World Book Club Podcast
The world's great authors discuss their best-known novel.
Episodes to download
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Tahmima Anam: A Golden Age
Sat 5 Nov 2022
Passion, revolution and heroism against the backdrop of Bangladeshi War of Independence
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Brit Bennett: The Vanishing Half
Sat 1 Oct 2022
American writer Brit Bennett talks about her unputdownable novel, The Vanishing Half.
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Ben Lerner: Leaving the Atocha Station
Sat 3 Sep 2022
Searingly funny coming-of-age novel set in Madrid
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Yaa Gyasi: Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔgoing
Sat 6 Aug 2022
The devastating legacy of slavery confronted through one family through the generations
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Mohsin Hamid: Exit West
Sat 2 Jul 2022
Mohsin Hamid's profound meditation on love, hope and the psychology of exile
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World Book Cafe: Brooklyn
Sat 18 Jun 2022
World Book CafΓ©, where writers reveal the secrets of their home cities, goes to Brooklyn.
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Jennifer Egan: A Visit from the Goon Squad
Sat 4 Jun 2022
Jennifer Egan answers audience questions about A Visit from the Goon Squad
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Bryan Washington: Memorial
Sat 7 May 2022
A portrait of an edgy gay relationship seen from both men’s point of view.
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NoViolet Bulawayo: We Need New Names
Sat 2 Apr 2022
Ten-year-old Darling from Zimbabwe has a choice: it's down or out
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Kiley Reid: Such a Fun Age
Sat 5 Mar 2022
A carefully observed study of class and race, and biting portrait of white urban affluence
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Isabel Allende: Eva Luna
Sat 5 Feb 2022
In Eva Luna, an orphaned girl tells stories to survive mid-century South America
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Naoise Dolan: Exciting Times
New Year's Day 2022
Irish writer Naoise Dolan talks about her dazzling novel Exciting Times
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Monique Roffey: The Mermaid of Black Conch
Sat 4 Dec 2021
Harriett Gilbert talks to the award-winning Trinidadian-British author Monique Roffey
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Burhan Sönmez: Istanbul, Istanbul
Sat 6 Nov 2021
A powerfully political and intensely personal story of modern Turkish life
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Wole Soyinka
Sat 2 Oct 2021
Nobel Prize-winner Wole Soyinka discusses English PEN centenary and his new novel.
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Maylis De Kerangal: Mend the Living
Sat 4 Sep 2021
Award-winning French writer Maylis de Kerangal talks about her novel Mend the Living
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Crime and Punishment: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Sat 7 Aug 2021
Damnation and redemption in 19th Century St Petersburg
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Jane Harper: The Dry
Sat 3 Jul 2021
Australian author Jane Harper talks about her internationally garlanded thriller The Dry.
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Manu Joseph: Serious Men
Sat 5 Jun 2021
Manu Joseph discusses Serious Men, a satirical portrait of contemporary Indian society
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Louise Penny: Still Life
Sat 1 May 2021
Award-winning murder mystery set in rural Quebec from Canada’s queen of crime-writing
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Robert Seethaler: A Whole Life
Sat 3 Apr 2021
A mesmerizing tale of the beauty and harshness of a lonely life in the mountains
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Tsitsi Dangarembga: Nervous Conditions
Sun 7 Mar 2021
Tsitsi Dangarembga talks about her coming-of-age novel Nervous Conditions
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Bill Bryson: Notes from a Small Island
Sun 7 Feb 2021
Amusing and affectionate portrait of the island nation Bill Bryson proudly calls home
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SjΓ³n - Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was
Sun 3 Jan 2021
SjΓ³n answers questions from readers about his novel Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was.
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Yaa Gyasi: Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔgoing
Sun 6 Dec 2020
We discuss the prize-winning novel Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔgoing with its acclaimed Ghanaian author Yaa Gyasi
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Yiyun Li: The Vagrants
Sun 8 Nov 2020
We talk to acclaimed Chinese author Yiyun Li about her harrowing debut novel The Vagrants
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Ali Smith: How to Be Both
Sat 3 Oct 2020
We discuss the novel How to Be Both with its acclaimed British author Ali Smith
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Elizabeth Strout: Olive Kitteridge
Sat 5 Sep 2020
Harriett Gilbert talks to the world-renowned American author Elizabeth Strout
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Helen Garner: The Spare Room
Sat 1 Aug 2020
Friendship, caring, nursing and anger in a short, fierce novel from Australia
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Bernardine Evaristo: Girl, Woman, Other
Sat 4 Jul 2020
A novel that offers an unforgettable insight into life in today’s multi-cultural Britain
Ten Amazing Interviews
Favourite episodes of World Book Club, featuring Maya Angelou and Henning Mankell.
Crime Fiction
Henning Mankel, Patrica Cornwell, Jo Nesbo: stars of the genre discuss their craft.
Tales from History
From the tulip fields of 17th Century Amsterdam to the trenches of World War One.