Bookshelfie: Women’s Prize Podcast

Latest Episodes:

#ReadingWomen: Girlhood Sep 15, 2020

Show notes

Zing Tsjeng is joined by Poorna Bell, an award winning journalist and the author of Chasing the Rainbow and In Search of Silence, Salma El-Wardany, a writer, spoken word artist and public speaker and JJ Bola, a writer and poet, who has released three collections of poetry as well as a novel and a non-fiction book about masculinity and patriarchy for young people.

The theme of today's #ReadingWomen book club is girlhood. The reading list:

A Crime in the Neighbourhood by Suzanne Berne, 1999

A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride, 2014

The Power by Naomi Alderman, 2017

Every fortnight, join Zing Tsjeng, editor at VICE, and inspirational guests, including Dolly Alderton, Stanley Tucci, Liv Little and Scarlett Curtis as they celebrate the best fiction written by women. They'll discuss the diverse back-catalogue of Women’s Prize-winning books spanning a generation, explore the life-changing books that sit on other women’s bookshelves and talk about what the future holds for women writing today. The Women’s Prize for Fiction is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and this series will also take you behind the scenes throughout 2020 as we explore the history of the Prize in its 25th year and gain unique access to the shortlisted authors and the 2020 Prize winner. Sit back and enjoy.

The Women's Prize for Fiction podcast is produced by Bird Lime Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bookshelfie: Laura Bates Aug 25, 2020

Show notes

In this episode Zing Tsjeng is joined by Laura Bates - a writer and the founder of the award-winning Everyday Sexism Project, an ever-expanding collection of more than 100,000 testimonies of gender inequality, which has been described as “one of the biggest social media success stories on the internet”. Laura’s first book Everyday Sexism was published in 2014. Her latest book, Men Who Hate Women is out on September 3rd. Laura works with schools, universities and politicians to tackle gender inequality and has won multiple awards and accolades for her work.

Laura's book choices are:

The Last Slice of Rainbow by Joan Aiken

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman

How To Be Both by Ali Smith

Circe by Madeleine Miller

This podcast is produced by Bird Lime Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reclaim Her Name Aug 11, 2020

Show notes

Today’s book club is all about Reclaim Her Name – a 25 book collection Women's Prize for Fiction sponsor Baileys have re-printed with a twist.

Throughout history, female writers have had to write under male pen names for their work to be published or taken seriously. The Reclaim Her Name collection aims to give these women the credit they deserve. For the first time, Baileys is printing the real names of these women writers on their books.

Zing Tsjeng is joined by Catherine Nichols, an academic who has first-hand experience of writing under a male pseudonym, Kamila Shamsie, a British Pakistani writer and novelist who won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2018 with Home Fire and finally, our Founder Director and international bestselling author Kate Mosse, who has been a key part of the research that went into putting this collection together.

The reading list:

Middlemarch by Mary Ann Evans (AKA George Eliot)

Marie of the Cabin Club by Ann Petry (AKA Arnold Petri)

Ye Game and Playe of Chesse and The Bicycle Race by Alice Dunbar Nelson (AKA Monroe Wright)

We also have actor Tori Allen-Martin treating us to readings, plus an interview between Zing and Ann Petry's daughter.

This podcast is produced by Bird Lime Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#ReadingWomen: Love Jul 28, 2020

Show notes

In this episode Zing Tsjeng is joined by Juno Dawson, a novelist, screenwriter and journalist, Sophie Hellyer, founder of Rise Fierce - a cold water community which exists to empower women through wild swimming and kinship and feminist historian, Dr Charlotte Riley who Lectures Twentieth-Century British History at the University of Southampton.

The theme of today's #ReadingWomen book club is love.

The reading list:

The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville from 2001

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller from 2012

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones from 2019

Produced by Bird Lime Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bookshelfie: Lily Cole Jul 14, 2020

Show notes

In this episode Zing Tsjeng is joined by Lily Cole, who takes us on a tour of her bookshelves and tells us her five favourite books by women. Lily has been a household name for the past twenty years, first famous for her flaming red hair and modelling career and now better known for being an philanthropist, actress, entrepreneur, activist, mother and author. In 2013 she co-founded Impossible.com: a technology company that uses tech to solve social and environmental problems. Her new book Who Cares Wins is being published on the 31st July.

