The Sunday Salon with Alice-Azania Jarvis

Family, grief and finding love late with Christina Patterson

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 27 Mar 2022 09:24:46 +0000

Christina Patterson is a journalist and author, whose new book Outside The Sky Is Blue, is an absolutely beautiful reflection on family, illness, grief and love. I worked with Christina many years ago. In fact, she sat next to me when I was a very green reporter working on the gossip column of the Independent newspaper. She, in contrast, was an extremely erudite and glamorous columnist, writing about big issues like politics and literature - and she was absolutely lovely to me. What I hadn’t realised was that she’d had to deal with an enormous amount of grief and hardship in her life. Outside The Sky Is Blue recounts the story of her family - whom she calls, at one point, “the mad, sad Pattersons”, including her sister’s schizophrenia, the premature deaths of her mother, father and brother, and her own struggles with lupus and cancer. This might sound depressing, but in fact Outside The Sky Is Blue is very far from a misery memoir. What Christina has done so well is inject humour, nostalgia, and even glamour into her story, whether that’s in recounting her strange time as a member of an evangelical youth group and her exciting, action-packed rise through the world of publishing and the arts and into journalism; or relaying anecdotes about her love life. I absolutely adored the book, and I loved speaking to Christina about it. What a special interview to end on. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/outside-the-sky-is-blue/christina-patterson/9781472282620

Twitter: @aliceazania / @queenchristina_

Instagram: @aliceazania / @queenchristinawriter

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Series finale! Lily King on Writers and Lovers

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 19 Dec 2021 10:40:00 +0000

I adored this episode. Lily King is the author of five novels - including, most recently, the phenomenal best seller Writers and Lovers, which documents the creative and romantic travails of aspiring writer Casey Peabody. It's one of my favourite books of the year and so speaking to Lily felt like a fitting finale to this series. I loved hearing about everything from why she writes by hand to how she forces herself to work even when she's not feeling inspired and so much more. It was a gorgeous conversation and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/writers-and-lovers/lily-king/9781529033137

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Sarah Pearse on being fangirled by Reese Witherspoon and how to get published

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 12:05:00 +0000

If you're after an eerie thriller to curl up with over Christmas, the New York Times Bestseller The Sanatorium would be pretty perfect - and I loved interviewing its author Sarah Pearse. She was full of practical advice for getting published, having started by writing short stories for magazines before attempting novels. And I loved her down-to-earth attitude to writing. We also spoke about Reese Witherspoon, who included Sarah's book in her online book club -and with whom she had a pretty surreal Zoom call. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-sanatorium/sarah-pearse/2928377075873

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Arifa Akbar on her sister's death and the medical failures around it

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 5 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Arifa Akbar is the Guardian's Chief Theatre Critic and the author of the phenomenally powerful Consumed: A Sister's Story. It's an astonishing read, which tells the story of Arifa's sister's death from tuberculosis, which was somehow missed by medics at a top London hospital. It delves into the aftermath - Arifa’s search for answers to questions such as whether her sister’s history of poor mental health meant she was taken less seriously, and spools back to their childhood, growing up in poverty in North London having moved to the UK from Lahore. It examines the complexities of sibling relationships, the bonds, shared behaviours, and the arguments, and looks at Arifa and her sister's struggle with binge eating. It's a brilliant, multilayered book - and I found speaking to Arifa about how she wrote it absolutely fascinating. Buy the book:https://www.waterstones.com/book/consumed/arifa-akbar/9781529347524 Edited by Chelsey Moore

Tahmima Anam on satirising big tech - and the five years that her son wouldn't eat

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Tahmima Anam, Alice-Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Tahmima Anam has had a fascinating life. Born in Bangladesh, she has lived in Paris, New York and Bangkok - and is now based in the UK. Her first novel, A Golden Age (2007), won the Commonwealth Writers Prizes' Best First Book award and launched a highly acclaimed trilogy concerned with telling the history of Bangladesh as an independent nation. Her most recent book, The Start Up Wife, is extremely different - a sort of "romantic comedy" (to use her phrase) which satirises the start-up industry, tech bros, and Big Tech's messianic tenancies. It's hilariously funny and bitingly sharp - she draws on her own experience of working in the field. We talked about all of that and more - including the incredibly difficult experience she had when her son, as an infant, refused to eat for the first five years of his life. I hope you find her as fascinating as I did - and apologies for my naughty, noisy cats playing in the background!

Buy the book: https://tinyurl.com/startupwife

Instagram / Twitter: @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Elif Shafak on postnatal depression and writing as 'animal instinct'

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 21 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Elif Shafak is - among other things - an activist, public speaker and academic with a PhD in political science who teaches at universities in Turkey, the US and the UK. She is also the author of an incredible 12 novels which have been translated into 55 languages. Her most recent novel, The Island of Missing Trees, is a sweeping story of intergenerational trauma set in Cyprus and London. I loved talking to her about it - and in particular in the role of nature as a plot device - as well as about her fascinating life: she was born in Strasbourg, before moving to Turkey, where she was later put on trial for "insulting Turkishness" in her acclaimed book The Bastard of Istanbul. She is now based in London. We discussed all this and more - including her struggle with postnatal depression, writing in a second language, and the power of being an outsider. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/316/316722/the-island-of-missing-trees/9780241434994.html

Twitter / Instagram: @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Emily Ratajkowski on fame, trauma and the male gaze

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 14 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Hello and welcome to a new series of the Sunday Salon! I've got so many fantastic guests coming up - and today's episode is particularly special. Emily Ratajkowski is a model, activist and actress - and now the author of My Body, a collection of essays reflecting on her position in the spotlight and how her appearance has shaped people's behaviours and attitudes towards her. It's a riveting and extremely moving read - Emily reveals some deeply traumatic experiences, including being sexually assaulted while working as a model (her allegations about Robin Thicke have been widely publicised in recent weeks; he hasn't yet responded publicly) and earlier, at the age of just 14, by a schoolfriend. I have to say, I was blown away with how raw and accomplished each essay was, and I'm so grateful to Emily for speaking so openly and honestly with me. We covered so much - including what it's like to have everything you do become "clickbait", her own physical hyper-awareness as someone who is constantly photographed, revisiting painful memories in public, and finding catharsis in writing. I hope you find it as fascinating as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/my-body/emily-ratajkowski/9781529420906

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Season finale! Alix O'Neill on growing up in the shadow of The Troubles

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 5 Sep 2021 04:00:08 +0000

Right, I'm off to enjoy my honeymoon (yes, all being well, by the time you read this I will be one day into married life). But I'm leaving you with a joy of an episode.

I loved this book. The Troubles with Us: One Belfast Girl on Boys, Bombs and Finding Her Way is a brilliant memoir by Alix O'Neill about her time growing up in Northern Ireland. Taking in everything from bomb threats to pop music and her (very) eccentric family, it's both hugely entertaining and enjoyable but also massively informative and interesting from a more historical point of view. As you can imagine, I had a LOT to ask Alix about - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-troubles-with-us/alix-oneill/9780008393700

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Phoebe Luckhurst on fitting a novel around a full-time job and launching The Tab

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 07:00:02 +0000

Today's episode was such a joy to record - Phoebe Luckhurst is an editor at the Evening Standard newspaper, and also the author of The Lock In, a totally fun indulgence of a book about what happens when three housemates (and a date) find themselves trapped in the attic of their house share. Phoebe is such a clever writer - she has managed to work in so many touchpoints of millennial culture and London life, from dating apps to public transport calculations to awful landlords and so much else. Fittingly, she wrote most of the book in lockdown - something I loved hearing about as I can remember having the opposite experience, and feeling totally uncreative and uninspired. I was also fascinated by her tales of student journalism (she was one of the founding staff members on the student tabloid The Tab). Anyway - I'll leave you to discover the rest. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book here:
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-lock-in/phoebe-luckhurst/9780241508756

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Olivia Petter on love and relationships in the internet age

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 06:00:31 +0000

This was such a fun interview! Olivia Petter is a podcasting phenomenon and the author of Millennial Love, a kind of modern anthropological anthology of what dating and relationships are like now. From apps to ghosting and how social media can affect both the beginning - and end - of relationships, to how the MeToo movement changed ordinary women's lives, there was so much we covered. I loved her book, and I loved talking to her about it - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/millennial-love/olivia-petter/9780008412302

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Nadifa Mohamed on turning real-life into fiction and why 'fallow time' is key

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 15 Aug 2021 09:00:29 +0000

I loved this conversation: Nadifa Mohamed is an award-winning novelist whose most recent book The Fortune Men is a dazzling account of the real-life events surrounding the wrongful imprisonment and execution of a Somali seaman and father, who was the last man to be hanged in Cardiff prison. Set in Tiger Bay in the 1950s and fusing historical reportage and literary fiction, it has just been longlisted for a Booker prize - and quite right too. I loved talking to Nadifa about her unique approach to writing - her first book Black Mamba Boy was similarly inventive: part novel, part account of her father's life in Yemen and his journey to the UK. It was just so interesting to hear about the process of taking real life events - whether from newspapers or her family life - and applying artistic license to turn them into stories, as well as her stop-start approach to writing, the importance of 'fallow time', and adapting her work to opera. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-fortune-men/nadifa-mohamed/9780241466940

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Bella Mackie

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 8 Aug 2021 04:00:32 +0000

Today's guest is the absolutely brilliant Bella Mackie, author of the fabulous and funny new novel How To Kill Your Family. You may also know her non-fiction work, particularly her phenomenally successful memoir Jog On, which chronicled how taking up running after her first marriage collapsed helped manage her anxiety. It was a bestseller, and she has become one of the most high-profile and refreshingly down-to-earth voices on mental health around.
I loved our conversation, which took in everything from the pomodoro method (she's a fan!) to the research that went into writing her rather bloody book - to the anxiety she experienced in the wake of Jog On's success, having never imagined it would garner so much attention.
We spoke before How To Kill Your Family was published, and Bella was really nervous to see how her first piece of fiction was received - well, it's since become a Sunday Times number one bestseller. Quite right too. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/how-to-kill-your-family/bella-mackie/9780008365912

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Lisa Taddeo on Three Women, grief and exploring darkness in fiction

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 1 Aug 2021 04:00:34 +0000

I'm so, so excited for you to hear today's episode. Lisa Taddeo is a phenomenon. She shot to fame as the author of Three Women, which covers the sexual and emotional lives of three women from different backgrounds and regions of the United States. It was described as 'groundbreaking', 'seminal' and having created a whole new genre. Now she has written a novel, Animal, a gripping and often dark story of rage, power, control and abuse. I absolutely loved talking to her - she was totally fascinating, opening up on everything from the profound grief she felt after the death of her parents, to how she kept persisting with Three Women, even as the time it took stretched way beyond her initial contract to eight years. I couldn't ask for a more interesting interviewee - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Natasha Lunn on lessons in love, hope and grief

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 25 Jul 2021 04:00:52 +0000

I'm so happy to be back - and I'm so excited about today's guest. Natasha Lunn is a journalist and the author of Conversations On Love, an absolutely gorgeous book in which she interviews authors and experts, while also drawing on her own experience in a series of riveting personal essays. She asks three key questions: how do we find love? How do we sustain it? And how do we survive when we lose it?

This is truly the stuff of life, and I couldn’t put Conversations On Love down. I've known Natasha for a few years, and her fascination with love is totally genuine and infectious. The book - which was born out of her wildly popular newsletter of the same name - takes in both her long quest for romantic love, as well as the aftermath of her miscarriage and her struggle to conceive again. And it explores other kinds of love too: the love between friends, siblings, parents and even strangers. It's so moving and beautifully written - but also funny, warm and wise.

I had such fun recording this episode - it was my first one in person for over a year - hence the birdsong in the background (windows open!!), which I rather love for the summery feel it adds.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/conversations-on-love/natasha-lunn/9780241448731

Instagram: @conversations_on_love / @natashachloelunn / @aliceazania
Twitter: @Natashalunn / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Season finale: Taylor Jenkins Reid on Hollywood, nostalgia and how motherhood changed her writing

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 13 Jun 2021 15:10:49 +0000

Where to start with this? I absolutely loved Malibu Rising. A heady mix of 80s Malibu and 60s Hollywood, it’s an absolute blast to read. But then I shouldn’t be surprised - after all, it was written by Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of 2019’s smash-hit Daisy Jones and the six. I just adored speaking to her about it, as well as hearing about her unconventional path to writing (it involves Jennifer Aniston), her love of chick lit and how motherhood has made her better at her job. It’s was a great conversation - and a wonderful way to wrap up the series. Buy the book: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1116392/malibu-rising/9781786331526.html Edited by Chelsey Moore

Season finale: Taylor Jenkins Reid on Hollywood, nostalgia and how motherhood changed her writing

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 13 Jun 2021 14:11:57 +0000

Buy the book: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1116392/malibu-rising/9781786331526.html

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Kat Arney on women in science and the future of cancer treatment

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 6 Jun 2021 04:00:14 +0000

I’m not sure you could have come up with a more ambitious task than Kat Arney set herself when she decided to write her most recent book Rebel Cell: Cancer, Evolution and the Science of Life, in which she looks at the history of cancer in the human race, as well as how we tend to view, prevent and treat it today. It’s not her first massive challenge - before this, she wrote a book about understanding how our genes work. I loved hearing how she took on the task, how she built her career in science and science communication in a frequently male-dominated field, and what it has been like to have science become the focus of so much attention over the past year. I hope you find her as fascinating as I did.

Edited by Chelsey Moore
Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/rebel-cell/dr-kat-arney/9781474609302

Dima Alzayat on writing and mother hood - and the problem with how we talk about books

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 30 May 2021 09:00:49 +0000

Dima Alzayat has had a fascinating life. Born in Damascus, Syria, she grew up in California before moving to the UK to study creative writing. Her collection of short stories Alligator and Other Stories is a riveting read, in which she ranges across genres and formats in a way I’ve not seen before. I loved talking to her about this - hearing about her process and path to publication (not to mention how motherhood has changed that) as well as about some of the frustrations she has felt in having her work pidgeonholed as “a muslim, Arab book” simply because of her background. It was a fascinating conversation and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/alligator-and-other-stories/dima-alzayat/9781529029918

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Katie Service on BTS as a makeup artist and what she's learned about skincare

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 23 May 2021 04:00:46 +0000

This was such a fun episode to record. Katie Service is a former makeup artist and beauty editor who is now Editorial Beauty Director at Harrods - and the author of The Beauty Brief: An Insider's Guide to Skincare. She’s also an old colleague of mine - we worked together on ES magazine, where she became my go-to guru for anything vaguely beauty related. I have to admit: this is not natural territory for me. Left to my own devices (for instance in lockdown) I tend to go a bit feral. So I loved the chance to pick Katie’s brains on what I should be doing now that normal life is resuming, as well as what it’s like to work in such a glamorous and competitive industry - often fielding big egos on photo shoots. Her book is absolutely packed with useful information, explaining everything from how different products work to what ingredients lists mean, and what is definitely not worth wasting your time and money on. I hope you enjoy hearing her as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-beauty-brief/katie-service/constanza-goeppinger/9780500295465

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Hydra in the 60s, the muse's curse and writing lyrics with Polly Samson

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 16 May 2021 04:00:46 +0000

This was such a fun conversation. After becoming fascinated by an old photo taken on the island of Hydra in Greece, Polly Samson set about researching the lives of the musicians, writers and artists who settled there in the 1960s, from Marianne Ihlen and Leonard Cohen to the writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston. Her novel, A Theatre For Dreamers, is a lush fictionalised account of their lives, and a look at the problematic role of an artist's muse. I loved hearing about how and why she wrote it, her experience writing lyrics - she has written dozens for her husband David Gilmour of Pink Floyd - and her glamorous-sounding career in publishing in the 90s. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-theatre-for-dreamers/polly-samson/9781526600592

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Jenny Kleeman on tech evangelism and making documentaries

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 9 May 2021 04:00:13 +0000

I absolutely loved interviewing today's guest. Jenny Kleeman is a journalist and broadcaster and the author of Sex Robots & Vegan Meat: Adventures at the frontier of Birth, Food, Sex, and Death, which has just come out in paperback. The book is utterly riveting - Jenny travels all over the place talking to those at the forefront of some of the world's most intriguing technological innovations, from lab-grown meat to euthanasia machines. Her experiences range from the weird and wonderful to the downright disturbing, and she doesn't shy away from looking at some of the more problematic elements of tech evangelism. I've never met Jenny before - but I have spoken to her, several times, when doing the news review on the weekend breakfast radio programme she hosts on Times Radio. So I was absolutely thrilled to get to grill her about the incredible research that went into the book as well as her fascinating career as a documentary maker and foreign correspondent. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/sex-robots-and-vegan-meat/jenny-kleeman/9781509894925

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Natalie Morris on identity, race and the mixed experience in modern Britain

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 2 May 2021 05:23:51 +0000

This was such an interesting conversation. Natalie Morris is a journalist and the author of Mixed/Other: Explorations of Multiraciality in Modern Britain, which draws on her own life experience as well as dozens of interviews to examine the mixed experience. From why she uses the term mixed, rather than mixed race, to the problem with brands' current enthusiasm for ethnically ambiguous models and how it makes her feel when people speculate as to the colour of any hypothetical child she might have, it's thoughtful, fascinating and hugely informative. I loved talking to Natalie about all of this - she was just so insightful. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/mixed-other/natalie-morris/9781409197140

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Katherine Faulkner on undercover reporting and the rise of 'mum noir'

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 25 Apr 2021 04:00:52 +0000

Katherine Faulkner has had such a fascinating career. A former investigative journalist at the Daily Mail, she used to go undercover to get to the heart of her stories. Then she went on to become joint head of news at The Times - and while on maternity leave wrote her first book, Greenwich Park, an absolutely gripping thriller about toxic relationships and unwanted friends. I loved hearing about all of this - especially a particularly hair raising reporting mission involving designer fashion and an escape dash to the airport, as well as her memories of stashing her laptop in the pram so she could snatch writing time if her baby fell asleep. Oh, and there was just so much else too - she was absolutely great and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/greenwich-park/katherine-faulkner/9781526626325
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Kate Wills on solo travel and baring her soul in print

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 18 Apr 2021 04:00:40 +0000

If you’re feeling a little cooped up after a year in lockdown, then this is the episode for you. Kate Wills is a travel writer and columnist and the author of A Trip of One's Own: Hope, heartbreak and why travelling solo could change your life. I absolutely gobbled up this book - not just because Kate has such a warm, easygoing writing style but also because of what’s in it: a totally addictive combination of memoir, advice and history. The book starts just as Kate has called time on her marriage, and decides to embark on a prolonged period of solo adventure. While doing so, she seeks inspiration - and comfort - from the solo voyages of women who’ve come before her. We learn about them, but also about Kate herself as she rebuilds a new life, navigating a new relationship, reflecting on old ones (including her difficult past with her mother) and assuming a new role and identity (you’ll see what I mean when you hear the interview). Oh and if you’ve ever wanted to travel alone but haven’t been sure where to start, she has plenty of tips on that too. She was so brilliant to talk to - and I hope you enjoy hearing her as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-trip-of-ones-own/kate-wills/9781788704304

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Gaby Hinsliff on getting a work life balance without losing ambition and why we need to talk about Betty Friedan

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 11 Apr 2021 04:00:17 +0000

This week's guest is the journalist Gaby Hinsliff, former political editor of the Observer and now a columnist and writer for the Guardian and others. This was such a dream interview in so many ways - I've admired Gaby's journalism for years, and I loved her book Half a Wife: The Working Family's Guide to Getting a Life Back when it came out nine years ago. Examining the compromises men and women make to juggle work and home, and the benefits of workplaces taking a new more flexible approach, it feels pretty timely right now, almost a decade on. Now Gaby has written the introduction to the first ever UK ebook edition of The Feminine Mystique, published to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Betty Friedan’s birth. It looks at the incredibly important role she played in freeing women from the cult of domesticy - but also at more problematic elements of Friedan's life, including her homophobic comments. It's a refreshingly mature way to approach an historic text and I loved talking to Gaby about that, as well as about breaking boundaries when she became the youngest political editor of a national newspaper - and then packing in those 18 hour days to find (a bit) more balance. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://books.apple.com/gb/book/the-feminine-mystique/id1553757817

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Catherine Cho on postpartum psychosis and why we need to talk about maternal mental health

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 4 Apr 2021 04:00:36 +0000

One day, when her son Cato was three months old, Catherine Cho looked at him and, instead of his eyes, she saw devil eyes. She and her husband James had taken Cato to the US from their home in London to introduce him to relatives. She grew gradually more anxious as the trip went on, before being hit by a tidal wave of postpartum psychosis, becoming convinced that she was in hell and that her son was going to die. She was sectioned.

Inferno is her astonishing memoir about what happened next. Moving between scenes from her childhood, her romance with James, and her newly infantilised existence in a psychiatric institution, it’s powerful, raw and eye opening. I’m so grateful to Catherine for talking to me about this - as well as what it was like reliving her trauma for the book, her anxiety over having a second child, and the urgent need to open up the conversation around maternal mental health.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/inferno/catherine-cho/9781526619044

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Nell Frizzell on her 'panic years', writing as a trade not an art and opening up conversations about fertility

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 28 Mar 2021 04:00:00 +0000

We have a term for our teenage years - ‘adolescence’ - and we are all familiar with the ‘menopause’ - but there’s no word for the decade or so in which, arguably, women navigate more life-altering decisions than any other - their late 20s and 30s. Or at least there wasn’t, until Nell Frizzell came along and coined one: ‘the flux’, aka The Panic Years, the title of her new book. For her, these began when she was 28 and called time on the relationship that had dominated her adult life thus far. It came just as her friends started settling down and having children - something she was pretty sure she wanted too. What follows is a rollicking and smart account of her ‘panic’ years from hare-brained camping trips with dates to soul searching over the ethics of procreation in a time of global warming - to the gnarly conundrum of falling in love with a man who says he doesn’t want children yet. It’s honest and fun and thought-provoking, as was Nell herself - I hope you enjoy listening to her as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-panic-years/nell-frizzell/9781787632837

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Rebecca Seal on WFH and how the pros do dinner parties

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 05:00:36 +0000

Still WFH? The food writer Rebecca Seal has been doing it for more than a decade. Six years ago, however, she reached something close to breaking point: working until eight or nine at night, six days a week (plus Sunday mornings, when she’s a regular on brunch TV). So she and her partner decided to change things. They set rules: no working or talking about work before breakfast; no working after 8pm; no talking about work after 8pm - and no working at weekends. They stuck to them - and things got better. Now she has written a book, Solo: How to Work Alone (and Not Lose Your Mind), about how to make WFH work for you. It’s full of brilliant advice - I loved hearing about how she has managed to cut back her hours while also being more productive, how she copes with loneliness, and also how, as a food writer, she approaches dinner parties (top tip: always test the recipe). I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/solo/rebecca-seal/9781788164856

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Sarah Sands on her incredible career - and asking monks how they stay so cal‪m‬

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 14 Mar 2021 09:08:18 +0000

Sarah Sands is a media industry legend. A trailblazer for women in journalism, she has had one of the most glittering careers it’s possible to have - editing two newspapers before going on to head up BBC Radio 4’s flagship current affairs programme, Today. Having left that role last year, she’d be forgiven for putting her feet up. But no - she has just published The Interior Silence: 10 Lessons from Monastic Life. The book moves between her frenetic journalism career - buzzing along on six hours sleep, dealing with endless emails, breaking news and tweets - and her quest to discover the kind of inner calm more often seen among monks and nuns. It’s a really fun, fascinating read - written in a kind of travelogue style, with bits of history, culture and monastic life interwoven with anecdotes from Sarah’s busy, high-powered professional world. I lapped it up - and absolutely loved interviewing Sarah about everything from her start in journalism, holding her own in what was then a very male-dominated environment while also being a young single mother, making it to the top as the editor of The Sunday Telegraph - only to lose her job eight months later, reaching the pinnacle again as editor of the Evening Standard and then at the Today programme - and much, much more. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-interior-silence/sarah-sands/9781780724546

Twitter: @aliceazania / @sarahsands100

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Sarra Manning on J-17, the pomodoro method and her incredible career

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 7 Mar 2021 05:00:15 +0000

I’ve wanted to interview Sarra Manning since I started this podcast - for many reasons. She’s a fab writer, a huge supporter of other authors, has tonnes of brilliant writing and publishing advice (seriously, this episode features some of the most original, no-nonsense and practical tips I’ve ever had). But also: she was the brains behind J-17’s legendary Diary of a Crush. Growing up in South Africa, I was given a subscription to the seminal, feisty, feminist teen mag and I can honestly say that I don’t think I’d have been a journalist if it wasn’t for that. I was obsessed - and I loved the Diary of a Crush column and novellas. Anyway, that was a long time ago, and Sarra has had a hugely successful career in both magazines and books since then. Currently the literary editor of Red magazine, she has written over twenty five novels, both YA and adult - including, most recently, the absolutely charming rom com Rescue Me. I hope you find her as inspiring and wise as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/rescue-me/sarra-manning/9781529336542

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Millie Gooch on quitting drinking and lockdown coping

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 05:00:54 +0000

Lockdown and drinking go together like wine and cheese...or do they? Given the unusual situation we find ourselves in, perhaps it’s not surprising that booze sales have rocketed. However Millie Gooch knows the problems with using alcohol as a coping mechanism only too well. After finding that her binge drinking was leaving her poleaxed by anxiety she gave it up, and started the Sober Girl Society, an online community of other teetotal women. I loved talking to her about that - as well as how she managed to write a book in lockdown, sober dating, peer pressure, anxiety management and more. She has some really great, practical advice - I hope you find it as interesting (and useful) as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-sober-girl-society-handbook/millie-gooch/9781787634121

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Special episode: Women for Women International's Brita Fernandez Schmidt

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 21 Feb 2021 05:00:50 +0000

Brita Fernandez Schmidt is a phenomenon. The Executive Director of Women for Women International UK, she has spent her adult life fighting for women’s rights around the world. The charity specialises in working with women in conflict zones, offering a year-long training programme to build support networks and develop skills that will help earn money. Naturally, the pandemic has affected Women for Women International’s fund-raising techniques, and massively complicated their fieldwork. I’m so grateful to Brita for telling me about the issues they face, how people can help, and how they have adapted - as well as about her new book, Fears to Fierce, which recounts her experiences working in the human rights sector, how she deals with the emotional fallout of her job - and offers advice for professional women across the board.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/fears-to-fierce/brita-fernandez-schmidt/gillian-anderson/9781846046513

More information: https://womenforwomen.org.uk/

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Megan Phelps-Roper on leaving the Westboro Baptist Church

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 05:00:02 +0000

This is not a Valentine's special - but it is a love story, in its own way. Or at least, a story of how someone left behind the hate they'd grown up with. Ok, this is all getting a bit cryptic, so let me explain: Megan Phelps-Roper is a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church. Growing up in Kansas, she lived in a compound with other members and took part in their notorious protests - including those against homosexuality, and including picketing the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then something changed. After joining Twitter, others began engaging her in conversations that cast doubt on her beliefs and she slowly started to question everything she had grown up thinking to be true. In 2012, she left the church and became a vocal critic of it. Eventually, one of those early Twitter interventionists became her husband. Her memoir Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope, leaving the Westboro Baptist Church, documents her incredible journey - and as you imagine, I found her utterly fascinating to speak to.

