Ourshelves

Emma Donoghue is an acclaimed writer whose novels include the international bestsellers Room and The Wonder. She wrote the short story ‘Turmagant’ in Virago’s recent collection of short stories, Furies, and her upcoming novel, Learned By Heart, publishes on 24th August 2023. On this episode, Emma and Lucy Scholes dive into the varied cultural reach of novels, short stories and films, the genius of Angela Carter, the long overdue recognition of Ann Lister and how the ‘Barbie’ film masters trickle-down feminism for young children.

Natasha Walter is a writer of both fiction and non-fiction, a journalist and human rights activist. Her books include The New Feminism and Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism, which was reissued as one of Virago’s 50thAnniversary Five Gold reads this year. On this episode of Ourshelves, Natasha and Lucy Scholes discuss the continued relevance of Living Dolls in terms of the unfinished revolution of feminism and the ongoing effort to liberate ourselves, as women, from stereotypes.They also dive into Natasha’s upcoming book, Before the Light Fades, a moving memoir about losing her mother to suicide as well as honouring the legacy of a family whose members struggled bravely against some of the worst crises of the twentieth century.

Are families a refuge or a prison? Join Veronica Raimo as she talks with Lucy Scholes about the line between fiction and auto-fiction, drawing the curtain back on the creative process, and the many idiosyncrasies of language that arise during the translation of fiction. Veronica Raimo is the author of four novels, the most recent of which, Lost On Me (Niente di Vero) was a huge bestseller in Italy, that was shortlisted for the Premio Strega Prize and won the Strega Giovani Prize and the Viareggio Rèpaci Prize. The English translation of Lost On Me is being published by Virago on 3rd August 2023. Veronica contributes cultural articles to various Italian publications, and her translations into Italian include works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Octavia E. Butler, Ray Bradbury and Ursula K. Le Guin. She lives in Rome.

Kirsty Logan is a novelist and short story writer. She’s the author of Now She is Witch, Things We Say In The Dark, The Gloaming, The Gracekeepers, A Portable Shelter, and The Rental Heart & Other Fairytales. To mark the publication of her new book, The Unfamiliar: A Queer Motherhood Memoir, she talks with Lucy Scholes about writing like no one is reading, pregnancy journeys, disobedient bodies, the gift of sperm donation, and breaking the rules of memoir writing.

Join Lucy Scholes as she talks with American author Mecca Jamilah Sullivan about her debut novel, Big Girl – reviewed by the New York Times as ‘achingly beautiful’ – about a young black girl growing up in 1990s Harlem. On the table for discussion is coming-of-age fiction, beauty standards, women’s bodies and matrilineal traditions. 

On the premiere episode of this special series of Ourshelves, commemorating Virago’s 50th anniversary, join Caroline O'Donoghue, New York Times best-selling author and the host of the award-winning podcast Sentimental Garbage, as she talks about her new novel, The Rachel Incident. Listen as Caroline and Lucy Scholes discuss the intersection of Irish women’s fiction with the history of reproductive rights in Ireland, actively reading people you don’t agree with, the emptiness of the phrase ‘girl power’ and misogyny in cultural spaces.