] Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. Find Jane on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/janeyeh3/?hl=en], Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/janeyeh3.bsky.social], and her website [https://www.janeyeh3.com/]. 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].

In this episode, we read Richard Scott's poem 'Still Life with Snail, Oyster, Spoon and Shallot Vinegar' from his collection That Broke into Shining Crystals (2025). You can buy this book, and his previous collection Soho, from your local bookshop or from Faber [https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571391318-that-broke-into-shining-crystals/?srsltid=AfmBOopV2xXR7oBPMFbOXnKdj-me8eDvp4Qe49yo256saZhSEq0HvXs-]. Richard Scott is the author of Soho (Faber & Faber, 2018) and most recently That Broke into Shining Crystals (Faber & Faber, 2025). He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Episode references: * Still lives: Jan Davidsz. de Heem, 'Still Life' [https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-davidsz-de-heem-still-life?utm_source=google&utm_medium=google_paid_aip&utm_campaign=aip-grant&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22885782904&gbraid=0AAAAADjwvWlB1OU1aYxBxKzdXeOTLOqeP&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqqDFBhDhARIsAIHTlkvWcoWDtfJgM2UD-hF4TxTMJQfoKFt5zWOvcTdGVZoRSmKdzzJ8DLYaApY3EALw_wcB] and N. Adama, 'Still Life of Oysters and a Prawn on a Ledge, with a Snail and a Butterfly' [https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/1257230] * Sappho, trans. Anne Carson [https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/anne-carson/if-not-winter-the-complete-fragments-of-sappho/9781844080816/] * Mary Ruefle, Madness, Rack, and Honey: Collected Lectures [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/madness-rack-and-honey-collected-lectures-mary-ruefle/7049835?ean=9781933517575] * The Letters of Emily Dickinson [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-letters-of-emily-dickinson-emily-dickinson/7587644?ean=9780674982970] * Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge, A Treatise on Stars [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/a-treatise-on-stars-mei-mei-berssenbrugge/3306080?ean=9780811229388] Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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].

In this episode, we read a passage from Okechukwu Nzelu's Here Again Now (p.47 of the UK paperback). You can buy this book and Nzelu's previous novel from your local bookshop or at Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/here-again-now-written-in-exquisite-prose-and-told-with-compassion-and-tenderness-brit-bennett-author-of-the-vanishing-half-okechukwu-nzelu/4957903?ean=9780349701097]. Dr Okechukwu Nzelu FRSL won a Northern Writers' Award from New Writing North in 2015. His debut novel, The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney [https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-private-joys-of-nnenna-maloney/okechukwu-nzelu/9780349701035] (Dialogue Books, 2019), won a Betty Trask Award; it was also shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Polari First Book Prize, and longlisted for the Portico Prize. In 2021, it was selected for the Kingston University Big Read and distributed to all staff and students at three universities. His second novel, Here Again Now [https://geni.us/HereAgainNow] (Dialogue Books, 2022) was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Encore Award, the Polari Prize, the Jhalak Prize and the Diverse Book Awards. He has made several appearances on national radio, and is a regular contributor to Kinfolk magazine. He is a non-executive director of ALCS and CLA, and Lecturer in Creative Writing at Lancaster University. In 2024 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Episode references: * Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf * John Milton, Paradise Lost * Janet Burroway (with Elizabeth and Ned Stuckey-French), Writing Fiction [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/writing-fiction-tenth-edition-a-guide-to-narrative-craft-janet-burroway/2482624?ean=9780226616698] * Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass * Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/their-eyes-were-watching-god-zora-neale-hurston/161660?ean=9780349019680] * D.H. Lawrence, The Rainbow * George Eliot, Middlemarch * John Williams, Stoner [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/stoner-a-novel-john-williams/3261498?ean=9780099561545] Follow the show (and Okechukwu [https://www.instagram.com/nzeluwrites/?hl=en-gb]) on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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].

