Author Interview: Ali Smith /  by Time Out Bookstore

 

Hollie spoke to Ali Smith ahead of the publication of her new novel, Gliff.

Your new novel Gliff nods to dystopian fiction - is there something in our current climate that inspired this?

Er ... how could there be? Everything is such sweetness and light nationally, internationally, geopolitically and climate-wise and right now, and the future looks ever rosier! I'm clearly being ornery on purpose for some dark personal reason writing something mildly dystopian... but between you and me, there's very little, in fact nothing, in this book (except for a creaky (literally) metaphor involving red paint) that isn't already happening somewhere in the world. 

Is there anything you can tell us about the connection between Gliff and its companion novel Glyph (coming 2025)?

Forgive me, I can't. If I do, the unwritten book will run off like a creature in the wild that's seen me see it.

The Accidental is one of my favourite books of yours, what do you think is the biggest thing that’s changed about your writing since it was published? 

Thank you. I've no idea. I try not to think about it, because the more conscious you are if you're writing fiction, I find, the less the un- and sub- consciousnesses necessary can find their way through the tough hide of the conscious.

How do you structure the layout of a story? Do you write with an outcome in mind? 

Never. What would be the point of writing something if you already knew what happened?

Favourite bookstore moment? 

When Euan, one of the booksellers in the Portobello Bookshop in Edinburgh, said I could have his spare ticket for one of the Taylor Swift concerts if his brother in law didn't want it or couldn't make it. As it happens, his brother in law did want it and could make it. But even the thought of the offer moved me, which is why the latest book is dedicated to that independent bookshop and its marvellous booksellers (and by extension to all marvellous  booksellers, as a model of their typical generosity).

What author or book is a recent discovery for you? 

Joanna Kavenna. What a writer. Check out her story, The Beautiful Salmon, in a recent Paris Review.

What is your favourite snack to enjoy while writing?

Grapes.  

 

95bFM's Loose Reads: The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden /  by Time Out Bookstore

Jenna visited the studio this morning to give a rundown on the upcoming announcement of the 2024 Booker Prize (November 13th NZD time and talk about the deut Dutch shortlistee, The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden.

Set in the 1960’s, in a house in a small Dutch village, Isabel’s rigid routine is upended when her brother’s new girlfriend comes to stay for the summer. However, not is all what it seems.The less you know about this book, the better!

Clcik the link below to listen to Jenna and Jonny’s chat.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Delirious by Damien Wilkins /  by Time Out Bookstore

Jenna phoned from the shop floor to talk about Wellington author Damien Wilkins’ new book, Delirious.

As Mary and Pete prepare to move out of their home and into a retirement village, the past comes back to visit. A deceptively simple read that is masterly crafted about family, memory and grief.

Listen to Jenna & Jonny at the link below.

95bFM's Loose Reads: A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez /  by Time Out Bookstore

The queen of South American horror fiction is back with a new collection of short stories for the spooky season! From hauntings, cults, surgical disasters and beyond, Mariana Enriquez’s new book ‘A Sunny Place for Shady People’ explores the human-made violence and terror inflicted in unique ways onto each of her characters. From body horror, ghosts and psychological torture, this short story collection has something to sate the appetite of all fans of horror. 

Pre-order now to nab your copy just in time for Halloween!

95bFM's Loose Reads: Kataraina by Becky Manawatu /  by Time Out Bookstore

Jenna was back in the bFM studio this morning after being overseas. First, she delves a little into her booky trip to the UK. Then, talks about the highly anticipated sequel to Auē, Kataraina.

Listen to the spoiler free chat with Jonny below, you can also read her spoiler-filled review on The Spinoff here.

Finally, Jenna also chats about Aotearoa NZ Bookshop Day, which is this Saturday 12th October.

‘I am a proud reader of some objectively terrible books’ - Abby's Bookseller Confessional! /  by Time Out Bookstore

Our Abby is the latest entry to The Spinoff’s Bookseller’s Confessional! Read about her highs and lows of bookselling, as well as her absolute favourite (and least favourite!) books:

Books mentioned:

95bFM's Loose Reads: The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk /  by Time Out Bookstore

Winner of the 2018 International Booker Prize and 2018 Nobel Prize for literature, Olga Tokarczuk returns to fiction with a heady, atmospheric 'health resort horror story'. 

Written 100 years after the publication of The Magic Mountain, The Empusium is written both as a response and a feminist retelling of Thomas Mann's canonical work.

We follow Miczyslaw Wojnik's arrival at a sanatorium set in the lush and dense mountainous forests of Germany, where the alpine air is touted as an antidote to all its inhabitants' ills. 

Following strict regimens of diet and exercise and using their downtime to muse on the state of a nation on the brink of war, the patients are aware of beady eyes following every move- are they being watched by the staff? Or is there a more sinister presence lurking in the shadows of the mountain fauna?

A novel filled with socratic dialogue and a rich, divinical atmosphere, The Empusium is a stunning and sinister exploration into the roots of facism and misogyny, as relevant today as it's predecessor was almost a century ago.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Pātea Boys/Ngāti Pātea by Airana Ngarewa /  by Time Out Bookstore

I pānui a Abby i Pātea Boys/Ngāti Pātea nā Airana Ngarewa mō Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Ka kōrero ia ki a Jonny mō tēnei pukapuka whakamīharo: (arohamai, e ako tonu ana ahau!)

From the bestselling author of The Bone Tree comes a lively and playful bilingual collection of stories about growing up in Pātea. Interlinked and full of recurring characters, these stories are about growing up in small-town Aotearoa - sneaking away during cross country or doing bombs while the lifeguard isn't looking.

The collection is designed to bridge a gap between children's books in te reo and full-length literary works. With each story featured in both English and te reo Māori, it's the perfect resource for those on their reo learning journeys as well as for readers who enjoyed The Bone Tree.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Help Wanted by Adele Waldman /  by Time Out Bookstore

Biting, sharp and funny, ‘Help Wanted’ by Adelle Waldman follows the daily rhythms and tribulations of workers in the big box megastore, Town Square. Desperate to escape the grips of their line manager Meredith, the employees band together to plot her removal. 

Shifting perspectives between the workers, this novel explores the unimportant but omnipresent rules and structures governing the daily lives of workers chained to their jobs and class.

Irreverent, funny and whip-smart, ‘Help Wanted’ is a millennial workplace novel that unearths the bureaucracy of management and the physical and mental aches of working class life in America.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Brat by Gabriel Smith /  by Time Out Bookstore

Abby and Jonny chat about Brat, the debut novel from Gabriel Smith:

Jonas Gabriel is an aspiring writer struggling to come to terms with the death of his father and the terminal illness of his mother. Suffering from a rare condition that makes his skin to peel off like a reptile, he can’t seem to stop offending relatives and family friends, often at considerable physical cost to himself.

Escaping the spectre of the girlfriend who has left him and the literary agent chasing him for the novel he has not even started, he returns to his family home to prepare it to be sold. Alone in the house, his skin shedding in ever-increasing frequency and quantity, with nothing but benzos, booze and memories for company, things take an uncanny turn: a manuscript for a novel written by his mother keeps changing, an old home video is similarly unstable and may reveal unsettling secrets, the house is becoming encased in Russian vines and a man dressed as a deer keeps appearing in the back garden.

While handling age-old themes of mortality, familial love and the impermanence of art, Brat is not quite like anything you’ve ever read before. At once a dark and disquieting ghost story, a unique and brilliant meditation on grief, and a profoundly funny Bildungsroman in which the protagonist’s education is anything but sentimental, it is a work of electrifying originality and bravura virtuosity by a major new literary talent. 

Listen below!

95bFM's Loose Reads: Alphabetical Diaries by Sheila Heti /  by Time Out Bookstore

Suri talks to Jonny about Sheila Heti’s latest memoir which is an exploration of form and a radical experiment in diary writing.

Each chapter includes diary entries out of chronological order and in a system of alphabetisation- every sentence within a chapter begins with the same letter. From reading Faulkner to kissing in the supermarket, Alphabetical Diaries offers an intimate insight into the minutiae of Heti’s daily life and habits with a playful, poetic flair.

Listen below!

RNZ's Nine to Noon: The Hypocrite by Jo Hamya /  by Time Out Bookstore

A cleverly told story which thoughtfully captures the uncomfortable space between the generational and gender divide of a daughter and a father.

Sophia’s father sits in a theatre to watch the debut of his young daughter’s play. But he soon realises the play is about him and a holiday they took together in Sicily.

For fans of Deborah Levy, Ian McEwan and Rachel Cusk!

Listen to Jenna chat with guest Nine to Noon host, Paddy Gower below.

95bFM's Loose Reads: The Survivors by Steve Braunias /  by Time Out Bookstore

Jenna has Father’s Day on her mind, with a recommendation that would be great for your Dad, or quite frankly, just yourself!

Auckland based journalist Steve Braunias has declared The Survivors is his last book of true crime. Some cases you will know, others Steve was the only media in the room. This series of essays that depicts the human condition, with insight, investigation and humour.

Listen to Jenna & Jonny chat about it below.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner /  by Time Out Bookstore

Told through the eyes of sharp-eyed secret agent Sadie Smith, Creation Lake is a genre-bending espionage tale, with an unexpectedly philosophical core. Set in the ancient caves and dried lakes of France, this atmospheric novel follows Sadie as she infiltrates an extremist group intent on unraveling civilization and replacing it with a primordial society. Headed by the charismatic and evasive Bruno, the group plots violent acts intended to pull Europe back into the Bronze Age. 

A surprising and fascinating cat-and-mouse chase, Creation Lake asks existential questions about human and civilizational origins whilst remaining thrilling up to its last words.

This is Rachel Kushner's second Booker longlisted title and perhaps her most rigorous one yet. Creation Lake is released early September.