San Clemente
By Grace Bailey
San ClementeFeb 21, 2024
Pam Williams: Windrush, Writers Groups & London
Pam's debut novel, A Trace of Sun, was long listed for the 2024 Women's Prize for Fiction. Her work has been covered in The Guardian, The Independent, Harper's Bazaar, India Today, Glamour and Good Housekeeping.
After graduating in Fashion at St Martin's School of Art in 1984, Pam was worked as fashion editor at She, Now, PS and Shape.
Her short stories and poetry has been published by the Afrikan Heritage Writers group. She has also won the BlackInk New Writing Prize 2022 and is an alumnus of the writer development agency’s London Writers Award.
Find her book here, or at your local bookshop.
Erin LeCount: Creative Freedom, Clubbing & White Ferrari (1/2)
Erin went viral with her mashup of White Ferrari and I Know the End (which you can listen to on streaming). She's been on BBC Spotlight, and featured in Clash, Clout, Wonderland and Ones to Watch.
Although she was set to perform at The Great Escape festival, she's chosen to join the boycott on sponsor Barclays in solidarity with Palestine.
If you're looking for an artist set to take over Gen Z's hearts, she's right here.
Follow Erin on Instagram, Twitter (aka X), Youtube & TikTok.
Kate Grenville: Colonial Pasts, Australia & Pioneering Women
One of Australian literature's biggest names, Kate has written countless novels about her country, her family and the complexity of the stories we tell. Her book, The Secret River, was Shortlisted for the Booker and won what is now the Women's Prize, as well as the now retired Commonwealth Prize. It's a set text for many teens across Australia and in leading universities.
She's shortlisted for this year's Women's Prize with her latest work, Restless Dolly Maunder, which imagines the life of her grandmother during what Kate calls the "hinge generation".
Get a copy here, or at your local bookshop.
Akemi Fox: Vision Boards, Manchester Music & Stage Fashion
Akemi is a rising star, and that's according to BBC Introducing, Fred Perry Subculture, Notion, Line of Best Fit & Metal Mag.
She was a guest at Chanel's Métiers d'Art Show in Manchester. She's played at Radio 1's Big Weekend and her song Lemon Tea has 1.7 million streams on Spotify.
She's featured on major Apple Music, Prime Music and Spotify playlists. Among them, Spotify & Chill, Spotify's R&B UK, Café Chillout, Choice Edit, Free Form, the night bus, LED Lights & songs you need to listen to to expand your music taste.
Find Akemi on TikTok and Instagram.
Effie Black: Grief, Books Recs & Queer Readings
Effie is a scientist and a Women's Prize Longlisted Debut Novelist. This is her first podcast interview, you're welcome.
Her book has featured in The Guardian, The Independent, Harper's Bazaar, Good Housekeeping and The Bookseller.
Get yourself a copy of In Defence of the Act, here or at your local bookshop.
Heather Agyepong: Photography, Acting & ego death
Not only is Heather a screen and theatre actress, she's a major rising star of British photography. She's been interviewed by The National Portrait Gallery, The Independent, Digital Spy, Tatler and BBC News.
Her screen work includes BBC's This is Going to Hurt and Prime's The Power. And her theatre career includes the Lyric's School Girls or the African Mean Girls Play, the National Theatre's Sankara and, most recently, the Bush Theatre's Shifters.
She's featured in galleries around the world and won prizes such as the London Emerging Photographer Award and the Jerwood Foundation New Work Fund. Arts Council England recently acquired a number of pieces from her latest collection 'ego death'.
She's a Nikon Ambassador for Europe. She has also given lectures at the Tate Modern, Somerset House, The British Library, Southbank Centre, The Centre for British Photography, The London Art Fair, Jerwood Space, The Photo Vogue Festival and Amherst College.
Heather has a BSc in Applied Psychology and an MA in Photography & Urban Cultures too.
More on her site.
Find Heather on Instagram too.
Flora Carr: Historical Fiction, Mary Queen of Scots & Real Women
Flora's been praised by TLS and Times of London for her debut, The Tower. It's a Bookseller Editor's Choice Pick for March 2024.
She is also a critic & contributor for GQ, The Telegraph, Radio Times, TIME & The Guardian
She's been shortlisted for the V.S Pritchett Short Story Prize, won of the British Vogue Talent Contest and is one of the London Library's 40 Emerging Writers (2020/2021).
Get a copy of the book here, or at your local bookshop.
V.V. Ganeshananthan: Sri Lanka, Civilians in War & Journalism in Fiction
Known as Sugi, Vasugi Vasantha Ganeshananthan is Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction with her second novel Brotherless Night. The book has also features on the New York Times Editor's Choice and The Washington Post's Best Books of the Year List. Get it here, or from your local bookseller.
