The Waterstones Podcast

After almost two years where book events had to take place online only, we take a moment to celebrate the return of in-person events with a trip to the Cheltenham Literature Festival and our flagship shop in London Piccadilly. We speak with Ian Rankin, Malorie Blackman, Anna James and Geena Davis about connecting with readers, the questions that come up, and why you should always meet your heroes.

When E. H. Gombrich's seminal work of art history, The Story of Art, was first published in 1950 it featured precisely zero female artists. Even today its latest edition features only one. Luckily Katy Hessel has produced The Story of Art Without Men, a timely corrective that puts women centre stage as we have too in this episode of the podcast which sees Katy in conversation with artist and illustrator, Lizzy Stewart, whose latest graphic novel, Alison, follows her heroine's creative awakening against the London art scene of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Featuring Bonnie Garmus, Tess Gunty, Louise Kennedy, Sequoia Nagamatsu, Eloghosa Osunde and Tara M. Stringfellow. A unique opportunity to hear all six authors shortlisted for the inaugural Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. With a prize celebrating debut novels across genres it's no surprise to find such variety amongst our six nominees. Social commentary, science fiction, family sagas, spirituality, great characters and unforgettable lessons in life from the most exciting new voices in fiction. Join us as we discover their road to publication and hear their answers to questions from those who've championed their books: Waterstones booksellers.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good podcast, must be in want of four historical fiction writers ready to entertain listeners with their insights on why the nineteenth century has so much to tell us about today, how to balance research with storytelling, and why history’s habit of erasing women’s significance is all the invitation they need to set the record straight. Luckily we had Susan Stokes Chapman, Gill Hornby, Karen Joy Fowler and Sophie Irwin on hand to do just that. Enjoy!

As we mark Mental Health Awareness Week and its theme of loneliness, we speak with four writers who know the importance of talking about difficult things and why conversation is at the heart of better mental health. Marian Keyes and Candice Carty-Williams share the personal stories that fed into their fiction, whilst Dr Julie Smith brings her clinical expertise to a wider audience and broadcaster Nihal Arthanayake shows how a career based on dialogue has taught him what can help us all to have better conversations.

Consequences brings together two books that seemed to have one thing in common and then turned out to be connected in entirely different ways. Sam Knight's The Premonitions Bureau is a fascinating look at the work of psychiatrist John Barker and a network of psychic visionaries in the 1960s. A Terrible Kindness is the debut novel from Jo Browning Wroe which shows how compassion and sacrifice can shape a life and how hard it can be to change course. In a fascinating discussion we discover more about the nature of time, of structure and of averting disaster.

All books respond to the world we live in but in this fascinating episode we speak to three incredible authors who have all written books which speak to something absolutely of this time and very often beyond it. How much has the pandemic changed the way we view the world and each other, what about the impact of technology, and what does the future hold? Featuring The Candy House by Jennifer Egan, Our Country Friends Gary Shteyngart, How High We Go In The Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu and Companion Piece by Ali Smith

Cosy crime has been popular for over a hundred years now but with a surge in popularity recently we speak to three authors who've all done something slightly different with the genre to discover the reasons for its enduring appeal, the techniques they use to build up their stories and why we as humans have a fascination with the dark side of life. Featuring Janice Hallett, Nita Prose and the Reverend Richard Coles.

Derek Owusu's debut novel was the first fiction to be published by Stormzy's fledgling imprint #Merky Books and went on to win the Desmond Elliot Prize in 2020. In this episode we hear from Derek about the mental health crisis that first encouraged him to put pen to paper, from his editor Tom Avery about changing the mainstream and from chair of judges Preti Taneja, herself a previous winner of the prize, about why this book is so special. Featuring: Derek Owusu, Tom Avery, Preti Taneja

It was during a lockdown tidying spree that Stephen Fry reacquainted himself with his substantial tie collection. It will come as no surprise that a man who had over 40 ties by the age of 15, now had a collection in the hundreds. What was surprising was how easily the memories associated with those ties came back to him and so after sharing some of the stories on Instagram we now have a gorgeous book version, Fry’s Ties. To celebrate it we took a walk with Stephen along Jermyn Street, home to both him and Waterstones and a series of men’s outfitters whose history is inextricably tied to this most individual piece of clothing.