I chat with Hugo Award winning author Mary Robinette Kowal all about books, puppetry, voice acting, and the space between author and audience.

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Show Notes
I had a blast chatting to Hugo Award Winning author Mary Robinette Kowal all about her thoughts on bibliotherapy, the therapeutic effects of writing, and the importance of the membership non profit Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America of which Mary Robinette is President. We chatted a lot about the role of the intermediary in storytelling, both through audio with her work as a voice artist and with the visual with her work as a puppeteer. We discuss that distance between author and audience and how it affects our wellbeing. A fabulous chat with a fabulous author, voice actor, and puppeteer!

Link to Mary Robinette Kowal’s website

As promised all the books and authors mentioned in this episode:
John Scalzi
Guy Gavriel Kay
Martha Wells
Jane Austen
The Sun, The Moon, & The Stars by Stephen Brust
Philip K Dick
Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Glamorous Histories series by Mary Robinette Kowal
Jane Espensen
The Midnight Bargain by CL Polk

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Show Notes
This week I chat with Dr Samantha Rayner, Vice Dean of Wellbeing and Director of Publishing at UCL. We talk about how books affect our wellbeing and how we reach for different books for different reasons. We dive through historical fiction and make a quick stop in the world of mediaeval literature.

Sam has edited a new book on Georgette Heyer which you can find here

Authors and works mentioned in the episode:
Authors:
Georgette Heyer
Robin Hobb
J.R.R. Tolkien
Dorothy Dunnett
Margaret Campbell Barnes
Anya Seaton
Chaucer

Works:
Wilding by Isabella Tree
Normal People by Sally Rooney
Selected Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins
Katherine by Anya Seton
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Abelard and Heloise by  Peter Waddell
Love Without End: A Story of Heloise and Abelard by Melvyn Bragg
La Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Pearl

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Show Notes
I chat with the lovely Nadya Menuhin this week all about theatre, playwriting, and agenting. We discuss favourite books, mental health, the power of theatre and so much more in a fabulous interview. There’s even some fun squirrel facts at the very end.

Nadya’s twitter
Hive Mind project

Authors and works mentioned:
Authors
David Sedaris
Jeanette Winterson
A. M. Homes
Rachel Cusk
Max Frisch
André Breton
Simon Stevens
Christopher Hampton
Simon McBurney
Yuval Noah Harari
Joseph Conrad

Works
Graceling  by Kristin Cashore
Santaland Diaries  by David Sedaris
Written on the Body  by Jeanette Winterson
This Book Will Save Your Life  by A. M. Homes
Homo Faber  by Max Frisch
Nadja  by André Breton
Art  by Yasmina Reza
Sapiens  by Yuval Noah Harari
Homo Deus  by Yuval Noah Harari
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov

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Show Notes
In this Shelf Healing interview we chat to Dr Radha Modgil, GP, mental health activist, and broadcaster. We discuss bibliotherapy, the rise of anxiety, the vitalness of therapuetic tools, and how important it is to care for one’s mental wellbeing.

Link to Dr Radha’s website
Link to Dr Radha’s twitter

Books and authors mentioned:
Authors:
Philip Pullman
Roald Dahl
Eckhart Tolle
Oprah Winfrey
Maya Angelou
Walter de la Mare

Books:
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
Boy by Roald Dahl
Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Tales of the Unexpected by Roald Dahl
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
What I Know for Sure by Oprah Winfrey
Life Doesn’t Frighten Me by Maya Angelou

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Show Notes
In this Shelf Healing interview we chat to Ian Evans, UCL’s Publishing MA and DIS reserach students’ administrator. We discuss reading, graphic novels, the effects of lockdown on Ian’s reading habits, and what literature he reaches for to improve his own mental health.

Link to Ian’s twitter account

Books and authors mentioned in the podcast:
Authors:
Alan Moore
John Higgs
James Roberts
Oliver Burkeman

Books:
Vanity Fair by William Thackeray
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Jerusalem by Alan Moore
Watchmen by Alan Moore
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Prometheo by Alan Moore
The Bible
Stranger Than We Can Imagine by John Higgs
Watling Street by John Higgs
The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye  by James Roberts
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
Help! How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done by Oliver Burkeman
The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking by Oliver Burkeman

Photo by Jonathon Worth

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Show Notes
In this Shelf Healing interview we chat to Cory Doctorow,  science fiction author, activist, and journalist. We discuss therapeutic reading, writing, commonplace books, interesting use cases for CC licenced work, and what literature Cory reaches for to improve his own mental health. Cory’s photograph by Jonathan Worth.

Link to Cory’s website
Link to Cory’s daily blog Pluralistic
Link to find all of Cory’s books
Link to Cory’s twitter account

Books and authors mentioned in the podcast:
Authors:
Cory Doctorow
Terry Pratchett
Stephen Berry (aka Neal Stephenson)
Bruce Sterling
Ayn Rand
Adolf Hitler
William Gibson
Daniel Pink Waters
Ray Bradbury
George Orwell
Iain M Banks
Ken MacLeod
Hannu Rajaniemi
Charlie Stross

Books:
Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow
Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett
Interface by Stephen Berry (aka Neal Stephenson)
Distraction by Bruce Sterling
Someone comes to town, someone leaves town by Cory Doctorow
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
The Bible
Culture novels by Iain M Banks
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Alan Mendelson, the boy from Mars by Daniel Pink Waters
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
The Martian Chronicles by Cory Doctorow
1984 by George Orwell
Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Homeland by Cory Doctorow