Here's just a slice of her career from her website:
A former vice president of the South Asian Journalists Association, she has also served on the board of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, and is presently a member of the boards of the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies and the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop.
The National Endowment for the Arts, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, Yaddo, MacDowell, and the American Academy in Berlin have awarded her fellowships.
She has served as visiting faculty at the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan and at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and now teaches in the MFA program at the University of Minnesota, where she is a McKnight Presidential Fellow and associate professor of English.
She co-hosts the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast on Literary Hub, which is about the intersection of literature and the news.
Noreen Masud: Friendship Under Capitalism, Unconditional Love & Community
Noreen's Memoir, A Flat Place, is now Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction.
It was also a Book of the Year 2023 for The Guardian, Sunday Times & New Yorker. It was longlisted for The Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize, Shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Author of the Year Award 2024 and Shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2024.
Noreen lectures at Bristol in 20th Century Literature and has been published in outlets like TLS and Aeon. As an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker, she's done broadcast work includes Radio 3 and Radio 4's beloved In Our Time.
Find out more about Noreen's work here. And get yourself a copy of the book here, or at your local bookshop.
Taylor Bickett: Perfectionism, Touring & Joni Mitchell
Taylor is one of the most exciting artists on your fyp. Her songs I Like Mondays and Quarter Life Crisis have gone super viral.
Quarter Life Crisis sparked a beautiful trend of appreciating our younger self and who we are now. Very fitting for her honest, empathetic writing style. It was streamed over 30 million times and used for 400k+ videos, even by Drew Barrymore and Kevin Jonas.
Her TikTok videos for I Like Mondays, released March 2024, have garnered millions of views. And rightly so. Her next song, Binary Code, is out 3rd May so get ready.
Her music has made it on huge Spotify playlists including: “Viral 50” (#10), “big on the internet,” “Pop Sauce,” “young & free,” “Chill Pop,” “New Pop Picks,” “Hits Don’t Lie," and “songs to scream in the car”.
Find Taylor here on TikTok and Instagram. Go listen to her music this instant!
Emma Westenberg: Working with Ewan McGregor & Troye, Film Recs & Directing
Emma was Grammy Nominated for Best Director following her iconic music video for Janelle Monáe's song PYNK. She also directed Troye Sivan's Lucky Strike mv. Her debut feature, Bleeding Love, starring Ewan & Clara McGregor is out now. She also has another feature, Buffalo Flats, in development. Her TV work includes episodes of: Dollface, Little Voice and Long Slow Exhale.
We talk about making her latest film, the stars she's worked with, communicating on set and creative collaboration.
Book yourself a seat for Bleeding Love in your local or independent cinema of choice.
Marie Naffah: Live Music, Connection & Art
Lisa Ko: Memorialising the Internet, New York Community & Dystopia
Lisa is a Hemingway Award Winner and National Book Award Finalist. Her literary criticism has been published in the likes of the Washington Post, NYT & Buzzfeed. Vogue, Elle, Oprah Daily, LitHub & BookRiot have all put Memory Piece on their list Best Books 2024. The Guardian, Dazed, NYT, The Atlantic & People have also given it the praise it deserves.
We talk about what it means to preserve our lives online, how friendships never really fade and what gives value to the time other people spend consuming our work. Also, the history of the Big Apple as seen through her eyes and captured in her novel.
Get the book here or at your local seller.
Nana Lourdes: Producing, Kardashians & Portugese Singers
Nana is an artist you should know, just ask Dazed, Paper Mag and Fader. Her 21st century queer cowgirl album, Wyoming, is a masterclass in electronic pop. She's featured on major playlists including Spotify's Indie Chillout & anti pop. Also Zara Home Dining.
Find her on Instagram and Youtube.
For more music, listen to our previous episodes or get ready for more later in the week.
Chitra: Female Producers, Healthy Approaches & Confidence
Chitra's developed a strong Instagram & TikTok following with only 2 tracks. Self taught, she's captured attention through her unique style, love of visuals and videos of her enjoying the journey.
Follow her on Instagram, TikTok and Youtube.
For more music, listen to our previous episodes or get ready for new episodes in the week.
Meg Smith: Lyric Writing, Pop Girls & RomComs
Meg is on Spotify's Pop Rising List for 2024 along with only 7 other artists in the world. Rolling Stone also selected her for its 8 Rising Pop Stars of the year, under the title: "Who'll be Pop's Next Big Thing?" An incredible achievement for any artist, let alone one who self-releases.
She's also been interviewed by Clout and Wonderland.
Her work is an energising blend of vulnerability and humour that makes her one of the most exciting pop artists in the world today.
Find Meg on Instagram and TikTok.
Nectar Woode: Brit Awards, Stage Fashion & Knowing It's Your Time
Nectar is one of Spotify's UK & IE Rising Stars 2024. You may recognise her from their Billboard in Leicester Square. She's been featured on BBC Introducing and Radio 1's Future Music List. She's also interviewed for Clash and Apple Music.
She's been selected for Spotify's leading playlists including: A Perfect Day, Good Energy, Spotify & Chill, Easy, Fresh Finds R&B, New Pop Revolution, New Music Friday UK, All New All Now, Equal UK & Ireland, New Pop UK, Sweet Soul Sunday, Fresh Finds Class of 2023, Chilled Pop Hits & Notable Releases (to name a few!).
Find her on TikTok or Instagram.
SHORTS: Nadine El Roubi on Songwriting as a Diary
Nadine has been praised by Esquire, Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan and the great SZA. She's performed around the world, worked with fashion powerhouse Louboutin and featured on the album of international Iraqi rap legend Narcy. Her work focuses on intersectional female empowerment and incorporates her Sudanese, Egyptian and Iranian heritage.
Her latest track Calm Down is a witty and damning challenge to colonial, capitalist and patriarchal structures that connected especially well with Gen Z, reaching over 1 million views for a single video.
You can find more about Nadine on her website, insta or TikTok.
More interviews are available on the podcast and our site.
SHORTS: Carmel McMahon on AI & Selfcare for Creating
Irish Essayist Carmel McMahon talks about decolonising storytelling, bringing healing to the past and what time means to us. Her book In Ordinary Time is a brilliant memoir about her own personal history and that of her country. She manages to make the heavy and uncomfortable feel remarkably approachable and freeing.
She's received deserved praise from The Guardian, The Observer, The Irish Times and Literary Hub as well as award-winning authors like Mary Costello and Priscilla Morris.
Get the book here, or at your local seller.
SHORTS: Jacqueline Crooks on Avoiding Cliches and Character Development
Jacqueline's book Fire Rush was shortlisted for the 2023's Women's Prize and Waterstone's Debut Fiction Prize. It's a Sunday Times Best Novel and The Guardian's Best Fiction Book of 2023. It was also one of The Observer's Best Debut Novels. Maggie O'Farrell even gave it her stamp of approval. It's certainly one of the best books I've ever had the privilege of reading.
Here's the blurb courtesy of Penguin's site:
Yamaye lives for the weekend, when she can go raving with her friends at The Crypt, an underground club on the outskirts of London. Then everything changes. Yamaye meets Moose, who she falls deeply in love with, and who offers her the chance of freedom and escape.
After their relationship is brutally cut short, Yamaye goes on a dramatic journey of transformation that leads her to Jamaica, where past and present collide with explosive consequences.
Get the book here, or at your local seller.
SHORTS: Andrew Pierre Hart on Language Influencing Art
Andrew quite rightly features on The Standard's 2024 New Art Power List and hailed by The Telegraph as an artist saving public galleries. Today, he talks about creating a space through sonic and visual art for the viewer to think and find new ideas. His current exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery is a love letter to one of London's most diverse neighbourhoods. It's also praised by TimeOut. This episode is a moment of celebration for the way we all experience art and what it means for the world.
Andrew earned his MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art (2019) and BA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts (2017). He's also an Associate Lecturer at The Royal College of Art's MA Painting programme. On top of that, he's won the ArtAngel 'Thinking Time' Award (2020) and Tiffany & Co. x Outset Studiomakers Prize (2019).
Check out Whitechapel Gallery here.
For more art, head to sanclemente.co.uk, catch up on previous episodes or get ready for more this week.
SHORTS: Sarah Nankivell on Gaza's Ancient Sites
Forensic Architecture is a multidisciplinary research group based at Goldsmiths, University of London that uses architectural techniques and technologies to investigate cases of state violence and violations of human rights around the world.
Their investigations have provided decisive evidence in a number of legal cases, including in national and international courts in Germany, The Hague, Greece, Israel, Guatemala, as well as in citizen tribunals and human rights processes, leading to military, parliamentary, and UN inquiries. Alongside their presentation in such political and judicial forums, Forensic Architecture’s investigations have also been shown in cultural and artistic venues as examples of the use of creative practice in an image- and data-laden environment.
Sarah (Assistant Director / Operations) is responsible for overseeing all operational aspects of FA – including financial, HR, legal, and administrative matters – and strategic financial and operational planning.
She is a graduate of the University of Toronto (BSc) and the University of Cambridge (MPhil), where her research focused on the destruction of heritage sites in conflict.
Sarah joined the team in 2017, having previously worked at B+H Architects, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Aga Khan Museum.
FA's investigation into the destruction of cultural heritage sites in Gaza (2018-2022), with human rights group Al-Haq, led them to call on The Prosecutor of the ICC to consider this destruction as amounting to war crimes, and to evaluate their potential contribution to apartheid as a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute.
Journalist Roshdi Sarraj was killed as he tried to shield his wife, Shorouq, and one-year-old daughter, Dania, from shrapnel in their family home. He co-founded Ain Media with Yasser Murtaja. Murtaja was killed by an Israeli sniper while covering the 2018 Great March of Return. A 2019 UN inquiry found reasonable grounds to suggest there was intentional targeting of journalists, including Murtaja, by the Israeli army during the march. Ain Media were vital for the Living Archaeology in Gaza project.
Shawn Ginwight’s conversation with Brené Brown:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/27qUt2DfcLROhzFZaO2gqG?si=d4e46b25a28d470d
Joel Stokes on Silwan:
Organisations supporting Silwan:
Information on Forensic Architecture taken from:
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/turner-prize-2018/forensic-architecture
https://forensic-architecture.org/about/agency
Sarah's work:
https://forensic-architecture.org/about/team/member/sarah-nankivell
Living Archaeology in Gaza:
https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/living-archaeology-in-gaza
SHORTS: Lucy Tun on Confidence & Overcoming Writer's Block
One of GQ’s Ones to Watch 2024, Lucy has been all over our social media feeds with her hits Kulture Klub and ADHD. Bella Hadid, the inspiration for the former, is also a fan. Kulture Klub's sped up version has 175k+ uses, an accomplishment for even a seasoned star.
Not only is she a producer and singer, Lucy, along with Rina Sawayama, is a member of ESEA, a writing camp for East and South Asian artists.
In case that wasn’t enough, Lucy completed her degree in Economics and Burmese at SOAS during the pandemic. As she explains herself, Lucy performed to 60,000 people as a special guest for Bunny Phyoe’s televised NYE countdown in Myanmar.
You can listen to Lucy here or follow her @lucytun on TikTok + @lcytn on Instgram.
Nailah Hunter: Mystical Folk Music, Arthurian Lore & Aquarius Kids (1/2)
Nailah is a multi-instrumental composer and singer who draws on mystical folk and ambient music, as well as legendary tales for her own fantasy world-building. She's been interviewed by the New York Times and NPR about her unique work, incorporating the harp into non-classical composition and her love of British culture.
She's just back from touring with her new album. Love Gaze received an 8/10 rating from Line of Best Fit, who called it 'disarmingly beautiful'. Pitchfork praised its 'lyrical complexity' and elegance.
Keep up with Nailah on her Instagram and website.
For more interview go to sanclemente.co.uk or listen here.
HotWax: Rock, Friendship & Louis Tomlinson's Support
According to NME: HotWax could be Britain's next great guitar band. They've gained support from Elton John, Louis Tomlinson and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The Guardian, Dork and the Independent have all tipped them as rising stars. The Evening Standard included them in their list of Ones to Watch 2024.
Bassist Lola Sam and Vocalist/Guitarist Talulah Sim-Savage met at school in Hastings and then brought drummer Alfie Sayers on board while studying at BIMM.
Just back from touring with Royal Blood, they have had a whirlwind 2023. Things only look to move faster so catch them in a city near you if you can.
Follow them on Instagram or TikTok.
For more music, check out our previous episodes or wait until next week.
Aube Rey Lescure: 00's China, Biracial Identity and Writing Alienation
Aube's debut novel, River East River West, is one of the most exciting releases of 2024. The dual timeline follows a 14 year old Alva in 2007 and how her American mother's new husband Lu Fang made his fortune in 1985. It's a complex unpacking of capitalism's failures, its effects on our relationships and the impact of increased Western business in Shanghai at the start of this century.
River East River West has received praise from the Wall Street Journal, Oprah Daily and Asian Review of Books, as well as bestsellers Jean Kwok, Vanessa Hua and Catherine Cho.
Info on Aube from her website:
Aube Rey Lescure is a French-Chinese-American writer. She grew up between Provence, northern China, and Shanghai, and graduated from Yale University in 2015. She worked in foreign policy before becoming an itinerant writer.
Aube’s debut novel, River East, River West, was published by William Morrow/HarperCollins in January 2024. [Duckworth in the UK]
Her fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in Guernica, LitHub, Electric Literature, The Millions. WBUR, The Florida Review Online, Litro, and more. Her essay “At the Bend of the Road” was selected for Best American Essays 2022.