Lily's book choices are:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I Am Your Sister by Audre Lorde

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

This podcast is produced by Bird Lime Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#ReadingWomen: Family Jun 30, 2020

Show notes

In this episode Zing Tsjeng is joined by novelist and journalist, Anna James, musician and poet, Arlo Parks, and novelist and short story writer, Sophie Mackintosh.

The theme of today's #ReadingWomen book club is family.

The reading list:

We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver, 2005

On Beauty by Zadie Smith, 2006

Home by Marilynne Robinson, 2009

This podcast is produced by Bird Lime Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2020 Shortlist Special Jun 16, 2020

Show notes

In this special episode of the podcast, Zing Tsjeng welcomes the six incredible authors who have been shortlisted for this year’s Prize: Bernardine Evaristo, Angie Cruz, Natalie Haynes, Jenny Offill, Maggie O’Farrell and Hilary Mantel. They discuss the inspirations behind their novels and tell us what it would mean to win the Women's Prize for Fiction.

The 2020 shortlist is as follows:

Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
Hamnet by Maggie O’ Farrell
Weather by Jenny Offill

The 25th winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction will be announced on Wednesday 9th September.

The Women’s Prize for Fiction is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world. This series will take you behind the scenes throughout 2020 as we explore the history of the Prize in its 25th year. Sit back and enjoy.

This podcast is produced by Bird Lime Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bookshelfie: Naga Munchetty Jun 05, 2020

Show notes

In this episode Zing Tsjeng is joined by Naga Munchetty, who takes us on a tour of her bookshelves and tells us her five favourite books by women. Naga is a BBC presenter and journalist, she has fronted many programmes including Newsnight, The Victoria Derbyshire Show and of course you’ll be familiar with her presenting BBC Breakfast. Before joining the BBC, she worked for the Evening Standard, The Observer, Bloomberg and Channel 4 News. She’s talented away from the newsroom too - in 2016 she was a judge for the Women’s Prize for Fiction when Lisa McInerney’s The Glorious Heresies was crowned the winner and in the same year she also danced her way around the Strictly Come Dancing studio.

Naga's book choices are:

Forever by Judy Blume

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

A little Life by Hanya Yanahigara

The Apology by Eve Ensler

She Came to Stay by Simone de Beauvior

This podcast is produced by Bird Lime Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#ReadingWomen: Changing Worlds May 27, 2020

Show notes

In this episode Zing Tsjeng is joined by Rhiannon Cosslett - a columnist, feature writer and editor for the Guardian and Liv Purvis - author of the Insecure Girl's Handbook.

The theme of today's #ReadingWomen book club is changing worlds. To look at that subject in more detail, we’re jumping into the winners from 2000 - When I Lived in Modern Times by Linda Grant, the 2004 winner, Small Island by Andrea Levy and The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver which won in 2010.

This podcast is produced by Bird Lime Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bookshelfie: Martha Lane Fox May 20, 2020

Show notes

In this episode Zing Tsjeng is joined by Martha Lane Fox, who takes us on a tour of her bookshelves and tells us her five favourite books by women. Martha is a business woman, philanthropist, public servant and was also a Women’s Prize judge in 2009 - when Marilynne Robinson's Home was crowned the winner and is the Chair of Judges for the Prize this year. She co-founded Lastminute.com during the dot.com boom and since stepping down from the company in 2003 has gone on to sit on the boards of Marks & Spencer and Channel 4 and patron a number of charities. Today, she sits on the boards of Twitter, Donmar Warehouse and Chanel, is a trustee of The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, a chancellor of The Open University and continues to advocate for human rights, women’s rights and social justice.

Martha's book choices are:

The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing

Villette by Charlotte Brontë

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

How to be both by Ali Smith

Memorial by Alice Oswald

This podcast is produced by Bird Lime Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.