I'm Philip Holden and this is Ideas in Writing - the podcast where we talk to people who use words - written, spoken, performed and even sung and, why not, hand drawn? The guests bring along a word and so do I...it's all downhill from there on...
In this episode I talk to the brilliant Sophie and Scarlett Rickard creators of a graphic novel version of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists – the hugely influential book by Robert Tressell is long and sometimes difficult to read but this version ISN'T!, This is a really emotional and moving story (that happens to explain capitalism) and which tells the story of the people who suffer most.
We talk about how the Rickard Sisters started writing and drawing in Whalley in Lancashire, just up the road from where I was born, the difficulties of adapting a huge book, how they work remotely, their admiration for TV and film adaptations and a bit about politics and bookshops.
The word Sophie and Scarlett brought along was philanthropy and we discuss that a little, whilst mine was sketch. You can explore these words at the fun Visuwords dictionary by clicking them.
Ideas in Writing is produced with the support of Mr Books Bookshop in Tonbridge - the home of inspiring, imaginative and intelligent books, gifts and conversation. They're on Twitter too @mrbooks_ton. But most importantly of all, you can visit them (in the lovely market town of Tonbridge in Kent) for a browse any Wednesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm.
Don't forget to subscribe for new episodes coming up.
CREDITS & links
Sophie and Scarlett’s The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (Self Made Hero, £14.39) and Mann's Best Friend (Gluepot Books, £14.95) can be ordered from Mr Books.
Sophie mentioned – Fully Automated Luxury Communism by Aaron Bastani (verso, £9.00) which you can also order from Mr Books.
We all raved about Allan and Janet Ahlberg – you can see more of their books at our list of essential children’s books.
You can contribute to the Rickard Sisters Ragged Education Project – buying a book for a school, a prison or a pupil referral unit by visiting their website here.
Ideas in Writing is recorded and produced by Philip Holden using Zencastr and Acast.com
The Ideas in Writing theme \"Farting Around\" is by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The \"Light Easy March\" sting is by ...dog http://www.besonic.com/dog
","author_name":"Philip Holden"}