The Diverse Bookshelf

• Salena Godden on love, grief, memory and identity

  Disclaimer: this episode features mention of suicide, infertility and loss. On this week’s episode, I’m joined by the incredible poet, author, and activist Salena Godden. A leading voice in British poetry, Salena is known for her electrifying performances and fearless writing. Her work spans poetry, memoir, fiction, and activism, with themes of love, grief, identity, and justice running through her work. She is the author of Mrs Death Misses Death, With Love, Grief and Fury, and the memoir Springfield Road, and has been widely recognized for her contributions to literature and spoken word. In our conversation, we explore the deep connections between love and loss, the urgency of caring for our planet, the passage of time, and how memory shapes identity. Salena’s words are raw, powerful, and filled with both tenderness and fire—this is a conversation you won’t want to miss. ----I hope you loved listening to this episode and found things that will stay with you. I’d love to hear from you, so please do reach out on social media and don’t forget to like, subscribe and leave a review as it can really help. If you're feeling extra generous, please consider buying me a "coffee" so I can keep putting great conversations like this out into the world:https://ko-fi.com/readwithsamia Support the show

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• Azeem Rafiq on racism in cricket, grief and mental health

  On the show this week, I’m joined by former cricket superstar, Azeem Rafiq. When Azeem was a young boy playing cricket near his home in Pakistan, he could never have foreseen that this sport would change his life forever. He fell in love with the game quickly and it wasn't long before the white flannels and green grass felt like home to him. When he moved to England, he became the youngest man to captain a Yorkshire side and the first person of Asian descent to do so. His talent was undeniable, and doors were opening for him.But there was something Azeem was bottling up and it was about to explode out of him and shake the whole cricket world, and wider society, out of their slumber. It's Not Banter, It's Racism is the never before-told truth behind the racism accusations that shocked a nation, from the moment Azeem spoke up to the resulting events that have altered his world entirely.Just a disclaimer, this episode mentions feelings and attempts of suicide, miscarriage and the loss of a child. Support the show

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• Aube Rey Lescure on Shanghai's privileged expat world, language and identity

  On the show this week, I'm talking to Aube Rey Lescure, author of the mesmerising, sweeping novel, River East, River West. If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, you will probably know I love a family drama, inter-generational novel, especially one that has a dual timeline. River East, River West is exactly that as we follow teenager, Alva, navigating her American-Chinese dual heritage identity in modern china while living with her American mother, Sloane, who is adamant she wants to stay. We also meet her step father, Lu Fang who is a man of secrets, complexities and a deep pain and trauma he hides from the world.Aube Rey Lescure is a French-Chinese-American writer. She grew up between France, northern China, and Shanghai, and graduated from Yale University in 2015. She is the co-author and translator of two books on Chinese politics and economics. Aube’s debut novel, River East, River West has been shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction, the Maya Angelou Book Award, and the Stanfords' Fiction with a Sense of Place Award----I hope you loved listening to this episode and found things that will stay with you. I’d love to hear from you, so please do reach out on social media and don’t forget to like, subscribe and leave a review as it can really help. If you're feeling extra generous, please consider buying me a "coffee" so I can keep putting great conversations like this out into the world:https://ko-fi.com/readwithsamiaSupport the show

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• Fatin Abbas on Sudan, objectivity & unrecognised history

  Fatin Abbas was born in Khartoum, Sudan, but her parents were forced to leave Sudan when the military seized power there in 1989, when Fatin was just 8 years old. The family settled in New York. She earned a BA in English literature from the University of Cambridge, a PhD in Comparative Literature from Harvard University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Hunter College, the City University of New York.Her novel, Ghost Season is an exploration of Sudan’s almost unrecognised history, through five vibrant and interesting characters who find themselves working for an NGO in a border town between north and south Sudan. It is a really powerful story of power dynamics, colonialism, history, love, friendship, identity, belonging, self-acceptance and so much more.After more than 16 months of war, Sudan has descended into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.The country is at imminent risk of collapsing after over a year and a half of violent conflict and is on the verge of mass famine with its food supply decimated and young children now starving to death in its cities, villages, and displacement camps. Over 10 million people have been displaced, and every single person in Sudan is affected by this worsening crisis.I hope this conversations helps us to keep Sudan in our thoughts, hearts, mind, prayers and in our activism always. ----As always, please do like, subscribe and follow. Connect with me on social media - I'd love to hear from you :)www.instagram.com/readwithsamiaSupport the show

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• Ep92: Wiz Wharton on untold stories, sisters, belonging and feelings of shame & guilt

  This week I’m speaking to the wonderful Wharton, who is of Chinese and white European heritage. Wiz’s debut nove, Ghost Girl, Banana follows Sook-Yin in 1960s England, exiled from Kowloon, and her daughter Lily in 1990s, embarking on a secret pilgrimage to Hong Kong to discover the lost side of her identity, following  a mysterious letter telling her she has inherited a LOT of money from a stranger. It’s no surprise that this sweeping story is being adapted for TV, and it is such a brilliant read.Wiz Wharton was born in London of Chinese-European heritage. She is a prize-winning graduate of the National Film and Television school, where she studied screenwriting under the filmmakers Mike Leigh, Stephen Frears and Kenith Trodd. Her debut novel Ghost Girl, Banana deals with issues of identity, belonging and familial secrets. In 2023, she was named by the Scottish Government Expo Fund as one of the 40 writers predicted to set the literary world alight. I’m so glad she's my guest today.  Support the show

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