She currently works as the Deputy Editor at Off Assignment. Two essays she edited are anthologized in Best American Travel Writing 2021, and four others were listed in Best American Essays Notables.
Aube is the co-author of Creating a Stable Asia (Carnegie 2016) and the translator of Le Système Économique Chinois Face à ses Défis (éditions Nuvis 2017).
Aube received support as an Ivan Gold Fellow at the Writers’ Room of Boston, a Pauline Scheer Fellow at GrubStreet’s Novel Incubator Program, and a writer-in-residence at the Studios of Key West and Willapa Bay AiR.
An excerpt from her forthcoming novel was a semifinalist in the Boston Review’s 2020 Aura Estrada Short Story Contest. Her short fiction was selected as a finalist for BOMB Magazine’s 2021 Fiction Contest, judged by Ottessa Moshfegh.
Find the book here. Or at your local seller.
For more literature, head to the sanclemente.co.uk, catch up on previous episodes or get ready for more this week.
Toby Lloyd: Jewish Folklore, Oxford in 2008 and the Ethics of Writing
Toby's debut novel, Fervour, is a stunning examination of Jewish identity, generational trauma and the complexity of moral blame under extreme circumstances. It's a horror that leans into Gothic tales and modern Dark Academia. Unsettling events unfold following the death of the Rosenthal's patriarch, a Holocaust survivor, and Hannah Rosenthal's tell-all book about her father-in-law's experiences.
Among the book's early praise is the Observer, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Publishers Weekly. And of course, yours truly.
Toby has published stories and essays in publications such as Carve Magazine and the LA Review of Books. He earned an MFA in creative writing from NYU and was longlisted for the 2021 V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize.
Find the book here. Or at your local seller.
For more literature, head to the sanclemente.co.uk, catch up on previous episodes or get ready for more next week.
Andrew Pierre Hart: Advice for Artists, Whitechapel and Lamb Chops in Space (2/2)
Andrew quite rightly features on The Standard's 2024 New Art Power List and hailed by The Telegraph as an artist saving public galleries. Today, he talks about creating a space through sonic and visual art for the viewer to think and find new ideas. His current exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery is a love letter to one of London's most diverse neighbourhoods. It's also praised by TimeOut. This episode is a moment of celebration for the way we all experience art and what it means for the world.
Andrew earned his MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art (2019) and BA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts (2017). He's also an Associate Lecturer at The Royal College of Art's MA Painting programme. On top of that, he's won the ArtAngel 'Thinking Time' Award (2020) and Tiffany & Co. x Outset Studiomakers Prize (2019).
Check out Whitechapel Gallery here.
For more art, head to sanclemente.co.uk, catch up on previous episodes or get ready for more this week.
Michael Isaak: American-Egyptian Indie Folk, Neuroscience Meets Music and NYC vs LA
Michael Isaak's debut EP, Forever is a Scary Word, is exactly what you need for your next flight or train journey. He combines American Folk with traditional Arab instruments for a dreamy soundscape that explores growing pains and layered inner worlds.
He's currently taking a year out from Princeton to develop his music in LA. As his music gains traction on TikTok, only a privileged few will be able to say they listened to him first. You're welcome ;)
Listen to Michael here, or find him on TikTok, Instagram or Youtube.
Nadine El Roubi: Rap, Sudan and Getting a SZA Shoutout
Nadine has been praised by Esquire, Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan and the great SZA. She's performed around the world, worked with fashion powerhouse Louboutin and featured on the album of international Iraqi rap legend Narcy. Her work focuses on intersectional female empowerment and incorporates her Sudanese, Egyptian and Iranian heritage.
Her latest track Calm Down is a witty and damning challenge to colonial, capitalist and patriarchal structures that connected especially well with Gen Z, reaching over 1 million views for a single video.
You can find more about Nadine on her website, insta or TikTok.
More interviews are available on the podcast and our site.
Rebecca K Reilly: Comedy Writing, Lorde and Traitors Australia (3/3)
One of New Zealand’s most successful authors, Rebecca is finally here in UK bookshops. Greta & Valid, which spent a year at the top of the bestseller list, is a hilarious examination of humanity through two siblings trying their best in Aukland. It’s one of BBC’s Most Anticipated Reads of the Year and recently reviewed in the NYT.
We talk about the book in passing and die laughing instead. Pt.3 covers Swedish Love Is Blind, awkward interview questions and serious economic information.
Rebecca K Reilly (Ngaati Hine, Ngaati Rehua Ngaatiwai ki Aotea) is a Maaori novelist from Waitaakere, New Zealand. She has a BA (hons) in German and European studies from the University of Auckland and an MA from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington, where she won the Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing for 2019.
Find the book here. Or at your local seller.