Abigail Dean on quitting the day job, writer’s block and going from page to screen

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 7 Feb 2021 05:00:24 +0000

A bidding war, a screen adaptation by the director who made “Chernobyl” - and now, a place on the bestseller lists. What a whirlwind few months it has been for Abigail Dean and her debut novel, Girl A, which documents the aftermath of the horrific abuse the narrator, Lex (aka ‘Girl A’) endured at the hand of her father. Obviously, I was thrilled to interview her - the book is unbelievably gripping, and Abigail herself has a fascinating story, having worked as a lawyer for her 20s before deciding to pursue her literary ambitions. She’s now back to working in law again, while also writing, and I loved hearing about how doing those two different things helps her process - as well as how she cures writer’s block and how on earth she went from unknown to wildly successful author so quickly. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/girl-a/abigail-dean/2928377050276

Twitter: @aliceazania / @abigailsdean

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Carys Bray on walking away from her Mormon faith and (sort of) predicting the pandemic

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 05:00:50 +0000

What a fascinating life Carys has led. Brought up in a strict Mormon family in Southport, she was married by 20, and had five children within seven years before deciding to leave behind her faith and study creative writing. Her first novel, 2014’s A Song for Issy Bradley, won widespread acclaim and was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel. Since then, she has published two other novels - including the recently published When the Lights Go Out. Its timing is uncanny, as a couple grapple with stockpiling, mortality, family and more. I loved talking to her about this, and am so grateful for her openness discussing her upbringing and how the tragic death of her daughter shaped her desire to examine grief in fiction. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

By the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/when-the-lights-go-out/carys-bray/9781786332349

Twitter: @carysbray / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Jessica Fellowes on writing when deaf, Downton superfans and blending fact and fiction

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 24 Jan 2021 05:00:25 +0000

This was SUCH a fun, funny and fascinating conversation. Jessica Fellowes is a journalist and the author of books ranging from Mud and the City: Dos and Don'ts for Townies in the Country to her wildly successful series of Mitford Murders books, which fuse historical fact and fiction. Our conversation was as varied and quirky as that output suggests. I loved hearing about her most recent novel, the Mitford Trial, as well as how her deafness has informed her writing (and how she managed as a gossip columnist with it), working with her uncle Julian Fellowes on the Downton companion books (and touring the world as a result), how lockdown has affected her creativity, why she always interviews her characters - and why writing tips are (mostly) useless.

By the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-mitford-trial/jessica-fellowes/9780751573954
Twitter: @jessicafellowes/ @aliceazania
Instagram: @author_jessicafellowes / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Cecily von Ziegesar on Gossip Girl, New York social tribes and her new novel

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 05:00:40 +0000

I absolutely loved Cecily von Ziegesar’s Cobble Hill. It’s really funny and quirky and smart without being heavy-going; full of subtle social satire and astute observation. It was particularly pleasing as Cecily is best known for writing the Gossip Girl books, which in turn launched the hugely successful TV show - and I was a mega Gossip Girl fan when I was younger. I loved our interview, which took place late last year the day after Joe Biden was announced as the President Elect - we chatted about everything from her background as a trainee ballerina, how running helps her writing, what it was like having her books become such a small-screen juggernaut and why it took so long to finish Cobble Hill.

By the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/cobble-hill/cecily-von-ziegesar/9781398704350
Twitter: @cesvonz / @aliceazania
Instagram: @CecilyvonZiegesar / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Rosie Nixon on life as editor-in-chief of Hello!, attending Robbie Williams' wedding and her solo writing mini-breaks

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 05:00:10 +0000

There was no way I could turn down the chance to interview the editor in chief of Hello! - apart from anything else, I knew she’d have brilliant anecdotes. And Rosie Nixon didn’t disappoint - I loved hearing how she and her staff put together their iconic Royal Wedding issues, as well as what it was like to attend Robbie Williams’ wedding to Ayda Field (she was one of just a handful of people who knew it was happening in advance). And I loved hearing how she managed to fit in a successful career as an author (clue: it involves hotels and candles) and why she was keen to explore the uncomfortable elements of pregnancy and motherhood in her new book Just Between Friends. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

By the book here: hyperurl.co/BetweenFriends
Twitter: @Rosie_Nixon / @aliceazania
Instagram: @rosiejnixon / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Emma Rowley on life as a ghostwriter - and her move into fiction

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 3 Jan 2021 05:00:41 +0000

I took Emma Rowley’s You Can Trust Me away on holiday to Wales and I gulped it down in one sitting. It’s a really smart, grabby thriller about a ghostwriter who spends a week at the luxurious home of an influencer whose autobiography she is meant to be writing - only for things to take a very dark turn. It’s a great read, and I knew I had to speak to Emma about it - not least as she herself has been a ghostwriter. We chatted late last year and I loved hearing about that experience, her move into fiction, how she combined journalism with publishing - and how our lockdown living has affected her creativity. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

By the book here: amzn.to/2FqHteD
Twitter: @emma_rowley / @aliceazania
Instagram: @emmacharlotterowley / @aliceazania

Mia Levitin on sex in the time of Covid (and the problem with dating today)

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 27 Dec 2020 05:00:42 +0000

Was 2020 the least sexy year ever? Quite possibly - thanks to casual sex bans and social distancing. But was it on track to be that way anyway? These are questions examined in Mia Levitin’s The Future of Seduction, which looks at the multifaceted ways in which phones and tech have changed romance, the effect of MeToo on flirting and courtship, and what the future holds for intimacy. I loved talking to Mia about this, as well as her path to publication, why she drew on her own experience of dating after divorce in the book, and much more. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

By the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-future-of-seduction/mia-levitin/9781800180222
Twitter: @mialevitin / @aliceazania
Instagram: @mialevitin / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

CHRISTMAS BONUS EPISODE: Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott on writer’s block and epic research

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 05:00:27 +0000

I first interviewed Kelleigh back in February 2020 - and then the pandemic hit in earnest. We weren’t sure what to do: whether to ignore the fact that half of her answers now felt out of date, or to do it all again. I’m so glad we went for the latter, I wanted to hear how the pandemic experience had affected her life and her writing style. As a US national, she has spent the year miles away from her family. Of course, that’s not all we talk about - she also tells me about the incredibly level of research that went into Swan Song, which imagines the fall-out among Truman Capote’s group of female friends when his ‘expose’ of their private lives is published in Esquire, the differences between writing for page and for screen, and how she tackled the writers block that almost scuppered the book. I loved revisiting our conversation and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

By the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/swan-song/kelleigh-greenberg-jephcott/9781786090188
Twitter: @kgjephcott / @aliceazania
Instagram: @ kgjephcott / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Sarah Perry on why Essex girls rule the world

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 05:00:06 +0000

When Sarah Perry would tell people she was an Essex Girl, her remarks would be met with a knowing smirk. Why? That question is at the heart of this book, which pinpoints what it is that makes an Essex girl (not white high-heels - but a chutzpah and convention-defying radicalism). Perry - the author of three wildly successful novels, After Me Comes the Flood, The Essex Serpent, and Melmoth - then delves into the lives of famous Essex Girls, from TOWIE star Gemma Collins to the abolitionist Anne Knight. I loved talking to her about this, as well as about her ‘late’ start in writing, managing her work with chronic pain, her phenomenal successful novels and her strict Baptist upbringing.

By the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/essex-girls/sarah-perry/9781788167451
Twitter: / @aliceazania
Instagram: @sarah_grace_perry / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Otegha Uwagba on black lives matter and the burden of white guilt

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 13 Dec 2020 08:43:15 +0000

Otegha Uwagba is an inspiration. Aged 25, fed up with her job in advertising, she quit and decided to establish herself as a freelance writer, setting up the networking platform Women Who, and self-publishing Little Black Book: A Toolkit For Working Women. After a sell-out print run, it was snapped up by a publisher and became a Sunday Times best-seller - and Otegha is now working on another book, We Need to Talk About Money, due out next year. But the aftermath of George Floyd’s death - and the global outpouring of anguish that ensued - prompted her to set aside the latter and write Whites: On Race and Other Falsehoods, an absolutely brilliant analytical essay which dissects uncomfortable truths about racism and white complicity, and points out some of the problems with the reaction to the black lives matter movement from otherwise well-meaning white people. I found both the book - and our conversation - absolutely riveting and I hope you do too.

By the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/whites/otegha-uwagba/9780008440428

Twitter: @OteghaUwagba / @aliceazania
Instagram: @oteghauwagba / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Kenya Hunt on black womanhood, the fashion industry, and the US election

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 6 Dec 2020 05:00:21 +0000

On a chilly autumn afternoon, I picked up Kenya Hunt’s Girl: Essays on Black Womanhood - and didn’t put it down until it was way past my bedtime. It’s a totally compelling and gripping read, combining social observation, cultural criticism, history and rich personal anecdotes to examine different elements of black womanhood and the black experience. Kenya writes with such a lightness of touch, it’s a joy to read - as well as being thoroughly thought-provoking and insightful. That she published this while also raising two children and holding down a high flying job as Grazia UK’s Fashion Director is hugely impressive - but that doesn’t surprise me, since I’ve known Kenya for a few years now, ever since I covered her maternity leave while she was deputy editor of Elle, and she is the very embodiment of impressive. I loved talking to her about the book, as well as hearing about her childhood growing up in Virginia, breaking into the fashion industry in New York, then moving to the UK, why her habit of journaling fuelled the essays in Girl, and so much more.

By the book here: https://dauntbooks.co.uk/shop/books/girl-essays-on-black-womanhood/

Twitter: @KenyaNHunt / @aliceazania
Instagram: @kenyahunt / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Grace Dent on food, class, ambition and coping with her father’s dementia

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 29 Nov 2020 05:00:08 +0000

We are back! Welcome to series three of the Sunday Salon - and I’m kicking the new season off with a really special guest: the one and only Grace Dent, restaurant critic, columnist, novelist, TV personality and now, memoirist. Her new book Hungry: A memoir of wanting more is undoubtedly one of my reads of the year. Taking in Grace’s childhood in Carlisle, where she dreamed of glamour and the bright lights of London, then her break into the media industry, and her raucous climb up the career ladder, it is a total riot to read - and also deeply, deeply moving, as she chronicles her father’s journey into dementia and her struggle to hold the family together without herself falling apart. It’s evocative, and clever, and made me laugh and cry several times over.

I really loved speaking to Grace about all of this - as well as the peculiarities of class in Britain, writing at 5am and why she wishes she’d spent less time worrying about men. It was a very, very special conversation. So thank you Grace - and I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did.

By the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/hungry/grace-dent/9780008333171

Twitter: @gracedent / @aliceazania
Instagram: @gracedent / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #24: Rebecca Ley on writing about death, recovering from anorexia and finding her voice

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 6 Sep 2020 04:00:04 +0000

So - it's the final episode of season two, my 76th episode - and my 24th lockdown isolationcast! Thank you so much for bearing with me as I've done the podcast remotely in this way. My guest today is Rebcca Ley, whose debut novel For When I'm Gone is a hugely moving and yet also uplifting look at family, motherhood, grief and love. Rebecca was such a fascinating guest - as well as being a novelist, she is a journalist for the likes of The Times and the Guardian, for whom she wrote a popular column, Doing it for Dad, about her father's dementia. We discussed all of this, as well as her childhood growing up in Cornwall (as well as her time being homeschooled while her parents travelled in India), her teenage struggle with anorexia, her abandoned first novel, her writing process and so much more. I loved it - and I hope you do too

Twitter: @aliceazania / @rebeccahelenley
Instagram: @aliceazania / @rebeccaley
Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/for-when-im-gone/rebecca-ley/9781409195375
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #23: The Luminary Bakery on keeping a social enterprise afloat in lockdown and that surprise visit from Meghan Markle

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 30 Aug 2020 04:00:46 +0000

As some of you know, I was meant to be getting married next weekend. I'm not anymore - we've postponed - but as it happens this episode has a bit of wedding theme, since Luminary Bakery are making my cake! More importantly, they have also just published a brilliant new cookbook, Rising Hope: Recipes and Stories from Luminary Bakery. If you aren't familiar with them, they are a bakery and cafe with branches in Stoke Newington and Camden - and are an incredible force for good, training women who've experienced severe disadvantage, from homelessness to domestic violence, in baking and patisserie - and thereby offering them a future route to employment. You might remember them from the visit they received from the Duchess of Sussex (she also featured them in her guest-edited edition of Vogue). I loved chatting to Rachel Stonehouse and Kaila Johnson from their team about all of this - as well as the challenges presented by the lockdown, both in terms of finances and maintaining contact with the vulnerable women they work with. Thank you Rachel and Kaila for opening up. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did.

