Tag: podcasts

Review | Bestseller, Beka Adamashvili | Dedalus Books

An entertaining mocking of literary aspirations, Beka Adamashvili’s novel, Bestseller, is a rich, kaleidoscopic, polyphonic satire that looks at fame and aspirations. Georgia is little known as compared to its large Russian neighbour on the other side of the Caucasus Mountains. Its history is complex, its alphabet is unique and Georgian is allegedly based on the Aramaic spoken in the time of Jesus. Its contemporary literature is diverse, not only in terms of the authors who represent it, but also in genres and subjects and the art of storytelling.

Continue reading Review | Bestseller, Beka Adamashvili | Dedalus Books

Guest Review | Rachel Goldblatt | The Bell in the Lake, Lars Mytting | MacLehose Press

“And this also”, said Marlow suddenly, “has been one of the dark places of the earth”

 This epigraph, taken from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, sets the tone for Lars Mytting’s sweeping investigation of legend, superstition, and the effects of industrial and ideological change on a small, secluded village in rural Norway. Marlow’s famous statement evokes both an image of literal darkness and ideas about uncivilised nations and their conquest by other – more powerful – empires: both notions are integral to this powerful contemporary narrative that is rooted in history.
 Continue reading Guest Review | Rachel Goldblatt | The Bell in the Lake, Lars Mytting | MacLehose Press

Guest Feature | Rachel Goldblatt | Dispatches from the Intern’s Desk

Starting a new job in the middle of a global pandemic is not something many people would find enviable, though I was obviously delighted for the opportunity as so many others were being furloughed. When I began working for BookBlast in West London, it was in the context of not knowing what the weeks and months ahead had in store. I was meant to be starting an internship at Bloomsbury in April, which was postponed indefinitely due to Covid-19. With the prospect of an endless stretch of time ahead with no work, and any notions of career progression firmly on hold, I had a sinking sense of dread about the rest of 2020. Continue reading Guest Feature | Rachel Goldblatt | Dispatches from the Intern’s Desk

Podcast LIVE | In conversation with Michèle Roberts, Franco-British novelist

Michèle Roberts is the author of twelve highly-acclaimed novels, including The Looking Glass and Daughters of the House which won the W.H. Smith Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She has also published poetry and short stories, and is Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and a member of PEN and of The Society of Authors.

I caught up with her by the telephone, on the eve of the Covid 19 lockdown, to talk about Negative Capability: A Diary of Surviving, her latest book out today with Sandstone Press, and much more besides. 

Continue reading Podcast LIVE | In conversation with Michèle Roberts, Franco-British novelist

Podcast LIVE | In conversation with Keith Anderson a.k.a. Bob Andy, reggae vocalist & songwriter

Instead of bringing you the best reads for summer, BookBlast® is bringing you the best reggae for summer.

Keith Anderson, known as Bob Andy, talks about his life and times in a rare and exclusive interview.

Best known in the UK for the track recorded with Marcia Griffiths “Young, Gifted and Black” (1970), he is widely regarded as “one of reggae’s most influential songwriters,” Wikipedia.

Continue reading Podcast LIVE | In conversation with Keith Anderson a.k.a. Bob Andy, reggae vocalist & songwriter

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