For more literature, head to sanclemente.co.uk, catch up on previous episodes or get ready for more this week.
Andrew Pierre Hart: Living Artistically, Creating Space and Communicating (1/2)
Andrew quite rightly features on The Standard's 2024 New Art Power List and hailed by The Telegraph as an artist saving public galleries. Today, he talks about creating a space through sonic and visual art for the viewer to think and find new ideas. His current exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery is a love letter to one of London's most diverse neighbourhoods. It's also praised by TimeOut. This episode is a moment of celebration for the way we all experience art and what it means for the world.
Andrew earned his MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art (2019) and BA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts (2017). He's also an Associate Lecturer at The Royal College of Art's MA Painting programme. On top of that, he's won the ArtAngel 'Thinking Time' Award (2020) and Tiffany & Co. x Outset Studiomakers Prize (2019).
Check out Whitechapel Gallery here.
For more art, head to sanclemente.co.uk, catch up on previous episodes or get ready for more this week.
[Note: the intro has been edited to correct Royal Academy to Royal College x]
Rebecca K Reilly: Comedy Writing, Lorde and Traitors Australia (2/3)
One of New Zealand’s most successful authors, Rebecca is finally here in UK bookshops. Greta & Valid, which spent a year at the top of the bestseller list, is a hilarious examination of humanity through two siblings trying their best in Aukland. It’s one of BBC’s Most Anticipated Reads of the Year and recently reviewed in the NYT.
We talk about the book in passing and die laughing instead. Pt.1 covers messy butches, stories about Lorde and public transport.
Rebecca K Reilly (Ngaati Hine, Ngaati Rehua Ngaatiwai ki Aotea) is a Maaori novelist from Waitaakere, New Zealand. She has a BA (hons) in German and European studies from the University of Auckland and an MA from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington, where she won the Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing for 2019.
Find the book here. Or at your local seller.
For more literature, head to sanclemente.co.uk, catch up on previous episodes or get ready for more this week.
Elizabeth Gonzalez James: Subverting the Western, Magical Realism and Colonial Inheritance
Elizabeth's novel The Bullet Swallower has sparked a huge buzz from Shondaland, Esquire, the LA Times, NPR and The Telegraph. It covers the beloved tropes of Westerns and goes far beyond with magical realism, dual timelines and a literally damning exploration of colonial heritage. It's one of Good Reads' most anticipated books of 2024- rightly so.
More info on Elizabeth from her website:
Elizabeth Gonzalez James is the author of the novels Mona at Sea (SFWP, 2021) and The Bullet Swallower (forthcoming Simon & Schuster, 2024), as well as the chapbook, Five Conversations About Peter Sellers (Texas Review Press, 2023). Her stories and essays have appeared in The Idaho Review, Southern Humanities Review, The Rumpus, StorySouth, PANK, and elsewhere, and have received numerous Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations. She was Interviews Editor at The Rumpus, and a former contributor to Ploughshares Blog. Originally from South Texas, Elizabeth now lives with her family in Massachusetts.
Find the book here. Or at your local seller.
For more literature, head to the sanclemente.co.uk, catch up on previous episodes or get ready for more this week.
Lucy Tun: Pop, Friendship in Your 20's and Advice for Musicians
One of GQ’s Ones to Watch 2024, Lucy has been all over our social media feeds with her hits Kulture Klub and ADHD. Bella Hadid, the inspiration for the former, is also a fan. Kulture Klub's sped up version has 175k+ uses, an accomplishment for even a seasoned star.
Not only is she a producer and singer, Lucy, along with Rina Sawayama, is a member of ESEA, a writing camp for East and South Asian artists.
In case that wasn’t enough, Lucy completed her degree in Economics and Burmese at SOAS during the pandemic. As she explains herself, Lucy performed to 60,000 people as a special guest for Bunny Phyoe’s televised NYE countdown in Myanmar.
We talk about her advice for fellow young musicians, personae, being in your 20's and keeping up friendships.
You can listen to Lucy here or follow her @lucytun on TikTok + @lcytn on Instgram.
Rebecca K Reilly: Comedy Writing, Lorde and Traitors Australia (1/3)
One of New Zealand’s most successful authors, International Bestseller Rebecca is finally here in UK bookshops thanks to Cornerstone. Greta & Valid, which spent a year at the top of the bestseller list, is a hilarious examination of humanity through two siblings trying their best in Aukland. It’s listed on BBC’s Most Anticipated Reads of the Year and recently reviewed in the NYT.
We talk about the book in passing and die laughing instead. Pt.1 covers messy butches, stories about Lorde and public transport.