Twitter: @aliceazania / @LuminaryBakery

Instagram: @aliceazania / @luminarybakery

Buy the book: https://luminarybakery.com/pages/luminary-cookbook

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #22: Xiaolu Guo

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 23 Aug 2020 04:00:16 +0000

My guest today has had the most phenomenal life. Xiaolu Guo was born in a fishing village in the south of China. She grew up with her grandparents, until she was seven when she went to live with her parents in a communist-era compound. She studied film in Beijing, then moved London in 2002. Five years later her first English Language novel A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction. We talked about all of this - what it was like to grow up in such a unique political climate, finding creativity amidst the uniformity of the communist regime, the process involved in writing in a second language, her success as a film maker - and more. And she explained why she chose to examine a post-Brexit world in her new novel, A Lover's Discourse. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Twitter: @aliceazania

Instagram: @aliceazania

Buy the book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YYXB238/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #21: Kit de Waal on literary snobbery and why coming to writing late made her a better author

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 04:00:09 +0000

My guest this week is someone I have wanted to interview for absolutely ages. Ever since her debut novel My Name is Leon was published in 2016, Kit de Waal has been one of the most thoughtful and interesting voices in the industry. Having crowdfunded and edited an anthology of working class memoir, Common People, she has spoken frequently of the need for the publishing world to become more diverse. In response to the pandemic, she co-founded The Big Book Weekend, a virtual festival in May.
Now she has published a collection of short stories, Supporting Cast, which revisits some of the characters from her previous works. We spoke about all of this and more - including how she became an author in her 50s, why coming to publishing late made her a better writer, and why we should all be less snobby about audiobooks. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Twitter: @aliceazania / @KitdeWaal

Instagram: @aliceazania /
@kitdewaal

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/supporting-cast/kit-de-waal/9780241973424

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #20: Frances Cha on quarantine in Korea, how teaching has made her a better writer, and taking 10 years to write a novel

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 9 Aug 2020 04:00:23 +0000

This conversation was utterly fascinating. As you know, I've been asking all my guests for a few of their isolation stories. Well, today's guest has a particularly interesting tale. After going through New York's long and grueling lockdown, Frances Cha has moved to South Korea, where she always spends the summer, and had a very different experience. It was absolutely riveting to hear about.

Of course we discussed lots else - not least her dazzling debut novel If I Had Your Face which explores, among other things, South Korea's huge plastic surgery industry and highly stratified society. And we discussed how teaching helps her writers block, her long journey to publication - and why sometimes the best writing is painful.

Instagram: @aliceazania / @franceschawrites

Twitter: @aliceazania / @Frances_H_Cha

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/if-i-had-your-face/frances-cha/9780241396070

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #19: Emma Gannon on why she created a child-free by choice heroine

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 2 Aug 2020 04:00:37 +0000

I am so excited about this week's episode - it's actually the second time that Emma has been on The Sunday Salon. Last time, we were discussing her hugely successful book The Multi-Hyphen Method, about combining different jobs into one career. Now she's back - with a novel: the smart, warm, refreshing Olive, about a woman whose friends who are settling down and having children but who is not sure she wants that. It's a great theme for a book and I loved hearing why Emma wanted to explore it. I'm so grateful that she was so open about that - as well as the disappointment of having your book out in a pandemic, writing anxiety and much, much more.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/olive/emma-gannon/9780008382728

Twitter: @aliceazania / @emmagannon

Instagram: @aliceazania / @emmagannonuk

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #18: Alexandra Shulman on life after Vogue

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 04:00:48 +0000

I am so excited that my guest this week is the journalistic legend that is Alexandra Shulman. As well as being British Vogue's longest serving editor in chief (she ran the title for more than 25 years), she is the author of two novels, as well as Inside Vogue: My Diary Of Vogue's 100th Year and most recently, Clothes And Other Things That Matter, a totally riveting and engaging memoir in which she uses different items of clothing as jumping off points for sharing memories and anecdotes from her life and career. It's moving, funny and very revealing - and unsurprisingly became a Sunday Times bestseller. As you can imagine I was excited - and a little nervous - to speak to Alexandra. This only made it all the more mortifying when a problem with our virtual recording meant that I lost her halfway through - and with it, seemingly, our conversation. These, of course, are the perils of podcasting in lockdown but it was nonetheless pretty excruciating - particularly as it happened not once, but twice. Well, all's well that ends well - Alexandra was beyond kind about it, and gave me extra time so we could recap, and even spoke to me the next day so we could finish our interview off. I was also eventually able to retrieve the lost files. So thank you Alexandra, and thank you too for being so open and honest and interesting to speak to. We covered everything from the moment she decided to leave Vogue, to her struggles with anxiety, what she has been up to in lockdown, and, of course, her writing routine and rituals. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Instagram: @aliceazania / @alexandrashulman

Twitter: @aliceazania / @AShulman2

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/clothes-and-other-things-that-matter/alexandra-shulman/9781788401982

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #17: Pandora Sykes on online exposure and building resilience

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 19 Jul 2020 04:00:39 +0000

I am so delighted that my guest this week is Pandora Sykes, whose new book, How Do We Know We're Doing It Right? Essays on Modern Life, is a thought-provoking and insightful dissection of contemporary fads and foibles - from wellness and self-optimisation, to our urge to appear "authentic" even when doing so is in itself superficial and so much more. I found her totally fascinating to speak to. As an early adopter of Instagram while working as a fashion journalist - and as the co-host of The High Low podcast - she has had to get used to putting herself out there, being public facing, and being scrutinised - for better and for worse - by the entire internet. We discussed that, as well as her identity struggles when she became a mother, how and when she writes (it's often in the small hours) and what, as someone who is highly sensitive, it is like to be publishing your thoughts and opinions in book form. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Instagram: @aliceazania / @pandorasykes
Twitter: @aliceazania / @PINsykes

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/how-do-we-know-were-doing-it-right/pandora-sykes/9781786332073

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #16: Harriet Walker on imposter syndrome, the front row and her book, The New Girl

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 12 Jul 2020 04:00:49 +0000

Fashion! Psychodrama! Jealousy! Harriet Walker's debut novel The New Girl has it all. A psychological thriller about the relationship between a magazine's fashion editor and her maternity cover, I could not put it down - and I'm not surprised that it is one of the year's most buzzed-about books. As you can imagine, I was delighted to have the chance to grill Harriet on how much of it was drawn from personal experience (as fashion editor of The Times, she has seen her fair share of Devil Wears Prada-style madness) and how on earth she managed to write it while on maternity leave (as you will hear, it was a bit more complicated than that). And there was so much else I loved about our chat - from Harriet's honesty about the imposter syndrome she struggles with as an author to how she juggled looking after her daughter with working full time in lockdown, to the time she interned at Tatler and was too afraid to speak. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Twitter: @Aliceazania / @harrywalker1
Instagram: @aliceazania / _harrywalker1

Buy the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-new-girl/harriet-walker/9781529304008

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #15: Yara Rodrigues Fowler on local living and how mental health affects creativity

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 5 Jul 2020 04:00:53 +0000

Yara Rodrigues Fowler is a force of nature. Last year, she published her debut novel Stubborn Archivist, a complex and subtle examination of identity, trauma and recovery which straddles Brazil and South London, winning high praise from critics and earning nominations for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award, the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Dylan Thomas Prize. Now she is working on her next book - but if you think this is a straightforward story of a young writer achieving overnight success, think again. As we discuss in this episode, at university she found unhappiness had a detrimental effect on her creativity; later, while trying to fit writing around a full-time job, she pushed herself to the point of burnout. We talk about this, as well as the benefits that antidepressants have had in her life, the Brazilian Black Lives Matter movement, how lockdown has changed our lifestyles, subverting conventional writing styles and much much more.

Twitter: @aliceazania / @yazzarf
Instagram: @aliceazania / @yararodriguesfowler

Buy the book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stubborn-Archivist-Yara-Rodrigues-Fowler/dp/0708899072

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #14: Leaf Arbuthnot on loneliness, creativity and perfectionism

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 28 Jun 2020 04:00:22 +0000

My guest this week is Leaf Arbuthnot, whose debut novel Looking For Eliza could hardly have been better timed: telling the story of the friendship that evolves between Ada, a widowed writer, and Eliza, a young student, it taps into big subjects such as loneliness, generational difference and friendship, all of which feel particularly fitting given our current situation.

I loved our conversation - we really got into the nitty-gritty of writing - and I'm so grateful to Leaf for being so honest and open about everything from her creative process to previous writing failures, to learning to let go of perfectionism when it comes to her weight and appearance. I hope you find it as enjoyable as I did.

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Twitter: @aliceazania / @leafarbuthnot
Instagram: @aliceazania / @leafarbuthnot

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/looking-for-eliza/leaf-arbuthnot/9781409185796

Isolationcast #13: Brit Bennett on becoming a New York Times bestseller in lockdown, #publishingpaidme and the problem with expecting black authors to answer questions about race

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 21 Jun 2020 04:00:40 +0000

Two twin sisters, one trauma, two very different paths. One night, Stella and Desiree witnesses the lynching of their father by a group of white men. The night sets them on dramatically different paths, with Stella constructing a new identity and “passing” as white.

This is the premise behind The Vanishing Half, the phenomenal second book by the California-born, New York-based author Brit Bennett. Already a number one New York Times bestseller, it is a fascinating exploration of trauma and race as a construct - but one which carries enormous real-life significance. It's Brit's second novel; her debut, The Mothers, was also a New York Times bestseller. And she is an acclaimed essayist, who has written for the likes of The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, and Jezebel.

I was so excited to talk to Brit. Of course, when she wrote her book she could not have imagined how timely some of the themes would be, amidst the global outrage at the death of George Floyd. Neither could she have imagined that it would be published in the middle of a pandemic. We discussed both of these, as well as her writing process, path to publication - and the problem with black authors automatically being expected to answer questions about race. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Twitter: @aliceazania / @britrbennett

Instagram: @aliceazania / @britrbennett

Buy the book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vanishing-Half-bestselling-author-Mothers-ebook/dp/B082KH5D4M

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #12: Zeba Talkhani on finding freedom and creativity in lockdown

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 14 Jun 2020 04:00:44 +0000

Zeba Talkhani's memoir My Past Is a Foreign Country: A Muslim Feminist Finds Herself is extraordinary, charting her experience growing up in Saudi Arabia and her journey to find freedom in India, Germany and the UK. It is an absolutely fascinating read and I loved chatting to Zeba about it – as well as her path to self acceptance after her hair began to fall out, and how the lockdown has affected her creativity. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Twitter: @aliceazania / @ZebaTalk
Instagram: @aliceazania / @zebatalk

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/my-past-is-a-foreign-country-a-muslim-feminist-finds-herself/zeba-talkhani/9781473684058

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #11: Anxiety as creative fuel and reviving unfinished projects with Jenny McCartney

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 7 Jun 2020 04:00:58 +0000

Have you ever got halfway through a creative project, only to abandon it - and then wonder what could have been had you completed it? That is what happened to the journalist Jenny McCartney. Having grown up in Northern Ireland, she reported on the paramilitary attacks in the 90s for The Sunday Telegraph, and became fascinated with the psychological legacy of violence. She channeled this into the beginning of a novel, which she never finished. Life took over - she got married, had children. Then, six years ago, she decided to dig it out, getting her draft off a set of old floppy disks and picking it up again. The result was her highly acclaimed debut novel, the Ghost Factory. I found Jenny totally fascinating to talk to - not only was it riveting to hear about her childhood in Northern Ireland, but we also discussed life in lockdown, anxiety, balancing family life with creativity and more. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Twitter: @aliceazania / @mccartney_jenny

Buy the book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghost-Factory-Jenny-McCartney/dp/0008295492

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #10: How to write 20 bestsellers in 20 years with Adele Parks

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 31 May 2020 04:00:21 +0000

I confess, I’m slightly obsessed with this week’s guest - not least because she is probably the first person I’ve interviewed who can claim to have written 20 bestsellers in 20 years. Yes, it is Adele Parks, author of, among others, Lies Lies Lies, Playing Away - and now Just My Luck, a gripping and hugely compelling look at the tensions that follow one couple’s lottery win. As you can imagine, you don’t have a career as successful as Adele’s by coincidence - she is a ferociously hard worker and extremely strategic in her approach. I loved hearing about this, and found her honesty and frankness about the industry and its marketing practices really insightful. She was also so open about how growing up without a financial safety net meant that she couldn’t afford to indulge in creative failures. And she had some great stuff to say about the often quite superficial but hugely influential role of genre in fiction. Of course, thanks to the coronavirus, the release of Just My Luck has been unlike any of her previous releases - so it was fascinating to hear her thoughts on how this could change the industry forever. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Twitter: @aliceazania / @adeleparks

Instagram: @aliceazania / @adele_parks

Buy the book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081D4N6T3/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #9: Dr Alyson J McGregor on working in an A&E department during coronavirus and the role of sex in medicine

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 24 May 2020 04:00:57 +0000

Dr Alyson J McGregor is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and the Co-Founder and Director of the university’s Division of Sex and Gender in Emergency Medicine (SGEM). She is also the author of Sex Matters: How Male-Centric Medicine Endangers Women’s Health - and What We Can Do About It, a fascinating examination of how women have long been (and still are) shortchanged in healthcare. Taking in everything from the way in which scientific studies have neglected the differences in how the sexes respond to medication to the fact that traditional diagnostic symptoms - for instance for heart attack and stroke - don’t include how these diseases can manifest in women and much, much more, it is an absolutely riveting and essential read. As you can imagine, she was totally fascinating to speak to. We discussed all of this as well as how Covid 19 had impacted her work in the emergency department, the struggles with PPE, and why the coronavirus has only underscored the urgency of recognising the role of sex in medicine.
Twitter: @aliceazania / @mcgregormd
Further information: alysonmcgregormd.com
Buy the book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sex-Matters-male-centric-medicine-endangers/dp/1529405890
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #8: Marisa Meltzer on dieting, body image and New York lockdown

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 17 May 2020 04:00:06 +0000

My guest this week is the brilliant Marisa Meltzer. A columnist for the New York Times' Style section, she has just released This Is Big: How the Founder of Weight Watchers Changed the World - and Me. Part biography of Jean Nidetch, the housewife from Queens who set up the world’s most famous diet company, part memoir documenting Marisa’s attitude towards her own weight, it’s a riveting read which really puts our complicated and often messy relationship with food, weight and beauty standards under a microscope while offering a hugely entertaining social history too. I loved talking to Marisa about this, as well as life in quarantine in New York, and how lockdown has induced strange and complicated eating and exercise habits in many of us.