In this episode, we read a passage from the end of chapter 1 of Abigail Bergstrom's new novel Selfish Girls. You can buy this and her previous book What a Shame from your local bookshop or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/selfish-girls-the-searing-darkly-humourous-new-novel-from-the-much-acclaimed-author-of-what-a-shame-abigail-bergstrom/7839182?ean=9781399719483]. Abigail Bergstrom is an author and writer, she has written for national magazines and broadsheets including the Guardian, Sunday Times, the Telegraph, Grazia and ELLE, and she reviews books for the quarterly magazine, Konfek. She writes the substack newsletter 'Something to Say,' [https://abigailbergstrom.substack.com/] offering writing advice and cultural commentary to thousands of readers worldwide. Her debut novel What a Shame was published to critical acclaim and the screen rights were optioned by Severn Productions. Her second novel Selfish Girls publishes this summer. She is also the founder of Bergstrom Studio, a literary agency and publishing consultancy that has represented many Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling authors whose books have won literary prizes and awards. She has been listed in the 'The Bookseller 150' which names the industry's most influential and she sits on the advisory board for Cheltenham Literature festival. Episode references: * Faulkner, As I Lay Dying; The Bone Project * Melissa Febos, The Dry Season [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-dry-season-finding-pleasure-in-a-year-without-sex-melissa-febos/7850208?ean=9781837260096] and Body Work [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/body-work-the-radical-power-of-personal-narrative-melissa-febos/6496635?ean=9781526165848]; Guadalupe Nettel, Still Born [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/still-born-guadalupe-nettel/6762450?ean=9781913097660]; Vincenzo Latronico, Perfection [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/perfection-vincenzo-latronico/7688914?ean=9781804271049]; Georges Perec, Things [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/things-a-story-of-the-sixties-with-a-man-asleep-georges-perec/1090395?ean=9780099541660] Follow the show (and Abi [https://www.instagram.com/abigailbergstrom/?hl=en]) on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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].

In this episode, we read Peter Scalpello's poem 'Performance Archive', which you can read online at Berlin Lit [https://www.berlinlit.com/performance-archive/]. You can also buy Peter's first collection Limbic from your local bookshop or at Cipher Press [https://www.cipherpress.co.uk/limbic]. Peter Scalpello is a poet and psychotherapist from Glasgow, based in London. Their work has appeared in Five Dials, Granta, The London Magazine and the New York Times, among other publications. Peter's debut, Limbic, was Highly Commended for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Poetry, and adapted into a stage production at the University of Edinburgh. Their second book, Mirrorstage, will be published with Cipher Press in 2026. Episode references: * Jacques Lacan; Paul B. Preciado; So Mayer; Nisha Ramayya; Oluwaseun Olayiwola; Isabel Waidner * Peter's book recs: T. Fleischmann, Time is the Thing a Body Moves Through [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/time-is-the-thing-a-body-moves-through-t-fleischmann/3319906?ean=9781566895477]; Andrew McMillan, Physical [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/physical-andrew-mcmillan/1473242?ean=9780224102131]; Nuar Alsadir, Animal Joy [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/animal-joy-a-book-of-laughter-and-resuscitation-nuar-alsadir/6879077?ean=9781913097950] and Fourth Person Singular [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/fourth-person-singular-nuar-alsadir/1276189?ean=9781786940193]; Christina Sharpe, Ordinary Notes [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ordinary-notes-christina-sharpe/7448029?ean=9781914198144]; Shon Faye, Love in Exile. [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/love-in-exile-shon-faye/7685433?ean=9780241605981] Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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/].

These book reviews will drop into the feed in between interviews. You can also find the review on the YouTube channel. Go subscribe if you haven't already! You can buy The Emperor of Gladness at a local bookshop or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-emperor-of-gladness-ocean-vuong/7739583?ean=9781787335400]. Follow the podcast on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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/].

In this episode, we read the opening of the story 'Shut Your Mouth' from Marni Appleton's collection I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY. Buy the book from a local indie bookshop, Bookshop.org, or Indigo Press [https://theindigopress.com/product/i-hope-youre-happy/]. Marni Appleton is a writer living in London. She holds a PhD in creative and critical writing from the University of East Anglia. Her fiction has been published in literary journals such as The London Magazine, Banshee and The Tangerine. I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY is Marni's first book, and was published by the Indigo Press in February 2025. Find the transcript and more about the show on Substack [https://open.substack.com/pub/booksupclose/p/marni-appleton-shut-your-mouth?r=6s1le&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true]. Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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/].

In this episode, we read the opening passage from Gurnaik Johal's new novel Saraswati (2025). Buy the book from a local independent bookshop or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/saraswati-gurnaik-johal/6331093]. Gurnaik Johal's short story collection, We Move, won the Somerset Maugham Award, the Tata Literature Live! Prize and the Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize in 2022. Saraswati, his first novel, is out on 12th June. Find the transcript and more about the show on Substack [https://open.substack.com/pub/booksupclose/p/gurnaik-johal-saraswati?r=6s1le&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true]. Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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/].

In this episode, I review Sophie Lewis' Enemy Feminisms. These book reviews will drop into the feed in between interviews. You can also find the review on the YouTube channel. Go subscribe if you haven't already! You can buy Enemy Feminisms from your local bookstore or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/enemy-feminisms-terfs-policewomen-and-girlbosses-against-liberation-sophie-lewis/7805991?ean=9798888902493]. Follow the podcast on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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/].

