Name: Suyin
Reading: Familiar Stranger, Stuart Hall
Why did you want to read this? I first read this book in 2023 and so much of it has stayed with me and shaped my work and thinking since then. As I was re-reading it for this project, I realised how many common threads and themes there are that have appeared in my own life experiences -- it seemed almost serendipitous. Familiar Stranger was published posthumously in 2018, and I keep thinking about how enduring his writing about migrant and diasporic experiences continues to be -- particularly at a time where Britain is characterised as becoming 'an island of strangers' by our political leadership.
How did you record yourself? I recorded myself sitting in my armchair in my study on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I had returned from a friend's wedding the day before, where I was honoured that she invited me to read a short poem as part of her ceremony. I thought this would be a nice activity to do the following day, given my vocal chords have warmed up a bit (hopefully!).
Nom: Amélie
En lisant: Angel, Ronan Guillou (texte de Wim Wenders)
Pourquoi voulais-tu lire ça ? Je suis d’abord tombée en amour avec une photographie (Tim Claar, serveur au Ruby's) puis avec tout le travail de Ronan Guillou. J’ai rencontré Ronan lors du lancement de Angel à la librairie photographique à Paris (Merci Kiki !). J’avais dans les mains le livre Once de Wim Wenders. Ronan a trouvé ça drôle. Il m’a dit comme il chérissait ce livre et que c’était justement Wim Wenders qui avait écrit le texte d’ouverture de Angel. Une jolie coïncidence ! Ronan nous a quittés il y a 3 ans et c’est avec beaucoup d’émotion que je lui rends ce petit hommage.
Comment t’es-tu enregistrée ? L’exercice a été beaucoup plus compliqué que ce que je l’imaginais. Il y avait la structure et la poésie du texte et puis l’émotion. J’ai pensé changer de livre mais non, ça devait être celui-ci. Ronan Guillou, Wim Wenders, Leonard Cohen, c’était une évidence. J’ai commencé l’enregistrement chez moi, à Londres, un dimanche soir au coucher du soleil. Je crois que la lumière se devait d’être particulière. J’ai finalement terminé à Pornichet en France, chez mes parents, dans ma chambre d’enfant, dans un silence presque absolu. J’aime à penser que Ronan est passé par là, juste à ce moment-là.
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Why did you want to read this? I first fell in love with a photograph (Tim Claar, waiter at Ruby's), and then with all of Ronan Guillou's work. I met Ronan at the launch of Angel at the photography bookstore in Paris (Thank you, Kiki!). I had the book Once by Wim Wenders in my hands. Ronan found it funny. He told me how much he cherished that book and that it was also Wim Wenders who had written the opening text for Angel. A lovely coincidence! Ronan left us three years ago, and it's with much emotion that I pay him this little tribute.
How did you record yourself? The exercise was much more complicated than I had imagined. There was the structure and poetry of the text, and then the emotion. I thought about choosing a different book, but no, it had to be this one. Ronan Guillou, Wim Wenders, Leonard Cohen—it was obvious. I began the recording at home, in London, on a Sunday evening at sunset. I think the light had to be special. I eventually finished in Pornichet, France, at my parents' house, in my childhood bedroom, in almost absolute silence. I like to think Ronan passed by, just at that moment.
Name: Hilary
Reading: Tender Buttons, Gertrude Stein
Why did you want to read this? I had a few different ideas but Tender Buttons won out for being the most fun to read aloud. I have a few deadlines at the moment and it was therapeutic to spend thirty minutes thinking of nothing but the shapes and sounds of the words, focusing on not tripping up because nothing unfurls in an expected way. The lines have their rhythm though, and I find a strange or altered sense of emotionality in them which cannot be tied to meaning, like in dreams—which was fun to think about in the reading.
How did you record yourself? In my studio surrounded by oil heaters in April, a little awkwardly so as not to block the microphone with the book. There was some background noise of the trams, traffic and voices on the street below, and some knocking about in the rooms next door, but not loud enough to be picked up by my laptop mic (I hope).
Nombre: Lia
Leyendo: Romance Artístico, Chris Kraus
¿Por qué quisiste leer esto? Traduje y edité este libro: le tengo mucho cariño.
¿Cómo te grabaste? Con un micrófono que me prestó Juan Pablo, después de bañarme, en la primera tarde lluviosa del año.
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Why did you want to read this? I translated and edited this book, so I’m very fond of it.
How did you record yourself? With a microphone that Juan Pablo lent me, after taking a shower, on the first rainy afternoon of the year.