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Big-Founder-Watchers-Changed/dp/031641400X

Twitter: @aliceazania / @MarisaMeltzer
Instagram: @aliceazania / @MarisaMeltzer
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolation cast #7: Gavanndra Hodge on grief, family trauma and anxiety

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 10 May 2020 04:00:16 +0000

My guest this week is the phenomenal Gavanndra Hodge, whose memoir The Consequences of Love is undoubtedly one of this year’s most hotly-anticipated books. Growing up, Gavanndra had the most extraordinary home life - her father was a drug dealer and hairdresser to the fast-living Chelsea set and, when she was 14, her sister Candy died in front of her while the family were on holiday. It was only many years later, once she had two small daughters and had worked her way up the journalism ladder to become deputy editor of Tatler, that Gavanndra began to confront her past. I loved talking to her about all of this, as well as about writing and life in lockdown - and in particular how she's coping with her tendency to catastrophise and the latent anxiety the pandemic could have brought to the fore. She was so generous and open and I hope you enjoy listening to her as much as I did.

Twitter: @aliceazania / @gavanndra
Instagram: @aliceazania / @gavanndra

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Consequences-Love-Gavanndra-Hodge/dp/024141332X

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #6: creativity in lockdown with Stacey Halls

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 3 May 2020 04:00:20 +0000

My guest this week is the phenomenal Stacey Halls whose sweeping historical novel The Familiars was the bestselling debut of 2019. She has followed it up with The Foundling, set in 18th Century London and telling the story of a young mother named Bess who attempts to reclaim her daughter from London’s Foundling Hospital only to find that someone pretending to be her has already done so.
I loved talking to Stacey - despite being a bookworm as a child, she says she never imagined she could have made a career as a writer and so after school became a legal secretary. She was so refreshing and honest about the overwhelming nature of publishing - when her manuscript prompted a bidding war, she knew she should be happy but instead was consumed with anxiety. I also loved hearing about her approach of “tricking” herself into finishing her first drafts by writing 2000 words a day and, of course, finding out what she has been up to in lockdown.

Twitter: @aliceazania / @stacey_halls
Instagram: @aliceazania / @staceyhallsauthor
Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Foundling-Stacey-Halls/dp/1838770062

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #5: Naoise Dolan on autism and publishing into a pandemic

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 26 Apr 2020 04:00:01 +0000

My guest for this week's Sunday Salon isolationcast is a really special one. I'm thrilled to have spoken to Naoise Dolan, author of the newly-released bestseller Exciting Times. One of the year's most hotly-tipped debuts, it tells the story of Ava, a young Irish woman teaching English in Hong Kong, and her romantic relationships with Julian, a rich banker, and Edith, a Hong Kong local who went to an English boarding school. Deadpan and sharp, it examines themes of class, sexuality and power.
I loved chatting to Naoise - as an autistic person, she was fascinating on her experience of lockdown, and how in some ways releasing a book under these circumstances has been a relief. We also discussed writing about queerness, giving up apologising and how it feels to be compared to Sally Rooney (the two are friends and Rooney published a preview of Exciting Times in the literary magazine The Stinging Fly). I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Exciting-Times-Naoise-Dolan/9781474613446

Twitter: @aliceazania / @NaoiseDolan

Instagram: @aliceazania / @naoisedolan

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #4: Science writer Gemma Milne

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 19 Apr 2020 04:00:07 +0000

The not-so-good news is that we're still in lockdown - but the good news is that we're still doing our isolationcasts. Today's guest is Gemma Milne, a science and technology writer, Expert Advisor to the European Commission and Innovate UK, and the author of Smoke & Mirrors: How Hype Obscures the Future and How to See Past It.

I found chatting to Gemma right now particularly fascinating - I loved hearing her view of how the coronavirus crisis has been communicated and whether her grounding in science had affected her reaction to the climate of fear and anxiety (answer: not always). And we talked about loads else besides - from the benefits of a meandering career path to public speaking and sexism in the sciences.

Twitter: @aliceazania / @gemmamilne
Instagram: @aliceazania / @gemmamilnewriter

Buy the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/smoke-and-mirrors/gemma-milne/9781472143662

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #3: WFH advice from Lauren Bravo

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 12 Apr 2020 04:00:34 +0000

So how's WFH going for you? As lockdown continues, it's easy to feel that everyone is being hyper-productive - doing their job while knocking out a loaf of sourdough and clocking up a five mile run each day. In this episode, I discuss the weird pressure to keep on 'doing' with Lauren Bravo (author of What Would the Spice Girls Do?, and How to Break Up with Fast Fashion). We also discuss how her routine as a freelance writer and charity shop volunteer has been disrupted, and how she is coping (lots of scheduling, some staring at the wall), as well as her WFH rules, and how she wrote a book in just two months.

Twitter: @aliceazania / @laurenbravo

Instagram: @aliceazania / @laurenbravo

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Break-Fast-Fashion-guilt-free/dp/1472267745/ref=sr_1_1

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isolationcast #2: Gina Martin on ways to help and coping with overwhelm

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 5 Apr 2020 04:00:56 +0000

It's the second Sunday Salon isolation special. This week, as we all adjust to life under lockdown, I’m talking to Gina Martin, author of Be The Change: A Toolkit for the Activist in You.
You probably know Gina because of her amazing campaign against upskirting. In June 2017, a man took a photo up her skirt at a music festival. The police told her that this was not a sexual offence; the man would not be charged. Instead of accepting this, however, Gina launched a campaign to make upskirting a crime. Eighteen months later, she had succeeded. In her book, she recounts how she found the courage (and stamina) to do this - and offers readers a guide to campaigning in their own societies. I thought she’d be a great person to speak to now about how we can make positive changes even in these difficult circumstances, and how we can get involved in fundraising and local initiatives. But we also discussed why it’s totally understandable and normal to sometimes be unproductive, to feel helpless or down - as well as how she has been handling the upheaval, health concerns and loss of work caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Her advice was really solid and reassuring. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Twitter: @aliceazania / @ginamartinuk

Instagram: @aliceazania / @ginamartin

Buy the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/be-the-change/gina-martin/9780751577884

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Coronavirus special isolationcast: Holly Bourne and Laura Freeman on coping with anxiety and isolation

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 04:00:02 +0000

What a strange and unsettling time we find ourselves in. So strange that I didn't think I could post a regular episode - so instead, here is the first Sunday Salon isolation special, one of several dedicated #togetherapart episodes I will be bringing you to - I hope - offer a balm for the soul over the coming weeks. I'm so grateful to the authors Holly Bourne and Laura Freeman for coming on the podcast (remotely) at short notice to offer their advice on coping with anxiety and our new way of living. Both have written extensively about mental health before - and their contributions were super-helpful, taking in everything from the power of having a "worry window" (a sanctioned time to worry about everything you're anxious about), to why now is probably NOT the moment to embark upon a massive, ambitious work or self improvement project (whatever Instagram is leading you to believe) and how it is totally ok to feel down and to allow yourself to wallow at times. They also have some fabulous, uplifting reading recommendations.

Holly is the author of the best-selling How Do You Like Me Now, as well as the brilliant new novel Pretending which has been described by none other than Marian Keyes as "magnificent". She started her writing career as a news journalist, where she was nominated for Best Print Journalist of the Year. She then spent six years working as an editor, a relationship advisor, and general 'agony aunt' for a youth charity - helping young people with their relationships and mental health. Inspired by what she saw, she started writing teen fiction, including the best-selling, award-winning 'Spinster Club' series which helps educate teenagers about feminism. When she turned thirty, Holly wrote her first adult novel, How Do You Like Me Now, examining the intensified pressures on women once they hit that landmark. Alongside her writing, Holly has a keen interest in women's rights and is an advocate for reducing the stigma of mental health problems. She's helped create online apps that teach young people about sexual consent and is an ambassador for Women's Aid. You can buy her new book, Pretending, here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-What-You-Want/dp/1473668131/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1585388974&sr=1-1
Laura is an author, freelance writer and art critic. Her first book The Reading Cure: How Books Restored My Appetite, detailed how books helped her in her recovery from anorexia. Published in 2018, it was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award and for First Book and Food Book at the Guild of Food Writers Awards. The Reading Cure was a Times, Daily Telegraph and Spectator Book of the Year 2018. She is currently writing a biography Ways of Life: Jim Ede and the Kettle’s Yard Artists to be published by Jonathan Cape. You can buy the Reading Cure here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reading-Cure-Books-Restored-Appetite/dp/1474604641

Twitter: @aliceazania / @holly_bourneYA

Instagram: @aliceazania/ @ hollybourneya / @laurasophiafreeman

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Deepa Anappara

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 05:00:28 +0000

Deepa Anappara's novel Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line was one of the most hotly anticipated debuts of the year. Set in a slum on the outskirts of an unnamed Indian city, it centres on nine year old, cop-show obsessed Jai and his two best friends, who go looking for local children who’ve gone missing. It has won rave reviews from critics and high praise from Ian McEwan who described it as ‘brilliant’. Not that Deepa is aware of this - she told me she was too nervous to read any of the reviews. Perhaps this has to do with the controversy that Indian writers writing in English often face - namely, the idea that they are pandering to stereotypes of India, or romanticising poverty or even appropriating others' experiences. Our discussion of this was one of many things I found fascinating in our conversation, which also took in Deepa's career as an award-winning reporter in India, her habit of waking at 5.30am to write, the benefit of studying creative writing, and more. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Twitter: @aliceazania
Instagram: @aliceazania / @deepa.anappara

Buy the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/djinn-patrol-on-the-purple-line/deepa-anappara/9781784743086
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Libby Page

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 15 Mar 2020 05:00:59 +0000

On the outside, Libby Page's life looks pretty perfect. Just 27, she has already written two hit novels - the Sunday Times bestseller The Lido and now, The 24 Hour Cafe. She has worked in both fashion journalism and in marketing, and briefly lived in Paris after quitting her job and renting an Air BnB for six weeks which sounds pretty dreamy. But as she reveals here, she has also battled anxiety and panic attacks - and had to fight to get her first book published, approaching endless agents and being rejected time and again. I'm so grateful to her for opening up about all of this - and I love the fact that, as a child, she was so book-obsessed that she used to go to writing camps! What a joyous chat - thank you Libby.

Twitter: @aliceazania / @LibbyPageWrites
Instagram: @aliceazania / @libbypagewrites

Buy the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-24-hour-cafe/libby-page/9781409175247

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Alice Vincent (aka @noughticulture)

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 8 Mar 2020 05:00:23 +0000

Would we all be happier if we took up gardening? Possibly. Certainly, when Alice was left heartbroken after the collapse of a long-term relationship, she found tending to the collection of plants on the balcony of her South London flat helpful. The creator of the hugely popular ‘plantstagram’ account @noughticulture, Alice's memoir Rootbound: Rewilding a Life is beautifully written, and woven with fascinating dives into botanical history - as well as genuinely useful green-fingered advice. I loved chatting about her early career in music journalism interviewing wayward rock stars, the discipline it took to write alongside a full-time job, why botany was an early breeding ground for feminism, how she navigates the down sides of social media when she has such a massive following - and why you shouldn't feed plants in winter.

Twitter: @aliceazania / @alice_emily
Instagram: @aliceazania / @noughticulture

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rootbound-Rewilding-Life-Alice-Vincent/dp/1786897709

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Isabel Allende

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 1 Mar 2020 05:00:49 +0000

What a way to start the new series! So much about this very special conversation with the literary legend that is Isabel Allende will stay with me - from her meeting with Barack Obama (he's ‘adorable’ apparently) to the terrible grief she experienced after her daughter's death, to the incredible archive of letters she has acquired from writing to her mother every day, finding love in her 70s, and what it was like living and working as a journalist in Chile during the Pinochet coup. We spoke at her hotel in Soho as she was promoting her brilliant new book A Long Petal of the Sea and it was just the most incredible experience.

Twitter: @aliceazania / @isabelallende

Instagram: @aliceazania / allendeisabel

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Petal-Sea-Isabel-Allende/dp/1526615908

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Lucy Foley

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 8 Dec 2019 05:00:06 +0000

It’s the final episode of the year!!!!! Thank you so much to everyone who has listened to the Sunday Salon - after 48 episodes (!) I’m having a break for a few weeks, but I’ll be back next year with a new series.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this fittingly festive finale with Lucy Foley - whose best-selling book The Hunting Party is about what may be the worst New Year’s Eve ever. I LOVED this book, which has just come out in paperback. Set over the Christmas break, it revolves around a group of high-flying university friends who go to a remote Scottish Lodge for New Year’s Eve - which is when things start to go horribly wrong. The result is a brilliantly clever murder mystery in the vein of the classic Agatha Christies. We talk about that, Lucy’s previous career in publishing, genre discrimination, and how it feels when everyone assumes your sex scenes are based on reality (awkward).

