Send us a textOn this episode Holly Dawson speaks to us about her debut All of Us Atoms. Faced with the prospect of losing her memory Holly set out to revisit the moments that had shaped her, from the earliest recollections of childhood to her diagnosis. What follows is the documenting of a ‘felt’ life. In a series of essays, letters and short stories she weaves together memory, dreams, and reality, grasping hold of the consolations of science and discovering a deep love for the forgettable and forgotten moment. At its heart All of Us Atoms is a rejection of the forms and rationalities we are offered for something altogether more satisfying. An archeological dig site, where Holly turns over the soil and sieves it through her fingers to rediscover what’s there, before its lost. ‘Brilliant, brave, wild and marvellous.’ Juliet Nicholson ‘To read Holly’s writing is to live it.’ Helena Bonham Carter‘I loved this. The smarts, lyricisms, surprises and deep humanity of it all.’ Susie Orbach@fieldzine www.fieldzine.comwww.patreon.com/fieldzine
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25:44
Field Ramble with Lucia Lijtmaer
Send us a textOn this episode we meet Lucia Lijtmaer to hear all about her upcoming novel Cautery. Published for the first time in English by Charco Press, it is a novel filled with apocalyptic fantasies and a deep mistrust of the supposed greater good. Set between modern day Barcelona and puritan New York Cautery follows the stories of two women (one real, the other imagined) who, although separated by 400 years both share a vision of either escaping the confines of society or burning it to the ground. It’s a novel that shares some of the same ‘end of days’ terrain as Ali Millar’s Ava Anna Ada as well as the critique of bourgeois, hipster lifestyles found in Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection, as unnerving as it is compelling. 'A searing, twisted feast.' Laura Fernández'Masterful,' CLARINGet your copy herehttps://charcopress.com/bookstore/cautery@fieldzine www.fieldzine.comwww.patreon.com/fieldzine
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18:09
Field Ramble with Max Porter (part 2)
Send us a textALL OF THIS UNREAL TIME Published by Rough Trade Books Hopefully, you're listening to this surrounded by mountains of chocolate. What follows is the second part of our conversation with Max. If you’ve enjoyed it, follow the link to get yourself a copy straight from the Rough Trade website. https://roughtradebooks.com/products/all-of-this-unreal-time-max-porter-foreword-by-cillian-murphyAs our discussion about All Of This Unreal Time came to an end there were inevitably other things I wanted to ask Max about. Our conversation eventually led to Palfest and the life-changing trip he took to the West Bank last year. But we started with the writing group at HMP Erlestoke and Max’s role as the writer in residence within the prison. Mentioned in this episode https://pennedup.org.uk/https://www.palfest.org/@dillonscrossproject One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This - Omar El Akkad We Need New Stories - Nesrine Malik@fieldzine www.fieldzine.comwww.patreon.com/fieldzine
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28:39
Field Ramble with Max Porter (part 1)
Send us a textALL OF THIS UNREAL TIME Published by Rough Trade Back this weekend with a double header, we turn to All of This Unreal Time by Mr Max Porter. Described in the foreword as ‘a gift, written in friendship’ it is an elusive, ever moving torrent of apology, love and gratitude. A response to the countless human and non-human lives that intersect with and impact on our own.Written during the first, weird summer months of the pandemic, the piece blossomed into a collaboration commissioned by Manchester Film festival. Directed by Aoife McArdle, it features Max’s friend and long time collaborator Cillian Murphy as Unreal Time’s ‘everyman’ as well as an incredible score by Aaron & Bryce Dessner and Jon Hopkins. Part One - available from Friday - Wasteful writing, hardcore forgiveness & confessional booths.As with all the best Rambles the conversation soon went elsewhere. Part Two - Bank Holiday Monday - prison writing groups, embroided life jackets & visiting the West bank with Palfest. ‘Strange and Beautiful.’ The Guardian Books mentioned in conversation The Gift - Lewis Hyde Essayism - Brian DillonOn Forgiveness - Richard Holloway Is A River Alive? - Robert MacfarlaneWe Need New Stories - Nesrine Malik@fieldzine www.fieldzine.comwww.patreon.com/fieldzine
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24:38
Field Ramble with Naomi Booth
Send us a textOn this episode we speak to Naomi Booth about her latest novel Raw Content. Set during a bleak Yorkshire winter, the book follows Grace, a legal editor whose job demands she reduce unspeakable acts to neatly worded clauses. The care and attention with which Grace approaches this work is only matched by her risk taking outside it. When she falls unexpectedly pregnant she attempts the same compartmentalisation, hoping to keep the new, visceral weirdness that her body is undergoing at arms length. But after the gory, psychedelic experience of birth an unravelling begins that Grace is unable to contain. Embodied by the derelict, grim moorland of West Yorkshire, Raw Content heads into the badlands of Grace’s deepest fears, where violent compulsive thoughts threaten to overwhelm and the repressed roars into view demanding with to be dealt with. ‘Booth knows that too much is asked of too few, in spaces that are too small, and in lives that have too little headroom for care and community.’Keiran Goddard @fieldzine www.fieldzine.comwww.patreon.com/fieldzine
A pod for those who love the latest in fiction, non fiction and poetry. Field is a platform for new and exciting work from across the UK and beyond. If you like what you hear find out more about Field at www.fieldzine.com. You can subscribe and support Field's work via patreon at www.patreon.com/fieldzine for just £3 per month.
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