The Allender Calendar

This month on The Allender Calendar I chat to the Northern Irish writer Wendy Erskine about her 2025 novel The Benefactors.The novel's central incident is the sexual assault of a teenage girl, Misty, at a party. The novel follows Misty, the boys involved in the assault, and their families – and also expands out to include countless other voices, some of whom are linked to the story and some who aren't. This polyphonic approach both deepens our understanding of the central characters and captures how gossip spreads through the community.The Benefactors is Wendy's first novel. She has previously published two outstanding collections of short stories: Sweet Home (2018) and Dance Move (2022).Wendy also guested on Your Own Personal Beatles back in 2021:https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/wendy-erskines-personal-beatles/id1523996711?i=1000542363739If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender

This month on The Allender Calendar, I'm chatting to the author Ben Pester about his debut novel The Expansion Project. Part corporate satire, part Lynchian dreamscape, The Expansion Project explores loss, parenthood, grief, and the ways in which identity and meaning are being distorted as technology takes over our lives. It's also very funny!We talked about balancing creativity with a day job, finding joy and humour in office work, and some key influences (including Gormenghast and The Unconsoled).You can buy The Expansion Project here:https://granta.com/products/the-expansion-project/And Ben's fantastic collection of short stories Am I in the Right Place? is available here:https://www.boilerhouse.press/product-page/am-i-in-the-right-place-by-ben-pesterIf you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallenderInterview in The London Magazine:https://thelondonmagazine.org/interview-the-expansion-project-an-interview-with-ben-pester/

This month on The Allender Calendar I'm joined by the comedian Pierre Novellie to discuss his 2024 book Why Can't I Just Enjoy Things?: A Comedian's Guide to Autism. It's a brilliant, and very funny, book which taught me so much about the condition. We discuss the misunderstandings and misconceptions surrounding autism, as well as Pierre's own experience of his diagnosis (following a heckle at a stand-up gig), and how it helped him to make sense of the way he experiences and interacts with the world.Find out more about Pierre here:https://www.pierrenovellie.com/And you can follow him on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/pierrenovellieAnd Bluesky:https://bsky.app/profile/pierrenovellie.bsky.socialAnd you can listen to Pierre's interview with John Robins on the How Do You Cope? podcast here:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pierre-novellie-i-wasnt-able-to-get-what-i-wanted-out/id1793829037?i=1000711833374If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender

This month on The Allender Calendar, I speak to the fabulous Bristol-based musician Emily Breeze, whose lipstick-smeared and glitter-drenched album Rats in Paradise is one of my favourites of the year. And Emily very kindly gave me permission to include snippets from the album in the episode!We talk about the songwriting process, Emily's day job teaching at BIMM (the British and Irish Modern Music Institute) in Bristol, and about her literary and musical influences. We also frequently get sidetracked and end up chatting about queuing in pubs and the concept of Alan Partridge narrating Joyce's Ulysses.Please check out Emily's album here:https://sugarshackrecords.bandcamp.com/album/rats-in-paradiseAnd you can follow her on Instagram here:https://www.instagram.com/emilybreeze66/?hl=enEmily is playing a few shows in December:6 Dec: The Prince Albert - Stroud7 Dec: Burdall's Yard - Bath13 Dec: The Old Pint Pot - SalfordAlso, I'm playing at The Prince Albert in Stroud on 5 December if you fancy coming down!If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender

This month on The Allender Calendar I talk to the fabulous writer Rose Ruane. Rose has published two novels, Birding (2024), which was longlisted for the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction, and This is Yesterday (2019). Rose writes brilliantly and insightfully about female relationships, the legacy of the 90s, and the ways in which we process trauma. If that all sounds a bit heavy, don't worry, she's also extremely funny and very engaging company. I particularly enjoyed our chat about the Manic Street Preachers and the ways in which their music has inspired her.You can find out more about Rose in this interview:https://leslietate.com/2023/05/29/rose-ruane-a-creative-life-story/And you can follow her on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/regretteruane/?hl=enAnd Bluesky:https://bsky.app/profile/regretteruane.bsky.socialAlso, I briefly mention Rage Against the Machine's radical reading list; you can find that here:https://radicalreads.com/rage-against-the-machine-favorite-books/If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender

On the month's episode of The Allender Calendar I talk to the fantastic comedian Jordan Brookes.2019 Edinburgh Comedy Award winnerBleed:https://youtu.be/z5O3PI9whAo?si=K9WSnV8YrJftiliyI've Got Nothing:https://youtu.be/myOoRrMIyO8?si=YbwPZl5-Ei8348lDBody of Work:https://youtu.be/D_yQ9eHQq70?si=tBDyQ_9MRJ2G4Fua