FINALLY: while I have your attention, might you consider donating to my charity Christmas appeal in aid of the BookTrust which provides books to vulnerable children? The link to do so is here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sundaysalon

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hunting-Party-Lucy-Foley/dp/0008297150/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Twitter: @aliceazania @lucyfoleytweets
Instagram: @aliceazania @lucyfoleyauthor

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Thanks to the sponsors of this episode, No.3 London Dry Gin. Always drink responsibly, for the facts visit drinkaware.co.uk. @no3gin

Catriona Innes

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 1 Dec 2019 05:00:12 +0000

I’ve known Catriona Innes for a little while now - she is the features director at Cosmopolitan and we shared an office when I was the acting deputy editor at ELLE. But I knew of her before that - because of her award-winning journalism, which has taken in everything from investigations into harassment on the Tube to what it was like growing up with a transgender father. Now she has written her first book, The Matchmaker, a moving, witty and hugely engaging novel about, yes, a professional matchmaker - but also about the gulf between how we present our lives to the outside world and the reality. I loved chatting to Catriona about how she made her dream career happen (before she got her job at Cosmo, she used to stand outside Hearst HQ, gazing at the office and hoping she’d one day get a job there), 6am daily writing sessions and more. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

ALSO: while I have your attention, might you consider donating to my charity Christmas appeal in aid of the Book Trust which provides books to vulnerable children? The link to do so is here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sundaysalon

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/140918837X/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tu00_p1_i0
Twitter: @aliceazania @catreenaah
Instagram: @aliceazania @catreenaah
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Thanks to the sponsors of this episode, No.3 London Dry Gin. Always drink responsibly, for the facts visit drinkaware.co.uk. @no3gin

Eleanor Morgan

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 24 Nov 2019 05:00:35 +0000

My guest this week is Eleanor Morgan, whose second book Hormonal: A Conversation About Women’s Bodies, Mental Health and Why We Need to Be Heard came out this year. It’s brilliant and beautifully written, combining Eleanor’s own experience with detailed research and interviews - a similar approach to the one taken in her first book, Anxiety for Beginners: A Personal Investigation. Eleanor is also a successful journalist, who has written for The Guardian, The Times, Vogue, GQ, The New York Times and more. I loved talking to her about the strange experience of putting personal stories into the public domain, why women’s health concerns have been historically neglected, the fight to get her second book published - and her decision to train as a psychologist.

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hormonal-Journey-Bodies-Affect-Difficult/dp/0349011397

Twitter: @aliceazania @eleanormorgan
Instagram: @aliceazania @eleanorlmorgan

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Thanks to the sponsors of this episode, No.3 London Dry Gin. Always drink responsibly, for the facts visit drinkaware.co.uk. @no3gin

Naomi Shimada and Sarah Raphael

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 17 Nov 2019 05:00:39 +0000

Naomi Shimada and Sarah Raphael have spent much of their adult lives working online. Sarah has been an editor at major digital titles including Refinery 29, where she was editor, then editor at large. Naomi, meanwhile, is a model and activist, with tens of thousands of followers on Instagram. But what has spending so much time online done to them - and to the rest of us? This is the question they examine in Mixed Feelings: Exploring the emotional impact of our digital habits. I loved talking to them about the highs and lows of social media and the problem with being fixated on achievement.

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mixed-Feelings-Exploring-emotional-digital/dp/1787133982
Twitter: @aliceazania @ @sarah_raphael @naomishimada
Instagram: @aliceazania @sarah_raphael @naomishimada
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Thanks to the sponsors of this episode, No.3 London Dry Gin. Always drink responsibly, for the facts visit drinkaware.co.uk. @no3gin

Dawn O’Porter

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 05:00:03 +0000

Dawn O’Porter is brilliant. Not only has she fronted smart, thought-provoking documentaries, but she is also an author, including of the Sunday Times bestseller, The Cows. Now she has followed it up with So Lucky, a funny, honest, story of three women - and the gulf between how we present ourselves on social media and how life really is. I loved talking to her - she was so honest and warm, opening up about the confidence crisis she experienced when she first moved to LA, how she balances writing with having two young children and the very moving real-life inspiration behind So Lucky.

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dawn-OPorter-Untitled-Book-2/dp/0008126070
Twitter: @aliceazania @hotpatooties
Instagram: @aliceazania @hotpatooties
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Thanks to the sponsors of this episode, No.3 London Dry Gin. Always drink responsibly, for the facts visit drinkaware.co.uk. @no3gin

Jessica Pan

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 3 Nov 2019 05:00:31 +0000

It's that time of year... party season is almost upon us and with it the social pressure it brings. As a closet introvert, I have had my fair share of party-fear. So it was a total delight to talk to Jessica Pan about her hilarious book Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert’s Year of Living Dangerously. She does all kinds of quirky things in the name of conquering her fear of social situations, from stand up comedy to accosting strangers on the tube. I loved hearing her wacky stories (and her Christmas survival tips)

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sorry-Late-Didnt-Want-Come/dp/0857526154
Twitter: @aliceazania @JessicaLPan
Instagram: @aliceazania @jessypanpan
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Thanks to the sponsors of this episode, No.3 London Dry Gin. Always drink responsibly, for the facts visit drinkaware.co.uk. @no3gin

Flo Perry

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 05:00:05 +0000

Flo Perry is a writer and illustrator, whose recently released book How To Have Feminist Sex uses both of those skills. The result is funny, acerbic and smart - a taboo-busting guide that tackles everything from pubic hair to consent. I loved chatting to her about body image, having the confidence to be funny, what it is like growing up with famous parents (her dad is Grayson Perry and her mum Philippa Perry), and more. She was so laid-back and unassuming - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book here: https://tinyurl.com/y2dk6ttz
Twitter: @aliceazania @FloPerry
Instagram: @aliceazania @Floperrydraws
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Thanks to the sponsors of this episode, No.3 London Dry Gin. Always drink responsibly, for the facts visit drinkaware.co.uk. @no3gin

Chelsea Kwakye

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 20 Oct 2019 04:00:52 +0000

Chelsea Kwakye is impressive - seriously impressive. A history graduate from Homerton College, Cambridge, she was the only black girl in her year group of around 200 people studying the subject. The experience prompted her to write Taking Up Space with her best friend Ore Ogunbiyi, which went on to become the first book published by Stormzy’s imprint #Merky Books. Taking in everything from unrepresentative curricula, to everyday discrimination and the power of activism, it’s smart, insightful and thought-provoking - and I found Chelsea totally fascinating and inspiring to speak to.

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1529118530/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
Twitter: @aliceazania @ChelseaKwakye

Instagram: @aliceazania @chelseakwakye
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Thanks to the sponsors of this episode, No.3 London Dry Gin. Always drink responsibly, for the facts visit drinkaware.co.uk. @no3gin

Laura Jane Williams

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 04:00:31 +0000

My guest this week is Laura Jane Williams, who has just published her third book, and first novel, Our Stop, a hugely fun Sliding Doors-style romantic comedy about almost missing the love of your life. She’s also written a memoir, Becoming, exploring her twenty-something heartbreak and subsequent journey of self discovery, and Ice Cream for Breakfast, which argues that being more child-like could make us happier. I love Laura’s writing, she’s so funny and honest and witty - and I loved talking to her about everything from the toll that personal writing can take to her decision to move out of London.
Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Our-Stop-Laura-Jane-Williams/dp/0008354588

Twitter: @aliceazania @laurajaneauthor
Instagram: @aliceazania @laurajaneauthor
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Thanks to the sponsors of this episode, No.3 London Dry Gin. Always drink responsibly, for the facts visit drinkaware.co.uk. @no3gin

Marie Le Conte

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 6 Oct 2019 04:00:05 +0000

My guest this week is Marie Le Conte. Marie grew up in France then moved to the UK in 2009 to study journalism. As a political journalist she has written for the likes of The New Statesman, the Sunday Times, the Evening Standard and Buzzfeed and is a regular talking head on television. Last year she was named one of Forbes Europe’s 30 Under 30. Now she has published her first book Haven't You Heard? Gossip, Power, and How Politics Really Works - which I read on holiday and absolutely LOVED. Whether or not you’re a political geek it is the most fun, entertaining and insightful read - and I loved talking to her.

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Havent-You-Heard-Westminster-Mischief/dp/1788701771
Twitter: @aliceazania @youngvulgarian
Instagram: @aliceazania @youngvulgarian
Edited by Chelsey Moore
Sponsor: https://www.no3gin.com/

Emma Barnett

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 04:00:30 +0000

My guest this week is none other than Emma Barnett, broadcaster, journalist and author of Period. It’s About Bloody Time. I’ve known Emma since she was an editor at the Telegraph, where she launched the phenomenally successful Wonder Women digital section. Since then she has established herself as one of the country’s foremost broadcasters thanks to her eponymous BBC Radio 5 Live show and her presenting work on Woman’s Hour and Newsnight. She’s a formidable talent and her book is brilliant, funny and timely. I loved talking to her about it - as well as about her career, how she preps for interviews, and her nerves at telling her boss she was going on maternity leave (thank you Emma for your honesty). I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Period-Emma-Barnett/dp/0008308071
Twitter: @aliceazania @Emmabarnett
Instagram: @aliceazania @emmabarnett
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Thanks to the sponsors of this episode, No.3 London Dry Gin. Always drink responsibly, for the facts visit drinkaware.co.uk. @no3gin

Jessie Burton

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 22 Sep 2019 04:00:18 +0000

My guest this week is none other than Jessie Burton, the best-selling author of The Miniaturist (which became a BBC miniseries starring Anya Taylor-Joy) and The Muse (which was published in a staggering 38 languages). She has also published a children’s book, The Restless Girls, and now she’s back with her new novel for adults, The Confession, a gripping tale of deception, obsession, friendship and motherhood.
I adore Jessie’s work, and absolutely loved this book - I’m so grateful to Jessie for coming on, and being so open about everything from the depression and anxiety she suffered after The Miniaturist came out, to the importance of perseverance when writing.

Buy the book here: https://tinyurl.com/y2hoc45p
Twitter: @aliceazania @
Instagram: @aliceazania @jessieburton
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Tickets for The Ginprint are available to purchase here: http://bit.ly/2N1p5uE
NB: This event is for over 18's only and No.3 will be operating an Over 25 Age Policy. Please ensure you have sufficient ID for entry to The Ginprint experience.

Hannah Ewens

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 15 Sep 2019 04:00:20 +0000

My guest this week is Hannah Ewens, a writer and editor at VICE who specialises in writing about youth culture, mental health, music and film - and who has recently published her first book, Fangirls: Scenes From Modern Music Culture. It’s a fascinating examination of fan culture and how that shapes both individuals but also broader pop culture. Hannah interviews dozens of fans of everyone from The Beatles to Beyonce, she spends late nights outside venues where fans camp to meet their idols, and she speaks to survivors of 2017 bomb attack on Manchester Arena that targeted an Ariana Grande concert. It’s really riveting and often surprising so I’m thrilled to have her on.

Buy the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/fangirls/hannah-ewens/9781787132412
Twitter: @aliceazania @hannahrosewens
Instagram: @aliceazania @hannahrose___
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Lotte Jeffs

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 8 Sep 2019 04:00:14 +0000

I’ve known Lotte for five years - she was once my editor at ES magazine and I’ve watched in awe as she has achieved ever greater things, becoming Deputy Editor and then Acting Editor in Chief of ELLE, winning awards for her writing, moving into advertising, and then publishing her first book, How to be a Gentlewoman: The Art of Soft Power in Hard Times.
Part memoir, part self-help book, it draws on a host of personal and professional experiences to detail how she found her inner confidence, a sense of balance and, ultimately, happiness. I loved talking to her for this episode - she was incredibly thoughtful and open, and made me think about so many things in a new light.

Buy the book here:
Twitter: @aliceazania @lottejeffs
Instagram: @aliceazania @lottejeffs
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Elizabeth Uviebinené and Yomi Adegoke

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 1 Sep 2019 04:00:06 +0000

My guests this week are Elizabeth Uviebinené and Yomi Adegoke, authors of the phenomenal Slay In Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible. Recently-released in paperback, Slay In Your Lane is absolutely essential reading. It celebrates the ways in which black women are making waves - while also highlighting the uncomfortable truth that we live in a society that makes life harder for black women. I found our conversation - which took in everything from the workplace to dating culture - both inspiring but also moving and eye-opening.

Buy the book here: https://tinyurl.com/y35hax6g
Twitter: @aliceazania @lizuvie @yomiadegoke

Instagram: @aliceazania @slayinyourlane
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Sophia Money-Coutts

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 25 Aug 2019 04:00:38 +0000

Warning: there is a LOT of laughter in this episode. Sophia Money-Coutts is a journalist, columnist and the author of two hilarious novels, The Plus One and What Happens Now. I love Sophia’s writing – she is so, so funny but also so clever and observant, with a brilliant knack for taking a sideways look at everyday scenarios and making you think twice about them – whether that’s a date, a party or even what kind of mug you drink tea from. Join as we talk about “spurgling” (that’s sperm burgling fyi), ghosting, how it feels to have your parents read your sex scenes, her time working for Tatler and why we’re so obsessed with class.

