396: Ariane Bankes, Irvine Welsh and Elizabeth Oldfield at the Wigtown Book Festival

Today a long chat with Booker Winner 2024 Samantha Harvey and a listen to her winning book Orbital. We hear about the quirks of living on the ISS, about sleeping in orbit, and closer to home we hear about the importance of accessible reading and that Samantha is currently training a guide dog puppy. All that plus some new books in the RNIB Library on today's Read On. Image is the cover of the book Orbital by Samantha Harvey, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2024. The design features a cosmic or abstract space-themed illustration with a black background dotted by colorful, cloud-like shapes in blue, orange, white, and green. The design gives an impression of planets or nebulae in space, with Earth visible in the lower left. The title "Orbital" is prominently centred in large, white text, and the author's name appears below in smaller, yellow font. The Penguin Books logo is at the bottom right.

Full interview on Friday's show, but here's a clip from my interview with Booker winner 2024, Samantha Harvey

We have spoken to all of the Booker Shortlisted authors here at Read On, many on the days leading up to, or in one case the day of, the award ceremony, far too soon to get them onto a regular episode of the show. So here, ahead of the ceremony tonight, is a supercut of all six interviews featuring Percival Everett, Samantha Harvey, Yael van der Wouden, Charlotte Wood, Rachel Kushner and Anne Michaels.  We'll have all of the interviews, uncut, on future editions of Read On. The image showcases six book covers from the Booker shortlist 2024 James by Percival Everett - The cover features bold typography with a striking orange background. A small illustrated figure appears at the bottom, rowing a boat. Orbital by Samantha Harvey - This cover has a cosmic theme with abstract celestial shapes in vibrant colours against a dark background, resembling planets or bubbles in space. Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner - The cover uses bold, playful typography with red and yellow text. An upside-down black-and-white photograph of a woman wearing sunglasses adds a surreal element. Held by Anne Michaels - The cover is minimalist and grayscale, with the word "Held" repeated multiple times vertically. A small orange dot pattern adds subtle colour. The Safe Keep by Yael Van Der Wouden - This cover depicts an interior scene, looking into a room with an open door, hinting at themes of mystery or domesticity. Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood - The cover shows a dilapidated room with peeling walls and sunlight filtering in, suggesting an exploration of decay or solitude.

This week features each book on the 2024 Booker Prize shortlist and a listen to the audio versions, plus some book recommendations from last year’s winner Paul Lynch. Image shows the shortlisted books on a shelf, spines towards the camera.

This week on Read On we have three very different authors,  Ariane Bankes discovers her mother's and aunt's correspondence in The Quality of Love: Twin Sisters at the Heart of the Century, Irvine Welsh tells us about the third Ray Lennox book, Resolution, and Elizabeth Oldfield is Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times in her book, Fully Alive. All that plus some new books (including the new Sally Rooney) in the RNIB Library. The image features elements associated with the Wigtown Book Festival Top Left Corner: The book cover for The Quality of Love: Twin Sisters at the Heart of the Century by Ariane Bankes. The cover has a bright green background with a vintage-style image of two women, likely representing the twin sisters mentioned in the title, facing each other. Top Center: A photograph of Irvine Welsh and Robert Kirkwood. Irvine, on the left, is bald, with a slight smile, dressed casually in a light brown jacket over a striped shirt. Robert, on the right, is taking the selfie, recognizable by his glasses and beard. Bottom Left Corner: The logo for the Wigtown Book Festival, featuring stylized text with a tree sprouting from the letter “W.” Below this is the logo for RNIB Connect Radio Bottom Center: A smiling portrait of Elizabeth Oldfield, who is standing indoors, wearing a black top with a blue and turquoise jacket. Her open, warm smile and relaxed pose convey a friendly, engaging presence. Bottom Right Corner: The book cover for Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times by Elizabeth Oldfield. This cover has a circular design with green and yellow rings radiating from the title.

Today we're chatting to Josie Lloyd about her brand new cosy crime adventure Miss Beeton’s Murder Agency and we get an exclusive news about a brand new book Josie is writing with Emlyn Rees. Plus we'll find some new books in the RNIB Library. The image shows the cover of the book "Miss Beeton's Murder Agency" by Josie Lloyd. The design features a red, townhouse-like building with three stories, each having large, white-framed windows. The top two floors have windows decorated with Christmas wreaths, while the bottom floor has a green door, also adorned with a wreath, and a small dog sitting nearby. Snow is falling across the scene, suggesting a festive, winter setting. The title is written in large, golden-yellow letters, with "Murder Agency" being the most prominent. The background is a dark blue, adding to the nighttime wintery atmosphere. The author's name, Josie Lloyd, is written at the bottom in white, with the subtitle "Sunday Times Bestselling Author" in smaller text. 

There's a food theme in this week's episode as we head to Wigtown to chat to The Hebridean Baker Coinneach MacLeod, food historian Pen Vogler on her books Scoff and Stuffed and philosopher Julian Baggini tells us How The World Eats. Plus we get the Books of Your Life from Gareth Brown and find new books in the RNIB Library. The image used is a fun collage featuring moments from the Wigtown Book Festival, along with some of the authors and their works. On the top left, there’s the festival’s lovely handwritten-style logo with little birds fluttering around it. Just beside that, we see the cover of The Hebridean Baker by Coinneach MacLeod, showcasing a man in a kilt standing in the rugged Scottish outdoors—probably hinting at some great Scottish baking stories! To the right, we have the RNIB Connect Radio logo. In the middle left, there’s a picture of three smiling people: Robert Kirkwood (who you might know from RNIB Radio) is standing on the left, holding a microphone. Next to him is Coinneach MacLeod holding a book, and to the right of him is Pen Vogler, who is holding her book Stuffed: A History of Good Food and Hard Times. Then, on the center right, there’s a nice portrait of Pen Vogler herself, looking thoughtful and confident, with her book cover prominently displayed next to her. Moving down to the bottom, on the left is the colorful cover of How the World Eats by Julian Baggini, which seems to explore food from different cultures across the globe. And on the bottom right, there’s a picture of Julian Baggini himself, standing casually outdoors against a stone wall. All in all, this collage gives a taste of the authors and books you’d encounter at the festival, with a nice focus on food and culture.

In a talk sponsored by RNIB Connect Radio, Gareth Brown talks to Teddy Jameson live on stage at the Wigtown Book Festival about his best-selling time-travelling page turner, The Book of Doors. Plus we find some brand new books in the RNIB Library.

As I'm down in Wigtown recording next week's show, here's a collection of hidden gems we've recorded at the festival over the years.

Another collection of narrators in today's show as we celebrate the voices who bring RNIB Talking Books to life, including two very personal tales for becoming a narrator, how an epic stream of consciousness was recorded over months, and we get the Books of Your Life from Yoto Carnegie Shadower Award winner, Tia Fisher. Plus some new books entering the RNIB Library.