Tag: literary fiction

In this month’s episode we took a wild ride with David Keenan. David was born in Glasgow and grew up in Airdrie, in the west of Scotland, in the late-70s and early-1980s. He is the author of three novels, the cult classic This Is Memorial Device, which won the Collyer Bristow/London Magazine Award for Debut Fiction 2018 and was shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize, For The Good Times, which won the Gordon Burn Prize in 2019, and Xstabeth.

We travelled far and wide in this episode, covering, amongst much else: using faith in your writing as your only compass, performing a DJ set in Tolstoy’s front garden, the beauty of a character from a previous novel turning up unexpectedly in later work and lucky cap disposal.

“Research is an excuse for not inventing.”

If you’d like to take a step into David’s personal chill-space, the books he mentioned are: ‘Incised Effigial Slabs’ by F. A. Greenhill (1976) and ‘Monastic Architecture in France’ by Joan Evans (1964).

Xstabeth is published by White Rabbit on 12th November 2020. Pre-order XSTABETH in paperback, ebook or audio before 1 November to access the exclusive digital prequel, THE TOWERS THE FIELDS THE TRANSMITTERS. Full details: bit.ly/XstabethPreOrder
David is on Twitter: @reversediorama
Find us on Twitter: @UnsoundMethods – @JaimieBatchan – @LochlanBloom

Jaimie’s Instagram is: @jaimie_batchan

Thanks for listening, please like, subscribe and rate Unsound Methods wherever you get your podcasts. Our website is: https://unsoundmethods.co.uk/

We are teaming up with the Institute of English Studies at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. With the current uncertainty in the world, why not check out their Literature in Lockdown page? : https://www.ies.sas.ac.uk/about-us/ies-virtual-community/literature-lockdownUpdate Description

Episode 33

In this month’s episode we speak to Gabriel Josipovici. Gabriel’s first novel was published in 1968 and his writing career spans over twenty works of fiction, numerous works of criticism and non-fiction, and regular articles in the TLS.

Continuing our current coronavirus set-up, Gabriel joined us remotely from Sussex and our discussion covered how his writing has developed over six decades, the perils of writing an unexpectedly backlash-provoking book on Modernism, the creative possibilities revealed by examining painters & composers and much more.

The ‘acceptably long’ novel we briefly discussed was George Perec’s ‘Life: A User’s Manual’

The vast majority of Gabriel’s work is published by Carcanet: https://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?owner_id=368

Gabriel’s website is here: http://www.gabrieljosipovici.org/

Find us on Twitter: @UnsoundMethods – @JaimieBatchan – @LochlanBloom

Jaimie’s Instagram is: @jaimie_batchan

Thanks for listening, please like, subscribe and rate Unsound Methods wherever you get your podcasts. Our website is: https://unsoundmethods.co.uk/

We are teaming up with the Institute of English Studies at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. With the current uncertainty in the world, why not check out their Literature in Lockdown page? : https://www.ies.sas.ac.uk/about-us/ies-virtual-community/literature-lockdownUpdate Description

Episode 31 of Unsound Methods – Reading and Writing in the time of lockdown…Something a little different this month as Lochlan and Jaimie pause to review how the COVID-19 lockdown has impacted their reading and writing, and to take a look back at the teenage reading paths that led them to experimental/innovative fiction.

We’d love to hear about your lockdown reading and writing and the reading path you’ve taken through the fiction forest. Contact us through Twitter, or email us at: unsoundmethodspod@gmail.com

Find us on Twitter: @UnsoundMethods – @JaimieBatchan – @LochlanBloom

Jaimie’s Instagram is: @jaimie_batchan

Thanks for listening, please like, subscribe and rate Unsound Methods wherever you get your podcasts. Our website is: https://unsoundmethods.co.uk/Update Description

In episode 30, we speak to writer, translator and musician, Jen Calleja, author of the short story collection ‘I’m Afraid that’s All We’ve Got Time For’ (2020, Prototype).

We (remotely, respecting social distancing!) discuss bus travel as fertile ground for creativity, writing across different forms – from translation to poetry, novels and short stories, and the insight gained from working with writers whose work you are translating – and plenty more besides.

*** There is a very slight technical glitch with this episode’s sound, but we’ve fixed it as best we can – apologies if the sound isn’t quite as clean as it usually is ***

You can buy ‘I’m Afraid that’s All We’ve Got Time For’ here: https://prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/im-afraid-thats-all-weve-got-time-for/

You can find out more about Jen’s writing at her website: www.jencalleja.com

She’s on Twitter: @niewview and Instagram: @jencalleja_

Find us on Twitter: @UnsoundMethods – @JaimieBatchan – @LochlanBloom

Jaimie’s Instagram is: @jaimie_batchan

Thanks for listening, please like, subscribe and rate Unsound Methods wherever you get your podcasts. Our website is: https://unsoundmethods.co.uk/

Update Description

In episode 29, we speak to writer and broadcaster Hamid Ismailov. Hamid joined us pre-Covid-19-lockdown, on his way to the Faversham Literature Festival.

Hamid’s novels include ‘the Devil’s Dance’ and ‘of Strangers and Bees’, both available through Tilted Axis Press in the UK. More info at: https://www.tiltedaxispress.com/hamid-ismailov

As a writer who works in Uzbek, Russian and English, our discussion took us on a Eurasian tour of societies, cultures and languages. Hamid outlined his ‘writing a book during autumn and winter’ approach, and we learnt a bit more about what it’s like to be banned in your own country (not just his work, Hamid continues to be prohibited from entering Uzbekistan to this day).

Author image credit: Amos Chapple

Hamid is on Twitter: @ismailov_writer

Find us on Twitter: @UnsoundMethods – @JaimieBatchan – @LochlanBloom

Jaimie’s Instagram is: @jaimie_batchan

Thanks for listening, please like, subscribe and rate Unsound Methods wherever you get your podcasts. Our website is: https://unsoundmethods.co.uk/Update Description

In Episode 23 we speak to Mazin Saleem, the author of ‘the Prick’, published as part of Open Pen’s series of novelettes. We speak to Mazin about discovering that you’re not really a night-owl, using software to improve your writing productivity, and the freedom of jumping around the manuscript while editing to keep things fresh. 

Thanks for listening, please like, subscribe and rate Unsound Methods wherever you get your podcasts.

The online poetry magazine that Jaimie mentions at the end is called Harana Poetry, and can be found here: https://www.haranapoetry.com/
Mazin isn’t on Twitter, but we are:  @UnsoundMethods – @JaimieBatchan – @LochlanBloom

Jaimie’s Instagram is: @jaimie_batchan

You can buy the Prick here: https://www.openpen.shop/store/p9/theprick.html You can find out more about Mazin and his writing at: www.mazinsaleem.com