Buy What Happens Now: https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Happens-Now-Sophia-Money-Coutts/dp/0008288518
Twitter: @aliceazania @sophiamcoutts
Instagram: @aliceazania @sophiamcoutts
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Thanks to the sponsors of this episode, No.3 London Dry Gin. Always drink responsibly, for the facts visit drinkaware.co.uk. @no3gin

Juno Dawson

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 04:00:15 +0000

My guest this week is Juno Dawson, the bestselling novelist, screenwriter, and columnist. Juno has won acclaim for her young adult novels, which include her debut, Hollow Pike and last year’s hit Clean about a young woman struggling with addiction. Her most recent book, Meat Market, tells the story of a young woman who goes into the modelling industry to discover an unexpectedly dark side of it. I loved hearing how she was inspired to begin writing after coming across the Twilight books while working as a teacher, how being bullied at school made her more determined to succeed - and why daytime trips to the cinema fuel her creativity.
Buy Meat Market here: https://tinyurl.com/y5ff9au5

Twitter: @aliceazania @junodawson
Instagram: @aliceazania @junodawson

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Rachel DeLoache Williams

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 11 Aug 2019 04:00:59 +0000

My guest this week is Rachel DeLoache Williams, whose recently-released book My Friend Anna: the True Story of the Fake Heiress of New York City, offers a riveting account of her friendship with Anna Sorokin. Anna, also known as the “Soho grifter,” was originally from Russia but posed as a German heiress who wanted to open a private club and spent months living in $400-a-night hotel rooms. While doing so, she befriended Rachel, who loaned her thousands of dollars.

Anna was not found criminally guilty in her actions towards Rachel - but was convicted earlier this year of defrauding banks and hotels of up to $250,000, and of trying to lie her way into securing a $22 million loan. She was sentenced to between four and twelve years in prison.

Her trial, at with Rachel testified, captivated the world’s press - and not just because of the outrageous nature of Anna’s crimes. She became known for her high-fashion court attire too.

The book makes for gripping reading, and I found our interview, which took place in the office of her publisher Quercus, utterly fascinating.

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.com/My-Friend-Anna-Story-Heiress/dp/1982114096
Twitter: @aliceazania @racheldeloache
Instagram: @aliceazania @rdwilliams
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Olivia Potts

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 4 Aug 2019 04:00:24 +0000

My guest this week is the food writer Olivia Potts. Olivia spent five years working as a criminal barrister before giving it all up to train as a party chef. Her recently released memoir, A Half-Baked Idea: How Grief, Love and Cake Took Me from the Courtroom to Le Cordon Bleu, is an incredibly moving and beautifully-written account of coping with grief following the death of her mother - and finding comfort in the kitchen . It’s clever and warm and wise - I loved it - and I’m so grateful to Olivia for being so forthcoming in this interview.

Buy the book here: https://tinyurl.com/yxmf36pz
Twitter: @aliceazania @Poots
Instagram: @aliceazania @ahalfbakedidea
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 28 Jul 2019 04:00:10 +0000

My guest this week is Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of the acclaimed 2016 novel Harmless Like You as well as this year’s Starling Days. One of the most exciting young voices in fiction today, she is the winner of The Authors’ Club First Novel Award as well as a Betty Trask Award. I love her writing - it’s poetic and lyrical but also incredibly readable, all while tackling big themes such as identity, and mental health. I found it totally fascinating talking to her and hearing about everything from writing with dyslexia to feeling like an outsider.

Buy the book here: https://tinyurl.com/y6meusqr

Twitter: @aliceazania @RowanHLB
Instagram: @aliceazania @rowanhisa
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Charlotte Philby

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 21 Jul 2019 04:00:16 +0000

Already a successful journalist, Charlotte Philby has just published her debut novel, the psychological thriller The Most Difficult Thing. It should come with a warning sticker: you won’t be able to put it down. I absolutely loved it and devoured it in one sitting. It’s set between London and Greece, and combines suspense with loads of family drama and a dash of glamour. We talk about this - as well as how she feels like her career has been a series of failures, the messy truth behind external “success”, and what it is like growing up when your grandfather is Kim Philby, one of the most significant double agents in modern history.

Buy the book here: https://tinyurl.com/y3v278v7
Twitter: @aliceazania @philbycharlotte
Instagram: @aliceazania @charlotte_philby
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Anna Jones and Debbie Wosskow

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 14 Jul 2019 04:00:51 +0000

My guests this week are the hugely inspiring Anna Jones and Debbie Wosskow. Both successful business women in their own right - Anna was the CEO of Hearst for three years and Debbie was a serial entrepreneur who sold her home-swapping business LoveHomeSwap for nearly £41 million - they set up the AllBright Club in September 2017. A members club for business women it has two spaces in London and is soon to open in LA. If that wasn’t enough, they’ve also just published their first book, Believe. Build. Become: How to Supercharge Your Career.
In this episode, we talk about confidence, resilience and the power of super-preparation. They were both so refreshingly honest about sharing their experiences and advice - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book here: https://tinyurl.com/y584z62e

Twitter: @aliceazania @MrsAnnaKJones @DebbieWossk
Instagram: @aliceazania @allbright
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Nell Stevens

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 7 Jul 2019 04:00:06 +0000

Nell Stevens is remarkable. Her 2017 book, Bleaker House, detailed her decision to move to an empty island in the Falklands in order to try and write a novel. She failed – but the memoir she wrote instead went on to become a critical and commercial hit, described by Lena Dunham as her favourite book that year. She has followed it with Mrs Gaskell and me, another (sort-of) memoir, detailing a doomed love affair and Nell’s growing obsession with Elizabeth Gaskell, which has just come out in paperback. I love Nell’s books, they’re really funny and totally strange and brilliant. Here we chat about baring her soul in print, surviving on just 1,085-calories when on the island, her friendship with Lena Dunham, and why she is drawn to surreal situations. She also reveals the one piece of advice she’d give to any aspiring writer.

Buy Mrs Gaskell & Me here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/mrs-gaskell-and-me/nell-stevens/9781509868186

Twitter: @aliceazania @Nell Stevens
Instagram: @aliceazania @nellstevens
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Nimco Ali

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 30 Jun 2019 04:00:08 +0000

My guest this week is Nimco Ali, activist, anti-FGM campaigner and author of What We’re Told Not to Talk About (But We’re Going to Anyway): Women’s Voices from East London to Ethiopia. A hugely important piece of writing, it contains interviews with women from across the world on their experience of periods, sex, menopause and more. Nimko has been a hero of mine for some time - she’s a fiercely independent thinker and a passionate advocate for women’s rights. We talk about her own experience of FGM, the failure of adults around her to help, lobbying politicians for change and more. I hope you find her as inspiring as I did.

Edited by Chelsey Moore
With thanks to Nimco Ali

Buy What We’re Told Not to Talk About (But We’re Going to Anyway) here:
https://tinyurl.com/y3dlh9km

Twitter: @aliceazania @NimkoAli
Instagram: @aliceazania @nimkoali

Amelia Abraham

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 23 Jun 2019 04:00:45 +0000

My guest this week is Amelia Abraham, journalist, TED speaker and author of Queer Intentions: A (personal) Journey Through LGBTQ+ culture. I’ve known Amelia for years, and she is one of the most interesting and original thinkers I’ve encountered. Queer Intentions is totally fascinating - she travelled all over the world researching it, from the world's biggest drag convention in L.A, to the nightclubs of Istanbul. Here we talk about how it all started with an ill-fated attempt to move to Iceland for love, how her attitude towards marriage changed while researching it, and why having LGBTQ+ spaces matters.

But the Queer Intentions here: https://tinyurl.com/y3v5x9eb
Twitter: @aliceazania @MillyAbraham
Instagram: @aliceazania @amelia_abraham
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Jessica Andrews

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 16 Jun 2019 04:00:33 +0000

My guest this week is Jessica Andrews, whose novel Saltwater has been one of the most talked-about debuts of the year. It tells the tale of Lucy who moves to London from Sunderland to go to university. Once there she grapples with feeling like an outsider among her middle-class peers. The book is based on Jessica’s own experience - something I knew, although it was only as we spoke that I realised quite how true it was. Jessica is also a journalist and poet, whose writing often explores the nuances of class and identity. I loved talking to her.

Buy Saltwater here: https://tinyurl.com/yxfgbjeu
Twitter: @aliceazania @jessicacandrews
Instagram: @aliceazania @itbeginswiththebody
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Poorna Bell

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 9 Jun 2019 04:00:01 +0000

My guest this week is the phenomenal Poorna Bell. Poorna is an award-winning journalist and author, and a hugely inspiring voice in the conversation around mental health. Her first book Chase The Rainbow, charts her life with her late husband Rob, who struggled with depression and addiction and died by suicide in 2015. It’s a staggeringly moving, but also incredibly warm and vivid read, which offers vital insights both on mental health and grief. She has followed it up with the recently-released In Search of Silence, which chronicles her journey to rebuilding her life after bereavement. We discuss all of this, in a conversation that is both moving and inspiring. She’s wonderful.

Buy In Search of Silence here: https://tinyurl.com/y5qwngq9
Twitter: @aliceazania @poornabell
Instagram: @aliceazania @poornabell
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Kate Mosse

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 2 Jun 2019 04:00:21 +0000

My guest this week is Kate Mosse, world-famous, bestselling author - and the Founder Director of the Women’s Prize For Fiction, which is awarded on Wednesday 5 June. I LOVED her. We talk about how she quit her high-powered job to pursue writing, why her husband took her surname when they had children, getting confused with Kate Moss (no “e”), writing her most recent book The Burning Chambers (which came out in paperback earlier this year) - and how she set up the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 1996 in response to an all-male Booker Prize shortlist. She also reveals the one piece of advice she’d give to any aspiring writer.

Buy the Burning Chambers here: https://tinyurl.com/y6ev4rnw

Twitter: @aliceazania @katemosse
Instagram: @aliceazania @katemossewriter
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Emma Gannon

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 26 May 2019 04:00:40 +0000

Emma Gannon is the queen of the side hustle. Having started blogging while working in PR, she went on to carve out her own multi-disciplinary portfolio career as an author, journalist, and podcaster. In her bestselling book The Multi-Hyphen Method, she shows you how you can apply the same approach. It’s fantastically useful - I’ve actually given it to quite a few people as a gift.

We talk about the importance of redefining success on your own terms, how people get “personal branding” wrong, creating boundaries - and the background to her setting up her hugely successful podcast Ctrl Alt Delete which has seen her interview the likes of Jameela Jamil and Esther Perel.

Buy The Multi-Hyphen Method here https://tinyurl.com/y5rwmxb8

Twitter: @aliceazania @emmagannon
Instagram: @aliceazania @emmagannonuk

Ottessa Moshfegh

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 19 May 2019 04:00:32 +0000

My guest this week is Ottessa Moshfegh, author of My Year of Rest and Relaxation. Set in New York City in the year 2000, it tells the story of a wealthy young woman who decides to go into hibernation with a cocktail of sedatives. Recently released in paperback, it’s darkly funny and wonderfully, unashamedly strange. Ottessa is undoubtedly one of the most original voices in fiction today, whose stories share an intriguing sense of the grotesque - and I found our conversation, which took in everything from being an outsider to why she doesn’t drink alcohol, utterly fascinating.

Buy My Year of Rest and Relaxation here https://tinyurl.com/y3v45ka8
Twitter: @aliceazania
Instagram: @aliceazania
Edited by Chelsey Moore

BONUS EP: Yvonne Battle-Felton

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Tue, 14 May 2019 04:00:46 +0000

Yvonne Battle Felton’s brilliant novel Remembered tells the story of Spring, an emancipated slave whose son Edward has been accused of driving a streetcar into a shop window. I love this book - and am not surprised that it was longlisted for The Women’s Prize For Fiction.
This is also my first ever live episode - I spoke to Yvonne for the monthly literary salon I host at the Ned hotel in London so it is recorded there. We discussed her decision to leave the US for the UK, why rejection can be a good thing and the role of Black Lives Matter in shaping the book. I loved talking to her - she was so warm and thoughtful. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy Remembered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Remembered-Yvonne-Battle-Felton/dp/0349700494

Twitter: @aliceazania @YBattleFelton
Instagram: @aliceazania @whyiwritebattlefelton
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Alex Holder

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 12 May 2019 04:00:06 +0000

My guest this week is Alex Holder, whose book Open Up: The Power of Talking About Money aims to break the taboo around money by encouraging us to be more open about what we earn and how we spend, save and deal with debt. It’s a brilliant read – hugely relatable and relevant, and it might just change your life. We talk about all of this, as well as how to say no to hen parties, the mental health toll of feeling financially out of control, and how we can all get on top of our money.

Buy Open Up: The Power of Talking About Money at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Open-Up-Power-Talking-About/dp/1788161874

Twitter: @aliceazania @AlexandreHolder
Instagram: @aliceazania @alexandreholder
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Sophie Mackintosh

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 5 May 2019 04:00:15 +0000

My guest this week is Sophie Mackintosh, whose debut novel The Water Cure was the subject of a seven-way bidding war. Telling the story of three sisters whose parents have brought them up on an isolated island to inoculate them from the dangers presented by men and a toxic world, it won rave reviews, was longlisted for The Booker Prize, and has recently come out in paperback. I LOVED talking to Sophie - we talk about how growing up speaking Welsh made her a better writer, how she wrote The Water Cure around her marketing job, why female anger is a force for good - and so much more.

