The Coode Street Podcast

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times.

One of England’s finest novelists, M. John Harrison, talks with Gary about the paradoxical insights of the poet Charles Simic, the essays of Olivia Laing, the early John le Carré novels, and his own new novel and forthcoming story collection.

Books mentioned include:

• The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M. John Harrison
• Settling the World: Selected Stories 1969-2019 by M. John Harrison
• Things That Never Happen by M. John Harrison
• The Monster Loves his Labyrinth: Notebooks by Charles Simic
• Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency by Olivia Laing
• The Early George Smiley novels by John le Carré

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times.

Legendary Grand Master Jane Yolen shares with Gary some delightful personal news, as well as her advice to aspiring authors on how the lockdown can be seen as a gift to writers, the pleasures of "munchie" writing like Cat Valente or Gregory Maguire, the short stories of Theodora Goss, and Linda Barnes's Carlotta Carlyle mysteries.

Books mentioned include:

• The Midnight Circus by Jane Yolen
• The Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen
• How to Fracture a Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen
• The Book of Dragons edited by Jonathan Strahan
• Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
• Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
• Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire
• Carlotta Carlyle series by Linda Barnes

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times.

Gary spends a few minutes with Jack Skillingstead and 2021 WorldCon Guest of Honor Nancy Kress talking about reading science; Jane Austen, Star Trek, and the comforts of an orderly world; the appeal of Hollywood biographies; and revisiting old favorites like Philip K. Dick, Robert Bloch, and Roger Zelazny.

Books mentioned include:

• Sea Change by Nancy Kress
• The Eleventh Gate by Nancy Kress
• The Chaos Function by Jack Skillingstead
• Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe by Brian Greene
• The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene
• The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene
• Zelda: A Biography by Nancy Mitford
• The Ragman's Son by Kirk Douglas
• Hello Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand by William J. Mann

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times.

Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award-winner Kij Johnson joins Gary to talk about learning to keep focused during odd times, taking comfort in Defoe, Laurence Sterne, and horror stories, and the perks of doing historical research for a novel-in-progress set in the American Midwest in 1913, and how her "Apartment Dweller’s Guide" series of stories really needs to be a book.

Books mentioned include:

• The River Bank by Kij Johnson
• A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
• Short stories by Clark Ashton Smith
• The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig' by William Hope Hodgson
• The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times.

Today is Day 97 of ten minutes with ... and as the end approaches Jonathan is spending ten minutes or so talking with Nebula Award winner Alaya Dawn Johnson about reading and working during these strange times, moving to a new environment, the challenges in writing novels at all, and her powerful new novel, Trouble the Saints. 

Books mentioned include:

• Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson
• The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
• The Wicked King by Holly Black
• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
• How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black
• Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
• The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chödrön

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times.

Today Jonathan spends ten minutes or so talking to exciting debut novelist Premee Mohamed about reading, writing, and working during the pandemic; the work of Alan Moore, Umberto Eco, and Amitav Ghosh; the experience of publishing her debut novel in 2020; and how it was to effectively collaborate with her younger self on Beneath the Rising and writing A Broken Darkness.

Books mentioned include:

• Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed
• A Broken Darkness by Premee Mohamed
• Jerusalem by Alan Moore
• Chronicles of a Liquid Society by Umberto Eco
• Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh

Well, it's time to head back to the socially distanced Gershwin Rooms in the geographically distanced Coode Street Motels Six for Gary and Jonathan to spend an hour or so talking about science fiction and the world. Today conversation starts with a continuation of the idea that this is a Golden Age of science fiction, what characteristics might make up that age, whether you can identify great works of 21st Century SF, new work by M. John Harrison,Hugo voting opening online, and much more. 

As always, we hope you enjoy the episode!

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times.

Today Jonathan spends twenty minutes with the bestselling creator of Osten Ard, Tad Williams, discussing living and working during the pandemic; researching archaeology, science, and neolithic England; the work of Hilary Mantel and the BBC adaptation of Wolf Hall,  and his own forthcoming work, including a new Osten Ard short novel.

Books mentioned include:

• The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams
• Empire of Grass by Tad Williams
• The Navigator's Children by Tad Williams (forthcoming)
• The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel