Papertrail Podcast

Season's greetings, everyone! Join Sophie and Alex as they discuss some of their favourite books from the year, including a round-up of what they read for the show in 2019. Papertrail is going on hiatus for the first half of 2019, but there are plenty of episodes in the back-catalogue so gorge yourself on them and we'll see you in the future for 'season 2'. Happy holidays! Sophie's Choices: Cassandra At The Wedding - Dorothy Baker Voices from Chernobyl - Svetlana Alexievich Thus Were Their Faces - Silvina Ocampo From the show: Prater Violet - Christopher Isherwood This Is Not A Novel - David Markson Constellations - Sinéad Gleeson Alex's Choices: Ombria in Shadow - Patricia A McKillip The Fisherman - John Langan Doggerland - Ben Smith From the show: Homesick For Another World - Otessa Moshfegh Grief Is The Thing With Feathers - Max Porter The Snow Leopard - Peter Matthiessen   MUSIC BY: SCOTT GRATTON

Lucia Osborne-Crowley is a writer and journalist. Her news reporting and literary work has appeared in Granta, the Sunday Times, HuffPost UK, the Guardian, and others. ‘I Choose Elena’ is her first book. Lucia's Book Choices: Make It Scream Make It Burn by Leslie Jamison Constellations: Reflections from life by Sinéad Gleeson The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh You can follow Lucia on twitter @LuciaOC_ If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Anna Sherman was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. She studied Greek and Latin at Wellesley College and at Lincoln College, Oxford. The Bells of Old Tokyo is her first book. Anna's Book Choices: Sanshiro by Natsume Sōseki Ghosts of the Tsunami by Richard Lloyd Parry The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen You can follow Anna on twitter @anna_charlbury If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Season is a London and Berlin-based writer, performance artist and teacher, and an associate producer of the I'm With You art collective. She works as a dramaturg, mentor, sensitivity editor and workshop facilitator in Creative Writing, Performance Practice and Theory, and difference-consciousness training for the arts and heritage sector. Cygnet is her first novel. Season's Book Choices: Island by Aldous Huxley The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison You can follow Season on twitter @season_butler If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou is a Writer, a Comics Letterer, and the Eisner Award-Winning Editor of PanelxPanel. He has written for screen and for comics, and also runs the excellent Strip Panel Naked on YouTube. Hass's Book Choices: Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons Blankets by Craig Thompson Digital Filmmaking by Mike Figgis You can follow Hass on Twitter @HassanOE If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Hannah Sullivan is a poet and academic currently working at Oxford University. Her first collection of poetry, Three Poems, was published in 2018 and won the T.S. Eliot Prize. Hannah's Book Choices: Coventry: Essays by Rachel Cusk Prater Violet by Christopher Isherwood Notebook by Robert Lowell You can find out more about Hannah on her website. If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Fiona’s debut novel, Elmet, is set in Yorkshire and explores what happens when a family’s idyllic, self-sufficient life is interrupted by the world outside of them. The novel was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and Ondaatje Prize and was also longlisted for the Dylan Thomas and Womens prize. Fiona is currently working on her second novel. Fiona's Book Choices: The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. LeGuin Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy Painter To The King by Amy Sackville You can follow Fiona on twitter @fjmoz If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show. You can also support us financially by donating to our Patreon/Steady page, or by buying a book through our affiliate programme. For more information. Click here.