Buy The Water Cure at https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-water-cure/sophie-mackintosh/9780241983010

Twitter: @aliceazania
Instagram: @aliceazania @sophmackintosh
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Sharlene Teo

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 28 Apr 2019 04:00:25 +0000

I have a special affinity with Sharlene. One of the characters in her remarkable novel Ponti, which has just been released in paperback, is a former cult horror actress. My mum is also a former cult horror actress. That’s where the similarities end - but it feels fittingly spooky given the super-natural aspects of Ponti, a sweeping tale of friendship and jealousy, which won the inaugural Deborah Rogers writers’ award and was described by none other than Ian McEwan as “remarkable.” I loved speaking to Sharlene - we covered everything from the crippling imposter syndrome she experiences to frenemies to why perfectionism is a form of censorship.

Buy Ponti here: https://www.foyles.co.uk/all?term=sharlene+teo+ponti

Twitter: @aliceazania @treebirds
Instagram: @aliceazania @strangelikeness
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Candice Carty-Williams

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 21 Apr 2019 04:00:25 +0000

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams is my favourite debut of the year so far - I’m not surprised it was the subject of a bidding war. It tells the story of Queenie Jenkins, a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, who works at a national newspaper, where she’s constantly forced to compare herself to her white, middle-class peers. When she breaks up with her long-term boyfriend, she enters a period of anxiety, and awful relationships. I LOVE this book - it’s funny and poignant and youthful and feels so relevant. Reading Candice’s writing is like speaking to a friend - as was interviewing her. We talk about the shocking under-representation of BAME writers, battling confidence issues and how she writes in the middle of the night, and much, much more.

Buy Queenie at https://www.waterstones.com/book/queenie/candice-carty-williams/9781409180050

Twitter: @aliceazania @CandiceC_W ‏
Instagram: @aliceazania @candicec_w
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Elizabeth Day

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 04:00:41 +0000

Elizabeth Day is an award-winning author and journalist - and host of the brilliantly successful and totally riveting podcast How To Fail with Elizabeth Day, in which she interviews the likes of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Alastair Campbell and Lily Allen about the things that haven’t gone right in life. Having published four novels, including the 2017 smash-hit The Party, she has just released her fifth book, also called How To Fail. Part memoir, part mediation on the power of failure, it takes in career highs and lows, her struggle with infertility, the breakdown of her first marriage and more. Like everything Elizabeth produces, it’s beautifully written and sharply observed but also so honest and true. We talk about that - as well as her childhood in Northern Ireland, feeling like an outsider, being a closet introvert, therapy and more. She’s incredible.

Buy How to Fail: Everything I'Ve Ever Learned from Things Going Wrong at
https://www.waterstones.com/book/how-to-fail/elizabeth-day/9780008327323

Twitter: @aliceazania @elizabday
Instagram: @aliceazania @elizabday
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Sunday April 21 - Candice Carty Williams on writing the debut of the year and why representation matters

Lynn Enright

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 7 Apr 2019 04:00:27 +0000

My guest this week is the remarkable Lynn Enright, whose book Vagina: A Re-education is, well, exactly that. Taking in everything from biological myths, to the penis-centric bias of modern sex education, to reproductive rights, fertility, FGM, the orgasm gap, sexual health, periods and the period industry, it is utterly brilliant and essential reading whether you are in possession of a vagina or not. Lynn is also a successful journalist who was a vocal campaigner in Ireland’s Repeal the Eighth movement. I found our chat - which took in all of the above, as well as Lynn’s childhood in Ireland, her own experience of abortion and more - absolutely fascinating.

Buy Vagina at
https://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/lgbt-gender-studies/vagina-a-reeducation,lynn-enright-9781911630012

Twitter: @aliceazania @lynnenright
Instagram: @aliceazania @lynnenright
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Laura Freeman

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 31 Mar 2019 04:00:10 +0000

My guest this week is Laura Freeman, author of The Reading Cure - an incredibly moving but also totally life-affirming memoir about how reading helped her enjoy food again after suffering anorexia. Last year the book saw her shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, and it was named one of books of the year by the Times, the Telegraph and the Spectator – and it has just been released in paperback. As well as being an author, Laura is also a successful journalist and arts critic - and one of my best friends! In this episode, we talk about the dangers of the clean eating movement, the emotional challenge of writing (and talking) about mental health and anorexia, and why on earth she tried to real ALL of Charles Dickens’ work in 2012. She’s amazing. Totally amazing.

Buy The Reading Cure here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-reading-cure/laura-freeman/9781474604659

Twitter: @aliceazania @LauraSFreeman
Instagram: @aliceazania @laurasophiafreeman
Edited by Chelsey Moore

BONUS EPSIODE: Emily Hill

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 05:00:28 +0000

It’s my first ever bonus episode! To celebrate my birthday (narcissistic much?), I’m releasing this very special episode with Emily Hill, whose short story collection Bad Romance recently came out in paperback. She is ferociously clever, funny and creative and was totally fascinating to talk to. We talk about crap flatshares, our shared history as gossip columnists, why modern romance is rubbish - and how she came to crowdfund Bad Romance’s publication.

Buy Bad Romance at https://www.waterstones.com/book/bad-romance/emily-hill/9781783524969

Twitter: @aliceazania @3milyhill ‏
Instagram: @aliceazania @3milyhi11
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Daisy Buchanan

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 05:00:51 +0000

My guest this week is the author and journalist Daisy Buchanan, whose brilliant second book, The Sisterhood, is a love letter to the women who have shaped her – including her five sisters. We talk about friendship and family, going on TV, how it feels to write about difficult subjects (such as her eating disorder and experience of abuse), the highs and lows of social media, trolling, comparison culture and more. She is so funny and clever and warm - a total joy to speak to. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy The Sisterhood at https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-sisterhood/daisy-buchanan/9781472238856

Twitter: @aliceazania @NotRollergirl
Instagram: @aliceazania @thedaisybee
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Diana Evans

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 05:00:48 +0000

Ordinary People by Diana Evans is one of my favorite books about love and relationships ever. Newly available in paperback, it examines the gradually crumbling relationship of former golden couple Melissa and Michael and tackles big subjects such as the tension between motherhood and creativity.

I found talking to Diana totally fascinating. We spoke about how the terrible pain of her twin sister’s suicide prompted her to write her first book, 26a, why depicting middle-class black Londoners is a political act, the supernatural, whether awards matter (she has just been longlisted for The Women’s Prize for Fiction), why she never writes on the ground floor and her love of audiobooks. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Buy Ordinary People at: https://www.waterstones.com/book/ordinary-people/diana-evans/9781784707248

Twitter: @aliceazania @DianaEvansOP

Instagram: @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Rose McGowan

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 05:00:27 +0000

Rose McGowan is an actor, artist and activist, whose astonishing memoir Brave details her journey from growing up in the Children of God cult to Hollywood, where she became a film icon but also suffered the most appalling sexism and abuse. Rose, of course, has been one of the key voices in the #MeToo movement. Since speaking about her experiences, industries from fashion to politics have been convulsed by similar allegations in what has undoubtedly been, as she puts it in Brave, “a cataclysmic global reckoning”. In this exclusive interview, Rose opens up about her tumultuous childhood, how being homeless as teen impacted her career, the hell of the red carpet, finding love and happiness, her political ambitions, and her decision not to have children. And she offers her advice and words of support for anyone listening who is also experiencing, or has experienced, abuse.

Buy Brave at https://www.waterstones.com/book/brave/rose-mcgowan/9780008291129

Twitter: @aliceazania @rosemcgowan
Instagram: @aliceazania @rosemcgowan
Edited by Hannah Varrall
For the best experience listen on the Entale app https://entale.app.link/download

Sophie Kinsella

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 3 Mar 2019 05:00:46 +0000

Sophie Kinsella is a publishing legend, who has sold more than 40 million books worldwide, including the iconic Shopaholic series, which became a Hollywood film, Confessions of a Shopaholic, starring Isla Fisher. As she publishes her new novel, I Owe You One, we discuss emotional labour, the controversial term "chick lit", how women's writing is undervalued, and why she buys her Christmas presents in Oxfam. She also tells me how CBT has helped her anxiety, why mobile phones have ruined romantic fiction, and the one piece of advice she'd give to any aspiring author. She is warm, brilliant and wise - I just loved talking to her.

Buy I Owe You One at https://www.waterstones.com/book/i-owe-you-one/sophie-kinsella/9780593079928

Twitter: @aliceazania @KinsellaSophie
Instagram: @aliceazania @sophiekinsellawriter
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Charly Cox

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 24 Feb 2019 05:00:17 +0000

Charly Cox is bringing poetry to a new generation. In her best-selling collection She Must Be Mad, she tackles mental illness, sex and body image. She was utterly fascinating to speak to – so incredibly warm and honest. We talk about her diagnosis, at 17, with bipolar II, society’s hierarchy of mental illnesses, why she hates the label “insta-poet”, writing as a form of therapy, why she reads aloud every day – and she reveals the details of her next project. She also tells me the one piece of advice she would give to any aspiring writer.

Buy She Must Be Mad at https://www.amazon.co.uk/She-Must-Be-Mad-bestselling/dp/0008291667

Twitter: @aliceazania @charlycox1

Instagram: @aliceazania @charlycox1

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Olivia Sudjic

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 06:16:10 +0000

My guest this week is the phenomenal Olivia Sudjic, author of the 2017 hit Sympathy, a riveting tale of obsession described by The Observer as “Alice through the looking glass for the Instagram generation” as well as “inventive and highly charged” by the Telegraph and (my personal favourite) “an absolute fizz” by the Spectator. Last year, she followed it up with Exposure, a brilliant collection of essays about anxiety and female creativity.

We cover everything from online stalking and the dark side of the internet, to the benefits of procrastination, how she quit her job in branding to write, the horror that is public speaking, and how she needs two weeks of isolation to finish her books. She also reveals the one piece of advice she would give to any aspiring writer.

Buy Exposure at https://peninsulapress.co.uk/product/exposure

Twitter: @aliceazania
Instagram: @aliceazania @olivia.sudjic

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Lucy Vine

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 10 Feb 2019 06:00:27 +0000

Warning: there is a LOT of laughter in this episode. In a Valentine’s Day special (or should that be an anti-Valentine’s Day special?), I’m joined by Lucy Vine, the bestselling author of Hot Mess, What Fresh Hell, and Are We Nearly There Yet?

We talk about how Lucy started writing novels because she was fed up with clichéd depictions of single women, as well as her childhood spent hiding in the loo reading books, the curse of Bridget Jones, finishing a book in eight weeks (yes, really), and the joy of not having to share a bed with another sweaty human. She also reveals the one piece of advice she would give to any aspiring writer.

Buy Lucy’s books at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hot-Mess-Lucy-Vine/dp/1409172201

Twitter: @aliceazania @Lecv

Instagram: @aliceazania @Lecv

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Farrah Storr

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 3 Feb 2019 06:00:10 +0000

My guest this week is the phenomenal Farrah Storr, author of The Discomfort Zone, one of the most thought-provoking and useful books I read last year. Farrah manages to squeeze in a few other things too. As Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan, she took a struggling magazine brand and turned it around, increasing its circulation 59% to become the highest-selling British glossy. Before that, she was the launch Editor of Women’s Health, the most successful magazine launch of the decade. She’s also a TED speaker, and a social mobility commissioner.

We talk about her childhood in Salford, being rejected from Cosmo as a young journalist, and why it’s a better time for magazines than it was a few years ago. She also reveals what it’s like going up against Piers Morgan on TV and how she wrote most of her book at 5am on Saturdays and Sundays. And she tells me why she believes “having it all-ish” is a better ambition than having it all, how you can be “successful but a bit of a f**k up as well”, and why she wants to expand access to the creative industries. Finally, she reveals the single most important advice she would give to any aspiring writers.

Twitter: @aliceazania @Farrah_Storr
Instagram: @aliceazania @farrahstorr
The Discomfort Zone: https://tinyurl.com/ybzlykga
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Holly Bourne

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 07:00:21 +0000

Her best-selling book How Do You Like Me Now? was both wildly funny and brilliantly perceptive – and I can confirm that Holly Bourne is both of these things, not to mention clever, kind and wise. We talk about everything from the surreal pressure society puts on 30-something women, to conquering stage fright (Holly used to get so nervous before public speaking that she would be sick) and why she started rationing her news intake in 2016. She also reveals how she comes up with her ideas – a process she calls “literary cystitis” – and why she was tempted to have “THIS IS NOT A MEMOIR” tattooed on to her head after the release of How Do You Like Me Now. And we talk about why she feels a responsibility to tackle subjects such as mental health, emotional abuse and feminism in her work. Finally Holly, who is also the author of nine young adult novels, as well as an official champion for SANE mental health charity, reveals the single most important piece of advice she would give any aspiring writer. Welcome to the first ever episode of The Sunday Salon with Alice-Azania Jarvis.
Edited by Chelsey Moore

Trailer

aliceazaniajarvis@gmail.com (Alice Azania Jarvis) — Wed, 9 Jan 2019 09:50:19 +0000

The Sunday Salon is a podcast celebrating brilliant books and the women who write them, hosted by journalist Alice-Azania Jarvis. Each week she chats to an inspiring female author about her work, her career, how she writes, what she reads and everything in between. This is not some academic textual analysis – it’s about finding the stories behind the stories, and celebrating the joy that books bring, no matter what genre, or style. Tune in each Sunday to hear from guests including How Do You Like Me Now author Holly Bourne, Ordinary People’s Diana Evans, The Reading Cure’s Laura Freeman, and Nell Stevens, author of Mrs Gaskell and Me.
Edited by Chelsey Moore