Ex Libris Podcast
1) Evie Wyld in Review Bookshop, Peckham
For several years, Evie Wyld combined writing fiction with running an independent bookshop - Review, in Peckham, South London. “It seems like the perfect marriage, doesn’t it?” Evie says of the dual r...Show More
2) Tessa Hadley in Redland Library, Bristol
“It’s strange and haunting to be back here after a very, very long time,” says Tessa Hadley of heading inside seminal childhood destination, Redland Library. " I can still remember the feeling of ente...Show More
3) Gyles Brandreth in Barnes Bookshop
Gyles Brandreth has been entertaining Brits for decades - charming multiple generations on shows such as Just A Minute, The One Show, Celebrity Gogglebox and Countdown. His many books include a serie...Show More
4) Candice Carty-Williams in Lewisham Library
Candice Carty-Williams is a trailblazer. That trail, in many respects, started at Lewisham Library in South London. This big, cornerstone library provided Candice a ‘safe place’ during her childhood. ...Show More
5) Val McDermid in Topping & Co, St Andrews
Val McDermid was so young when she first visited her local library in Fife that she couldn’t even say the word, calling it the ‘labrador’ (after her family’s pet). Kirkcaldy Library rapidly became, th...Show More
6) Bobby Seagull in East Ham Library
As a child, Bobby Seagull would be taken to his local library in East Ham, London, every Saturday afternoon. Without fail. He would get lost in the books there for hours on end, cross-legged on the fl...Show More
7) Benjamin Zephaniah in Newham Bookshop
Benjamin Zephaniah speaks truth-to-power like nobody else. A Kung Fu stylist, dub musician, Peaky Blinder, renegade activist, vegan force-of-nature, and much-loved ‘people’s poet’, Benjamin has lived...Show More
8) Rachel Seiffert in The Wiener Holocaust Library
The library featured in this episode of Ex Libris is truly inspirational and remarkable. It is a shrine, a beacon, a memorial. Sacred ground, no less. Moreover, the conversation that takes place there...Show More
9) Melvyn Bragg in Wigton Library
Melvyn Bragg is what people in Britain sometimes call a ‘national treasure’. The man is prodigious. Notably for this bookish show, he has written several award-winning novels and works of non-fiction....Show More
10) Bart Van Es in Summertown Library
Bart Van Es won the 2019 Costa Prize for Book of the Year for his masterful memoir The Cut Out Girl. Announcing the judges’ decision, the Costa chair, the BBC presenter Sophie Raworth said: “It’s a ve...Show More