A monthly podcast devoted mostly to speculative fiction books, reviews and the odd bit of idle gossip. Hosted by Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond.
Episodes
Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, discuss Finna by Nino Cipri [3:45] and The Wandering by Intan Paramaditha [30:25].
If you enjoy these two books, you might like to check out the collections by the same authors: Homesick by Cipri and Apple and Knife by Paramaditha.
If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:13:45 for brief final remarks. Next month, the two books up on the slab will be:
Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!
Saturday Dec 05, 2020
Saturday Dec 05, 2020
On this very special episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, are joined by the most erudite and entertaining Lisa L. Hannett, author of Blue Grass Symphony, Lament for the Afterlife and the recently published collection Songs for Dark Seasons.
The three of them jump straight into their discussion of two books by Maria Dahvana Headley, Beowulf: A New Translation and The Mere Wife [47:20]. Grab a tasty beverage ... this is going to take some time.
You might also want to the check out the following links for further exploration:
- Beowulf as translated by Seamus Heaney
- The Beowulf episode of the Backlisted podcast
- A marathon reading of Beowulf by an all star cast - new chapters daily from 1 to 25 December 2020.
If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:31:00 for brief final remarks.
This is the last episode for the year ... hope the door hits you on the arse on the way out, 2020. For the first episode of 2021, airing in February, Kirstyn and Ian will be turning their attention to:
Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!
Saturday Nov 07, 2020
Saturday Nov 07, 2020
On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, discuss Growing Things and Other Stories by Paul Tremblay [6:15] and Let's Play White by Chesya Burke [32:10].
As promised, for listeners who would like to keep tabs on the Montague Street bridge, you can find updates here. And Ian once again highly recommends the Backlisted podcast. He's not getting kickbacks, we swear!
If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:10:45 for brief final remarks.
Next month, The Writer and the Critic is delighted to welcome back Lisa L. Hannett, special guest and speculative fiction author extraordinaire! Lisa, Kirstyn and Ian will be turning their critical attention to:
Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!
Tuesday Oct 06, 2020
Tuesday Oct 06, 2020
On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, discuss Folk by Zoe Gilbert [4:15] and The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams [30:20].
This review by Benjamin Meyers in The Guardian is mentioned during the discussion of Folk, and Ian also highly recommends Eley Williams' short story collection, Attrib. and Other Stories.
If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:02:10 for brief final remarks. Next month, the two books up on the slab will be:
Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!
Sunday Sep 06, 2020
Sunday Sep 06, 2020
On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, discuss Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia [2:20] and The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones [26:50].
For those wanting to add to their reading lists, Ian highly recommends the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses as a means of finding books and authors outside the mass market that you might not otherwise come across.
If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:02:15 for brief final remarks. Next month, the two books up on the slab will be:
Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!