Our Critical Reading school is open again! This is our popular online class where we pull apart novels, look at them from an editorial point of view - and also just have the fun of discussing wonderful works of art. Details here: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/school-criti...

Hello! We have two wonderful episode updates!

Read Sarah Hall's "Helm". Decided not to read this when it came out, but after listening to the @acrossthepondbooks.bsky.social episode I had to. I've very glad I did as it was wonderful. The only strand that didn't grip me was Catherine's letters, but the rest of them more than made up for 1/2

In case you missed our series of IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS yesterday:

I wrote about BookTok - and why publishers need an escape strategy: open.substack.com/pub/samj/p/b...

New episode alert! Lori and Sam talk to the brilliant Joanna Kavenna about her wonderfully inventive novel "Seven". www.buzzsprout.com/1728150/epis...

New episode alert! Lori and Sam talk to the brilliant Joanna Kavenna about her wonderfully inventive novel "Seven". www.buzzsprout.com/1728150/epis...

We are proud to announce the shortlist of this year's Galley Beggar Press short story prize: Fire! Fire! Or, Ascension by Kate Ansell A Devil’s Alphabet by Annie Hayter Clean Sheet by Kinneson Lalor

We'll be reading: Katherine Mansfield, The Garden Party and Other Stories Jeanette Winterson, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit Philip Roth, The Plot Against America Fran Ross, Oreo George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo Orhan Pamuk (trans. Erdag Göknar), My Name Is Red

I wrote about a very ancient love on my Substack: open.substack.com/pub/samj/p/a...

National treasures.

A few more words about our beloved Sirius here - as well as an interview with Álvaro Enrigue, a serious writer.

This week, a fantastic interview with the vivacious, fierce, fantastic Álvaro Enrigue. (Also some heartfelt words about Sam's beloved dog Sirius and the aid dogs have given to literature over the years.) www.buzzsprout.com/1728150/epis...

always in the weft

A sad newsletter this time, in memory of our best boy, and literary superstar, Sirius: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/campaigns/vi...

Our latest episode arrived while I (Sam) was away in the hills. But! I'm eager to share it now because it features a fascinating conversation - this time with James Cahill about his art world novel The Violet Hour. Also, talk about Wuthering Heights. Of course. www.buzzsprout.com/1728150/epis...

Our latest episode features a real gem of a novel: Mr Outside by Caleb Klaces: interabangbooks.com/across-pond A lovely, moving, funny, sad, insightful novel. Caleb was also great to talk to.

Our latest episode features a real gem of a novel: Mr Outside by Caleb Klaces: interabangbooks.com/across-pond A lovely, moving, funny, sad, insightful novel. Caleb was also great to talk to.

Read Lily King's "Heart the Lover". Hadn't read anything by this author (or even heard of her if I'm being honest) but picked it up due to the @acrossthepondbooks.bsky.social episode. Was captivated from start to finish by something that managed to be both a page turner and very moving. Went in 1/4

Deforestation, fascism, cults, resistance and more in our latest episode, a fascinating conversation with Chilean writer Simón López Trujillo about his novel Pedro The Vast: www.buzzsprout.com/1728150/epis...

Our latest episode features a conversation with writer and musician Ausyn Wohlers about her book Hothouse Bloom: interabangbooks.com/across-pond freight.cargo.site/w/422/q/75/i... A very interesting book by a talented writer. Just what we enjoy talking about.

Links, Tips and Suggestions: "Disgustingly lewd" French poetry, Sappho, an absurd (and frightening) attack on Plato, the bloody end of American civilisation and some sustaining literary diversions. open.substack.com/pub/samj/p/l...

Our latest episode features a conversation with writer and musician Ausyn Wohlers about her book Hothouse Bloom: interabangbooks.com/across-pond freight.cargo.site/w/422/q/75/i... A very interesting book by a talented writer. Just what we enjoy talking about.

Great review of Telenovela just arrived in the Irish Times: www.irishtimes.com/culture/book... "a convincing portrait of the darkest period in Chile’s modern history, which, by homing in on those on the wrong side of history, reflects the subtle weaponry of silence and language"

Our latest conversation is with Gonzalo C Garcia about his incredible novel Telenovela, Chile, Pinochet, and much more. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...