Rebecca K Reilly (Ngaati Hine, Ngaati Rehua Ngaatiwai ki Aotea) is a Maaori novelist from Waitaakere, New Zealand. She has a BA (hons) in German and European studies from the University of Auckland and an MA from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington, where she won the Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing for 2019. (Courtesy of Penguin's site)
Find the book here. Or at your local seller.
For more literature, head to sanclemente.co.uk, catch up on previous episodes or get ready for more this week.
Viktoria Lloyd Barlow: Writing a Neurodivergent Perspective, Sicilian Folklore and Character
Viktoria is the first autistic author nominated for the Booker Prize. All the Little Bird Hearts explores the autistic perspective through motherhood, new friendship and class as the arrival of a glamorous couple one summer in the Lake District threatens life as she knows it.
We talk about writing from a neurodivergent perspective, Sicilian folklore and developing character. It’s really a masterclass for aspiring writers and a very lovely bookclub episode.
Find the book here. Or at your local seller.
For more literature, head to the sanclemente.co.uk, catch up on previous episodes or get ready for more this week.
“Part of being an autistic person is you are created by necessity because you’re always having to find ways to translate and ways to connect where they’re not coming naturally. So I think that makes us creative just to survive. We’re creative because we’re always trying to find new approaches that neurotypical just don’t need to look for because those things come organically for them.”
Dinah Brooke: Elite British Culture, Making a Murderer and Writing in the 70's
It's not often you get to talk to an author about their seminal novel. Dinah's Lord Jim at Home shocked readers in the 70's and now has an intro from Ottessa Moshfegh for its republication. We talk about the public school system, making a murderer and her time in the Osho cult. Of course, I got her answer on how to become a writer.
Idra Novey: Writing the Rust Belt, the Power of Sculpture and Translating Poetry
Poet, Novelist, Translator and lecturer at NYU & Princeton (deep breath) Idra Novey talks about polarisation, rural America, Brooklyn and how to just DO it.
Her book Take What You Need is out. READ IT.
Sîan Hughes: British Folklore, Poetry and Mental Health (2/2)
Sîan is both a Seamus Heaney Award Winning poet and a Book Prize Longlisted author. We talk about ghost stories, memory, the Gawain Poet, and the Old English classic Perl.
Her gorgeous book Pearl is out now.
Sîan Hughes: British Folklore, Poetry and Mental Health (1/2)
Booker Longlisted and Winner of the Seamus Heaney Award, Sîan is the writer/poet we aspire to be. Her book Pearl is stunning and available where you buy books (maybe even some places you don't). This episode gets into the meaning of place, killing your darlings and writing about complex mental health.
Part 2 is out on Wednesday! Get ready for more on the original poem Pearl and GHOST STORIES (oooOOOOoo).
If you're struggling with postpartum mental health issues, go to see the NHS's information here.
Noelle Collins: Curating the Turner Prize, Rising Stars and Urban Art
Everything you wanted to know about curating, art to look out for and what makes a video art not film. Noelle curated this year's exhibition of the finalists for the prize so she has a [rather helpful] insight into some truly fascinating works. Don't say we don't keep you artistically well fed.
If you haven't already, go listen to Alia's interview for more art this season.
See the Turner Prize exhibition for yourself at Towner.
Sarah Nankivell: Archaeology in Gaza, Heritage Protection and Human Rights Investigation
Forensic Architecture is a multidisciplinary research group based at Goldsmiths, University of London that uses architectural techniques and technologies to investigate cases of state violence and violations of human rights around the world.
Their investigations have provided decisive evidence in a number of legal cases, including in national and international courts in Germany, The Hague, Greece, Israel, Guatemala, as well as in citizen tribunals and human rights processes, leading to military, parliamentary, and UN inquiries. Alongside their presentation in such political and judicial forums, Forensic Architecture’s investigations have also been shown in cultural and artistic venues as examples of the use of creative practice in an image- and data-laden environment.
Sarah (Assistant Director / Operations) is responsible for overseeing all operational aspects of FA – including financial, HR, legal, and administrative matters – and strategic financial and operational planning.
She is a graduate of the University of Toronto (BSc) and the University of Cambridge (MPhil), where her research focused on the destruction of heritage sites in conflict.
Sarah joined the team in 2017, having previously worked at B+H Architects, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Aga Khan Museum.
FA's investigation into the destruction of cultural heritage sites in Gaza (2018-2022), with human rights group Al-Haq, led them to call on The Prosecutor of the ICC to consider this destruction as amounting to war crimes, and to evaluate their potential contribution to apartheid as a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute.