Name: Sarah
Reading: Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Why did you want to read this? This is the story of a 15 year-old Nigerian girl’s coming of age. It’s about the relationships in her life, set against a military coup. I chose it because it lets you into her world and her steps to independence and it allows you to imagine the society in which she lives. The relationship between her and her deeply religious father, alternating between love and fear, is particularly well drawn. Although I read it over a year ago, it stays in my mind.
How did you record yourself? My son helped me. He held his phone for me to speak into, in our front room.
Name: Afton
Reading: Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls, T Kira Madden
Why did you want to read this? This book has been a huge teacher text for me. It’s incredible at the sentence level--I love the scrappiness of her sounds, consonants especially. I want everyone to listen to and read her.
How did you record yourself? In the middle of the day, I turned off the heat, which is loud, and sat on my bed with my phone.
Bonus episode if you'd like to listen to the text read in the original French by Selbi's mum Leila.
Épisode bonus si vous souhaitez écouter le texte lu en français par Leila, la maman de Selbi.
Name: Selbi
Reading: King Kong Theory, Virginie Despentes
Why did you want to read this? I was very moved by this book, it changed the way I think. It's raw and speaks to a woman's condition. It's a feminist manifesto but not the commercial Beyonce T-shirt feminism. I wish I read this book earlier in my life - it is one of those life-changing books, it will not leave you unshaken.
How did you record yourself? I recorded myself sitting at a table where I usually work, in the evening. I've heard that wearing a silk scarf whilst recording yourself reading out loud is a good idea, so I wore one.
Name: Laura
Reading: Potiki, Patricia Grace
Why did you want to read this? Potiki is a novel about indigenous land rights in Aotearoa New Zealand, it follows a Māori community who's ancestral land is under threat. It was published in 1986 but Māori are still facing the same issues as the current government has introduced a bill that limits the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, Aotearoa New Zealand's founding document. Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a gift, and must be protected.
How did you record yourself? On my laptop in a room with pink walls that looks over the back garden. I am a secondary school teacher and usually have to manage behaviour and circle the classroom while reading aloud, it was nice to sit and be still, to have my mind only on the words.
Name: Rebecca
Reading: Look at Me, Anita Brookner
Why did you want to read this? Brookner opens 'Look at Me' with a series of close readings of the history of the representation of sickness and madness in art. This has a quality of non-fiction (and reflects Brookner's other life as an art historian) but she also manages to convey so much about her narrator, Frances Hinton. Her isolation, self-estrangement, reticence and rage; her sense of her life's smallness and unfairness.
How did you record yourself? Sitting in bed with my cat, who I was afraid could be heard purring in the recording.
Name: Anna
Reading: Lisa Robertson, Cinema of the Present
Why did you want to read this? I chose Cinema of the Present because I'd needed to read it aloud to myself to fully experience it - I love books like that. It's a long poem that moves in and around and through its subjects: time, thought, surfaces, structures and language, and many, many, other things. Evenly spaced lines alternate between italic and Roman type: two sets of almost identical sentences, but ordered differently so that they begin to repeat each other as the book progresses. The process of reading it aloud animates this typographical structure and brings each image fully into being.
How did you record yourself? I sat on my bed on a wet Sunday morning, phone propped on my knee.
Name: Ruby
Reading: Quantum Listening, Pauline Oliveros
Why did you want to read this? I aspire to be a good listener. Oliveros's approach to listening is poetic and practical, yet also incredibly complex. The theory of Quantum Listening stretches from the observation of a slight change in pitch to the wide stance of a worldview. It reminds us that listening is an ongoing practice of attuning to one’s environment, caring for each other, and orienting ourselves in a chaotic world. It felt like a gift to dedicate time and attention to this text. May hearing it read aloud allow it to resonate deeply.
How did you record yourself? I recorded myself at dusk in a friend's apartment that reminds me of a tree house. I read by the warm light of the lamps scattered around the room. Every so often, I would turn around to see that the sun still had yet to set, the sky still a muted blue.
Name: Sophie
Reading: The Hearing Trumpet, Leonora Carrington
Why did you want to read this? I got to know and love this book through teaching it a few years ago, which is a nice way to become familiar with a novel: i.e. with lots of other people. Reading it aloud now reminded me of that time. I find it very, very funny and – if this makes sense – as a book it seems sort of free and unbothered. It has one of my all-time favourite plots, Marian Leatherby is an icon, and I wish Carrington’s writing were as well-known as her visual art.
How did you record yourself? I sat in my bedroom (which is a bit messy) at my partner’s desk, recording with Audacity on my laptop. A couple of years ago, one of my vocal cords was seriously injured – I’ve been having voice therapy to help me get some strength and volume back, particularly for situations in which I need to speak uninterrupted for a block of time. So, recording this was a challenge I opted into, and I felt quite self-conscious while I was reading. But I think it went well!
Name: Freya
Reading: The Emigrants, W.G. Sebald
Why did you want to read this? Lately Sebald’s books have been exactly what I want to read and it felt like it would be really nice to share this one. I think that’s partly what I like so much about the podcast - people sharing what they love, in a gentle way - just putting it out there - and the intimacy of reading aloud.
How did you record yourself? Sitting on a fluffy rug on my bedroom floor with my laptop in front of me, it was a sunny morning.
*Content note: this episode contains mention of death by suicide*
Name: Isha
Reading: Mirrors in the Earth, Asia Suler
Why did you want to read this? I discovered this book earlier this year while reading an article on intuitive plant medicine. The language had a vivid nature imagery, an openness and a tenderness that made me feel extremely safe and held. The book reads like a healing salve on a burning wound. I would usually read an essay and then keep the book down — soaking in its essence. And after a few days or weeks passed the next essay would call out to me at exactly the right time — as if it had been patiently waiting for me to be ready to receive its medicine.
How did you record yourself? I recorded this with a tentativeness as I explored what my voice meant for me, what it wanted to say and why it was afraid. I also had the Audacity app, my Mac, a lot of pillows and my aunt’s study desk to support.
Name: Assunta
Reading: The Arcane of Reproduction: Housework, Prostitution, Labor and Capital, Leopoldina Fortunati
Why did you want to read this? I wanted to read this text to understand it more deeply and to be able to listen to it on my commute.
How did you record yourself? I recorded the chapter with my mobile phone.
Name: Fathima
Reading: Traces of Enayat, Iman Mersal
Why did you want to read this? This was one of my favourite reads from last year. I had the chance to hear Iman read and talk about her work, and she read an excerpt from the first chapter. I was really struck by the story of Enayat, Iman’s search for her and the questions it poses about who gets to be remembered, being a writer and trying to make a living for yourself. I felt a kinship with both Iman and Enayat and their ethos when it comes to their writing.
How did you record yourself? I recorded this at my desk, under the shade of my table lamp, at night. I was in my pyjamas and cardigan, as I am, most winter nights.
Name: Julia
Reading: The Dud Avocado, Elaine Dundy
Why did you want to read this? Throughout the book, I enjoyed the frivolity and openness of the protagonist. I have an affinity with Sally Jay in the way she strives to feel things and live her life, even though at some points her naïvety and impatience bring nothing but a series of misfortunes. This is a story to be read with flush on your cheeks, every time. Also, it evokes some Parisian longings.
How did you record yourself? I was sitting on my bed in polka dot tights to feel more exalted and recorded myself on my laptop, set on a red-brown chair near the bedside. Left alone in my communal apartment, I relished in reading out loud and taking sips of coffee when my lips went dry.
Name: Anusuya
Reading: The Dispossessed, Ursula Le Guin
Why did you want to read this? I first read The Dispossessed during a family vacation when I was in my mid-teens. By that point, I was an avid Sci-Fi reader, and the vaguely alien-looking spaceship on the cover convinced me that it would be decent for the week. However, it took hold of me in a way no book had before, made me consider things I had never before, or consider further in-depth, and then later, unearth new considerations. I have returned to this book a few more times, and each time it leaves me with my head full, but buzzing with an undercurrent of hope.
How did you record yourself? On my bed with my laptop, with a blanket wrapped around my legs since it's been getting rather chilly this week. I recorded it during the night since I was unexpectedly busy the whole day.
Name: Jaya
Reading: The Temple of My Familiar, Alice Walker
Why did you want to read this? I partly wanted to connect with my 21-year-old self—just finishing college, already into meditation, and amazed by how this book transmitted a shamanic, transformative atmosphere. I bought copies for many friends, and even the mother of a friend, although I had very little money—and these gifts were hardcover copies because the paperback hadn’t come out yet. Even now, after decades of meditation, I find it more important than ever to share art that directly supports insight and awakening, rather than trying to address the mystery of life through the intellect.
How did you record yourself? I sat on the floor of my son’s bedroom with a Rode podmic on a short stand, and an ill-fitted pop filter teetering on the neck of the mic. The mic was plugged into my laptop USB port, where Audacity was taking it all in.
