The Writer and the Critic

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond waste no time in diving straight into their discussion of The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay [3:20] and Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon [47:50]. Also recommended is the novella The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson & Jonathan Snipes, which Ian reviewed for Locus . If you've skipped...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond indulge briefly in some COVID commiseration before beginning into their discussion of   The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson [4:30] and Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden [39:10].   If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:17:00 for final remarks. Next month, the two books up...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond spend some time on brief tangents regarding awards (good) and coffee (not so much) before launching into their discussion of Memorial by Bryan Washington [7:30] and The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey [40:00]. If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:18:15 for final remarks - in...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, discuss All the Murmuring Bones by Angela Slatter [10:40] and Smart Ovens for Lonely People by Elizabeth Tan [47:05]. If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:12:15 for brief final remarks. Next month, the two books up on the slab will be: Memorial by Bryan Washington The Mermaid of Bla...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, discuss Mammoth by Chris Flynn [3:05] and  Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton [29:00]. If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:07:50 for brief final remarks. Next month, the two books up on the slab will be: All the Murmuring Bones by Angela Slatter Smart Ovens for Lonely People by...

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 br...

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 Tran...

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 kickback...

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 sp...

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...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, discuss Weather by Jenny Offill [3:30] and Hold by Kirsten Tranter [30:20]. Ian and Kirstyn both thoroughly recommend a visit to Obligatory Note of Hope , mentioned during the discussion, for readers wanting to engage further in some of the issues raised by Jenny Offill. If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoile...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, discuss Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver [3:55] and The Overstory by Richard Powers [31:45]. This fine essay "Our Root Problem: The Overstory by Richard Powers" by Jason Childs , mentioned during the discussion, is also well worth a read. If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:19...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, discuss Skin by Kathe Koja [5:30] and  The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break by Steven Sherrill [38:25]. If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:14:00 for brief final remarks. Next month, the two books up on the slab will be: Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver The Overstory by Richar...

Surprise! Perhaps against the judgement of their better selves, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond are back with a special Skype-assisted episode of The Writer and the Critic. From their self-isolated COVID-19 bunkers*, they reconvene to chat about some of the things that have made them happy since the last episode aired back in December 2017. Or, indeed, are making them happy right now.   Here's the...

On this very last episode* of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond waste no time with maudlin sentiment! The books up for discussion this month are two debut novels by the same author:  How to Bee by Bren MacDibble  [9:00] and  In the Dark Spaces by Cally Black  [40:30]. How is this possible? Listen and find out! Listeners might also like to check out this  intervie...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, start off with a brief but somewhat sad announcement before moving straight into a discussion of this month's books: Confessions by Kanae Minato [4:45] and White Tears by Hari Kunzru [42:00]. If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:17:10 for brief final remarks. The books up for discus...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, begin with an admission: Ian was wrong! He got the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize wrong! He got the longlist for the National Book Award wrong! What is he even doing talking about literature at all? Nevertheless, the two books on the slab this month remain The Fisherman by John Langan [9:00] and By Light W...

This month on The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, begin by announcing the two patron-voted books which will be featured in the upcoming Patron's Choice episode in September. There is also some discussion of the recently announced Man Booker longlist because IAN WAS RIGHT and both the novels featured THIS month are on the list! Those novel are of course The Undergr...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, announce the list of nominated books for the upcoming Patron's Choice episode in September. If you're a Patron with voting rights, get thee to the Patreon website to access the poll and choose which book you'd like them to discuss. The two books on the slab this month are two Finnish novels, City of Woven Stre...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, begin with a brief chat about the recent Continuum 13 convention and highly recommend their listeners check out the fabulous Guest of Honour speeches which are now available for viewing online: Likhain's Continuum 13 Guest of Honour Speech Seanan McGuire's Continuum 13 Guest of Honour Hour They then move on to...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, begin by talking about the recent Aurealis Awards - in particular the categories of Best Horror Novel and Best Fantasy Novel, the winners of which have been chosen for this month's discussion. The full list of Aurealis Award winners can be found on the official website . The novels for this episode are: Nevern...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, are looking at two Australian speculative fiction novels. But first, they would like to congratulate all winners of the Aurealis Awards and also thank people for nominating this podcast for a Ditmar Award . So much bookish love! After a brief discussion of awards -- very brief, they promise! -- they turn to th...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, discuss the two chosen novels pretty much concurrently.  Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor and Rosewater by Tade Thompson are both alien invasion novel set in Nigeria and the conversation around them begins at 3:20. Please note, due to some technical difficulties there were a couple of audio dropouts mid-discussion ......

This month on The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, plunge straight into discussing the two chosen books,  Jagannath by Karin Tidbeck [2:50] and  The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo [47:00]. If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:32:10 for some brief final remarks, including an impromptu lesson about gaslighting. The two books up for di...

This month on The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, plunge straight into discussing two short story collections,  Bødy by Asa Nonami [2:30] and  Ghost Summer: Stories by Tananarive Due [48:15]. If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:33:00 for some brief final remarks. The two books up for discussion on the next episode are: The Core of the...