In this episode, we read a passage (p. 55 of the hardback) from Tawseef Khan's novel Determination (2024). Buy the book from a local independent bookshop or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/determination-tawseef-khan/7639228?ean=9781804440902]. Tawseef Khan is a qualified immigration solicitor and holds a doctoral degree from the University of Liverpool, where he examined the fairness of the British asylum system. He is also a graduate of the creative writing programme at the University of East Anglia, where he received the Seth Donaldson Memorial Bursary. His fiction has appeared in Lighthouse and Test Signal: a Northern anthology; his non-fiction in the New York Times, The Face and Hyphen. His debut non-fiction book Muslim, Actually was published by Atlantic in 2021 and his novel Determination was published in 2024. He lives in Manchester. Find the transcript and more about the show on Substack [https://open.substack.com/pub/booksupclose/p/tawseef-khan-determination?r=6s1le&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true]. Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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/].

In this episode, I review Vincenzo Latronico's Perfection (2022/5), trans. by Sophie Hughes.  These book reviews will drop into the feed in between interviews. You can also find the review on the YouTube channel. Go subscribe if you haven't already! You can buy Perfection from your local bookstore, Fitzcarraldo, or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/perfection-vincenzo-latronico/7688914]. Follow the podcast on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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/].

In this episode, we read a passage from Amy Key's Arrangements in Blue: Notes on Love and Making a Life (2023). Buy the book from a local independent bookshop or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/arrangements-in-blue-notes-on-love-and-making-a-life-amy-key/7523117?ean=9781529919967]. Amy Key is a writer based in London. She is the author of Arrangements in Blue (Jonathan Cape, 2023), chosen as a Book of the Year by The Sunday Times, Independent, Irish Times and Granta and shortlisted by Foyles for their Non Fiction Book of the Year 2023. She is also the author of two collections of poetry, Luxe (Salt, 2013) and Isn't Forever (Bloodaxe, 2018). Her essays have appeared in the collections At The Pond (2019) and By the River (2024) published by Daunt, as well as Granta, Vogue, The Observer, The Poetry Review, Independent and elsewhere. She writes the substack So Glad I'm Me. Find the transcript and more about the show on Substack. Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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/].

In this episode, I review Anthony Passeron's Sleeping Children (2022/5). These book reviews will drop into the feed in between interviews. You can also find the review on the YouTube channel. Go subscribe if you haven't already! You can buy Sleeping Children your local bookstore or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/sleeping-children-anthony-passeron/7648869]. Follow the podcast on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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/].

In this episode, we read the opening of Lola Olufemi's Experiments in Imagining Otherwise (2021). Buy the novel from a local independent bookshop, Bookshop.org, or directly from Hajar Press [https://www.hajarpress.com/books/experiments-in-imagining-otherwise]. Dr. Lola Olufemi is a black feminist writer and Stuart Hall foundation researcher who  completed her doctorate based in the Centre for Research and Education in Art and Media at the University of Westminster. Her work focuses on the utility of the political imagination in the textual and visual cultures of radical social movements, examining the role cultural production plays in processes of materialist resistance and collective conceptualisations of futurity. She is author of Feminism Interrupted: Disrupting Power (2020), Experiments in Imagining Otherwise (2021), the forthcoming Against Literature (2026) and a member of 'bare minimum', an interdisciplinary anti-work arts collective. Find the transcript and more about the show on Substack. Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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/].

In this episode, I review Saou Ichikawa's novel Hunchback (2023). These book reviews will drop into the feed in between interviews. You can also find the review on the YouTube channel. Go subscribe if you haven't already! You can buy Ichikawa's from your local bookstore or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/hunchback-saou-ichikawa/7748975]. Follow the podcast on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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/].

In this episode, we read the opening of Seán Hewitt's Open, Heaven (2025). Buy the novel from a local independent bookshop, or via Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/open-heaven-sean-hewitt/7724420?ean=9781787335196]. Seán Hewitt's debut poetry collection, Tongues of Fire, received the Laurel Prize and was shortlisted for many awards, including the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. All Down Darkness Wide, his memoir, was shortlisted for Biography of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards and for the Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year, and he has collaborated with the artist Luke Edward Hall on 300,000 Kisses: Tales of Queer Love from the Ancient World. His second collection of poetry is Rapture's Road. Hewitt lectures at Trinity College Dublin, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 2022, he was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. Open, Heaven (2025) is his first novel. Find the transcript and more about the show on Substack [https://booksupclose.substack.com/]. Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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/].

In this episode, I review Torrey Peters' book Stag Dance (2025). These book reviews will drop into the feed in between interviews. You can also find the review on the YouTube channel. Go subscribe if you haven't already!  You can buy Torrey Peters' book from your local bookstore or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/untitled-torrey-peters/6404957?ean=9781800810792]. Follow the podcast on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. 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/].