Read Sarah Perry's "Enlightenment". Was ravished by the phrase on the opening page 'at half pass four a fisherman caught a cup untouched since the ink was wet on The Battle of Maldon, spat twice, and threw it back.' Got a little bogged down by the frequent changes of viewpoints and then listened 1/3

This is why we do it:

On today’s Advent Calendar, Gonzalo C. Garcia gives us a Xmas song he cannot stand. Listen podfollow.com/hellish Gonzalo’s excellent ‘Telenovela’ is out now on @galleybeggars.bsky.social - to hear more about it from Gonzalo himself listen to the latest @acrossthepondbooks.bsky.social!

A special episode! An interview with Sarah Hall about her splendid new novel Helm: www.buzzsprout.com/1728150/epis... Amazing facts about this unique - hurricane force! - wind and the inspiration it provided for Sarah.

A special episode! An interview with Sarah Hall about her splendid new novel Helm: www.buzzsprout.com/1728150/epis... Amazing facts about this unique - hurricane force! - wind and the inspiration it provided for Sarah.

All My Precious Madness by Mark Bowles JUST WON best audiobook fiction at The Speakies! This is delightful! So pleased for @markabowles.bsky.social , @spiracleaudiobooks.bsky.social , wonderful reader Paul Hilton. And for us! www.thebookseller.com/british-audi...

Our latest episode is out now. Featuring a fascinating conversation with Brad Fox about his year in the Peruvian jungle under the direction of a local traditional medicine healer: www.buzzsprout.com/1728150/epis...

Our new newsletter is newsy: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/campaigns/vi... Features glad tidings about this beauty:

Final few hours of our short story competition! You can still enter here: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/prize

This week Lori and Sam talk to Anbara Salam about her Halloween-appropriate novel, The Salvage. Scotland! Hauntings! Ship wrecks! www.buzzsprout.com/1728150

Chris Kraus! Talking about her scorching new novel The Four Spent The Day Together, alongside thoughts on how feminism should work, how social media doesn't - and more. www.buzzsprout.com/1728150/epis...

The fact that our next book Telenovela is going to carry a Books By People stamp certifying that it is AI-free has also now been reported around the world in Publisher's Weekly: www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

I dust my house. My AI Robot watches. "It should be you doing this." "Can't. I'm writing a novel for Primark." "That's not why you were invented." "These 153,000 fan letters say otherwise." "They're all from upcycled toasters. And you programmed them." "Literary snobbery will get you nowhere."

And please! If you want to support us - and get a wonderful book - we're taking pre-orders: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/paperback-sh... Waterstones too: www.waterstones.com/book/telenov... And bookshop.org : uk.bookshop.org/p/books/tele... Or your local bookshop.

We're very proud to be the first publisher to have the Books By People stamp - and that it should be going to Telenovela, a book about the fight against authoritarianism and all the associated nonsense: www.thebookseller.com/news/uk-star...

Latest in tech-pessimism: On my podcast, The Ned Ludd Radio Hour, I spoke to James Marriott and @samjordison.bsky.social about why literacy is declining and whether there's anything that can be done about it.

Had a fascinating conversation with I Love Dick author Chris Kraus on Across The Pond: www.buzzsprout.com/1728150/epis... Her new novel is a terrifying vision of America. She explains why here, alongside the kind of trenchant thoughts you’d expect on social media, feminism, the monsters in power…

Chris Kraus! Talking about her scorching new novel The Four Spent The Day Together, alongside thoughts on how feminism should work, how social media doesn't - and more. www.buzzsprout.com/1728150/epis...

We spoke to the wonderful Tom Cox about his splendid new novel Everything Will Swallow You, as well as 90s indy music heroes Madder Rose, the weight of possessions, mortality and more: www.buzzsprout.com/1728150/epis...

We spoke to Lily King about her new novel Heart The Lover, which is, among other things, a reminder of some of the good that happens in the USA: www.buzzsprout.com/1728150/epis...

@somanydamnbooks.bsky.social @literaryfriction.bsky.social @acrossthepondbooks.bsky.social #Podcasts #readerscommunity #reading #literary

😊

An article on the pressures on publishing, rising costs, what can be done about it - and how readers can also help. open.substack.com/pub/samj/p/w... (This ran in the Society of Authors quarterly, The Author, earlier this year. They've kindly given me permission to reproduce it on my Substack.)

We spoke to the wonderful Tom Cox about his splendid new novel Everything Will Swallow You, as well as 90s indy music heroes Madder Rose, the weight of possessions, mortality and more: www.buzzsprout.com/1728150/epis...