Books Up Close is a show for book lovers, language nerds, or anyone who wants to know how texts get made. Listen as writer and academic Chris Lloyd performs a 'close reading' of some writing with the author themselves.
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Books Up Close is a show for book lovers, language nerds, or anyone who wants to know how texts get made. Listen as writer and academic Chris Lloyd performs a 'close reading' of some writing with the author themselves.
Ep. 14. Richard Scott, 'Still Life with Snail, Oyster, Spoon and Shallot Vinegar'
Books Up Close: The Podcast
57 minutes
2 months ago
Ep. 14. Richard Scott, 'Still Life with Snail, Oyster, Spoon and Shallot Vinegar'
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]
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Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9].
Books Up Close: The Podcast
Books Up Close is a show for book lovers, language nerds, or anyone who wants to know how texts get made. Listen as writer and academic Chris Lloyd performs a 'close reading' of some writing with the author themselves.