Nicole is a fiction and non-fiction writer, her work has appeared in The Dublin Review, The Stinging Fly, The Irish Times, and on BBC 4. She won the 2017 White Review Short Story Prize with her short story ‘Track’. Her short story collection, ‘Show Them A Good Time’ is out now. Nicole's Book Choices: Veronica by Mary Gaitskill The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson Self-Help by Lorrie Moore You can follow Nicole on Twitter @nicoleflattery Please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Michael is the author of ‘Hold’, which was just shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize for first novels. He is a graduate of the Royal Holloway writing programme and lives in London, where he works as a teacher. Michael's Book Choices: The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín Grief Is The Thing With Feathers by Max Porter You can follow Michael on twitter @michaeldonkor If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Marc’s Novel, ‘Three Dreams In The Key Of G’ was published by Dead Ink Books in 2018. He is the author of many other novels, as well as short and flash fiction. He can also be found on YouTube where he reviews and discusses literary and experimental fiction. Marc's Book Choices: The Damned United by David Pearce This Is Not a Novel by David Markson Cobralingus by Jeff Noon You can follow Marc on twitter @21stCScribe, on his website, and on YouTube. If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Tyler Wetherall is a journalist and author living in New York. Her work has appeared in a range of publications, including The Guardian, The Times, Vice, Electric Literature. She teaches Creative Writing and Journalism at Manhattanville College. Tyler's Book Choices: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado You can follow Tyler on twitter @TylerWrites If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Megan Hunter is the author of ‘The End We Start From’. Her poetry has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and she was a finalist for the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award with her short story ‘Selfing’. Megan's Book Choices: Bluets by Maggie Nelson In The Cut by Susanna Moore NW by Zadie Smith You can follow Megan on Twitter and Instagram @meganfnhunter If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Chris is the author of the short story collection ‘Mothers’. You can find his ‘A Brief Survey of The Short Story’ columns on The Guardian. Chris's Book Choices: A Tomb for Boris Davidovich by Danilo Kiš Molloy by Samuel Beckett Homesick For Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh You can follow Chris on twitter @Chris_Power If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Happy holidays everyone! This is a different episode to usual, where Alex and Sophie have a festive round-up of some of their favourite books from this year (and a few from previous years) Was the crackling fire a bit much? Shownotes: Longform interview with Sheila Heti Nut Loaf Recipe 

Rhiannon is a columnist, feature writer, and editor for The Guardian. In 2012 she co-founded The Vagenda which was published in book form by Vintage. Her debut Novel, ‘The Tyranny of Lost Things’ was published by Sandstone Press in 2018. Rhiannon's Book Choices: Dept. Of Speculation by Jenny Offill The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante Bad Behaviour by Mary Gaitskill You can follow Rhiannon on twitter @RhiannonLucyC and find out more about her on her website. If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Tasha is a SFF writer living in London. Her debut novel, the Mughal India inspired epic fantasy, ‘Empire of Sand’ came out on the 13th of November in the US and the 15th of November in the UK. Go check it out! TASHA'S BOOK CHOICES: The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore You can follow Tasha on twitter @TashaDrinksTea If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Daisy’s debut short story collection ‘Fen’ came out in 2016 and made some serious waves. Now, at just 27, she’s on the Booker Prize Shortlist for her novel ‘Everything Under’. Sophie spoke with Daisy about three of the books that are important to her and her writing. (They spoke before the shortlist was announced, so please forgive there being no mention of that). DAISY’S BOOK CHOICES: Miss Smilla’s Feeling For Snow by Peter Høeg White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi Get In Trouble by Kelly Link You can follow Daisy on twitter @DJdaisyjohnson If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Aaron is the Director & Editor of Broken Sleep Books as well as the author of the poetry collection ‘Tertiary Colours’. He has two upcoming collections in 2019, ‘Angels The Size of Houses’ and ‘The Last Hundred’ Aaron's Book Choices: The Dirt by Neil Strauss, Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami The White Stones by J.H. Prynne You can follow Aaron on twitter @GodzillaKent If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

Kirsty Logan is an author, freelance editor, and book reviewer. She is also a writing mentor for the WoMentoring Project. (Check out a previous episode with WoMentoring Founder Kerry Hudson) Her most recent book, The Gloaming, is out now. Kirsty Logan's Book Choices: The Dolls Alphabet by Camilla Grudova Gossip From The Forest by Sarah Maitland Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel You can follow Kirsty on twitter @KirstyLogan and visit her website for more information. If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.

May-Lan Tan is a British Chinese writer based in Berlin. Having studied fine art at Goldsmiths, she now works as a ghostwriter. Her collection, Things To Make and Break, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, and is one of Alex's favourite reads of 2018. For further discussion about Things to Make and Break, check out episode 24 with Sharlene Teo. MAY-LAN'S BOOK CHOICES: Why the Tree Loves the Axe by Jim Lewis Coin Locker Babies by Ryū Murakami The Notebook by Ágota Kristóf You can follow May-Lan Tan on twitter @amanlyant If you haven't already, please consider leaving the podcast a review on iTunes. It makes a massive difference and helps new people discover the show.