Journalist Roshdi Sarraj was killed as he tried to shield his wife, Shorouq, and one-year-old daughter, Dania, from shrapnel in their family home. He co-founded Ain Media with Yasser Murtaja. Murtaja was killed by an Israeli sniper while covering the 2018 Great March of Return. A 2019 UN inquiry found reasonable grounds to suggest there was intentional targeting of journalists, including Murtaja, by the Israeli army during the march. Ain Media were vital for the Living Archaeology in Gaza project.
Shawn Ginwight’s conversation with Brené Brown:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/27qUt2DfcLROhzFZaO2gqG?si=d4e46b25a28d470d
Joel Stokes on Silwan:
Organisations supporting Silwan:
Information on Forensic Architecture taken from:
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/turner-prize-2018/forensic-architecture
https://forensic-architecture.org/about/agency
Sarah's work:
https://forensic-architecture.org/about/team/member/sarah-nankivell
Living Archaeology in Gaza:
https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/living-archaeology-in-gaza
Jacqueline Crooks: Decolonising English, Finding Your Inner Voice and Dub Reggae's Legacy
Women's Prize Shortlisted Author Jacqueline Crooks talks about her stunning debut Fire Rush. It's a love letter to Black British music in the 70's and the people who made it. She shares her journey to finding her voice, writing advice, methods of decolonising the English language and her iconic wardrobe of one-off pieces.
Pages discussed in the intro: 167-68, 180-81
Check out Dionne Edwards' interview and Tim Mackenzie-Smith's Cymande interview.
Carmel McMahon: Irish Literature, Communicating Across Time and Self Care (2/2)
The second part of Carmel's beautiful interview covers EVERYTHING from grief and Catullus, Impressionism, New York in the 90's, AI, book recs and much more.
Her book In Ordinary Time is out in hardback right now so go find yourself a copy and cancel any and all plans so you can read uninterrupted.
Princess Alia Al-Senussi: Female Artists in the Middle East, Art for Political Change and Patronage
Alia Al-Senussi works around the world bringing talented artists to major galleries and projects. She talks to Grace about how art can bring social change, her favourite artists and her passion for art from the Middle East. If you want to impress your friends at dinner parties or strangers moving further away from you on public transport, look no further.
For more art go to the San Clemente site or listen to Marta Francescini's episode about fashion curation at the V&A.
Carmel McMahon: Irish Literature, Communicating Across Time and Self Care (1/2)
Irish Essayist Carmel McMahon talks about decolonising storytelling, bringing healing to the past and what time means to us. Her book In Ordinary Time is a brilliant memoir about her personal history and that of her country. She manages to make the heavy and uncomfortable feel remarkably approachable and freeing.
For more literary adventures go to our website or listen to the previous episode with Costa Prize Winner Claire Fuller.
[Update: after some distribution issues, this podcast is dated 16/10/23]
Claire Fuller: Complicated Female Characters, Writing Advice and How to Bury a Body Legally
Bestselling Novelist Claire Fuller won the 2021 Costa Novel Award and was Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction with her latest work Unsettled Ground, published with Penguin Random House.
Today, she joins Grace to talk about her relatively recent turn to literature as well as the legality of burying bodies in your garden, the ethics of eating octopuses and what authors owe vs what filmmakers owe to their audience.
For more of her recommendations and writing advice, go to Claire's blog (clairefuller.co.uk).
If you like this interview, read our very first interview with Bestselling Biographer Miranda Seymour about her biography on Jean Rhys (we can confirm Claire read it, liked it and is a Rhys fan herself).
For more interviews, go to sanclemente.co.uk or wait longingly by the phone for the next podcast episode.
Will Bates: Film Composing, Jazz and Orphanages for Musical Instruments
This week film composer Will Bates talks about his work on the upcoming film The Estate. We also cover theremin museums, how to build your own orphanage for musical instruments and finding your path as a musician.
Read the interview with Tim Mackenzie-Smith about the incredible Cymande and his documentary on them
Marta Franceschini: Gender in Fashion, Curating at the V&A and Challenging the Binary
Marta Franceschini, Fashion Researcher, Fashion Historian and Co-Curator of the Fashioning Masculinities Exhibition at the V&A talks Made In Italy, Tom Ford and obviously the viral moments from Harry Styles and Timotheé Chalamet. Find about the meaning of the suit and the development of menswear to date. Like the exhibition, this conversation goes beyond the binary and keeps in mind the playfulness at the heart of fashion.
Fashioning Masculinities is on at the V&A until 6th Nov.
Pick up a copy of the exhibition book to learn more or read the article with extras from the interview.
If you wish to satisfying your thirst for menswear further dive into this article on BTS' relationship with fashion, self expression and artistic power; or read our latest interview with Writer/Director Dionne Edwards about her latest BBC and BFI backed film 'Pretty Red Dress'.