Field Ramble

Send us Fan Mail On this episode we speak to author Niamh Mulvey about her upcoming debut novel The Amendments. Many of you will know Niamh from her short story collection Hearts and Bones. (Head back to episode 6 of the pod if not to hear our interview with her shortly after H&B’s publication.) With The Amendments (published by Picador on April 11th) Niamh takes the titular story from the col...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode we hear from Sinéad Gleeson about her upcoming debut novel Hagstone. Set on a rugged island somewhere in the wild Atlantic it centres around the life of Nel an artist who draws inspiration from the landscape, folklore and unexplained phenomena that surround her. The island is also home to a reclusive community of women, the Inions, who task Nel with the creation of...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode we meet Balsam Karam to hear about her latest novel The Singularity. Set in an unnamed coastal town the story follows the impact of one woman’s death on another. It is a study of loss, migration and motherhood and a book that remains with you long after you’ve put it down.  Through bold formal experimentation Balsam builds a language of post trauma, moving from sep...

Send us Fan Mail On this  episode of the Ramble, an interview with Magogodi oaMphela Makhene in which we discuss her stunning, debut short story collection, Innards . Set in Soweto (where Magogodi was raised) her stories map the lives of a small group of residents living under and after apartheid. By turns shockingly violent and deeply funny Innards is beautiful wrought from the first page. It is...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of Field Ramble, an interview with  Aniefiok Ekpoudom to discuss his incredible work of narrative non fiction Where We Come From. Set between communities in South London, South Wales and the West Midland’s Neef’s book documents the rise of UK Rap and Grime. Beginning with the tenacious community hubs of Pirate Radio in Birmingham under the guiding hand of Cecil Mor...

Send us Fan Mail Field Ramble is back  with award winning Irish novelist Mary Costello to hear about her latest short story collection Barcelona. It follows firmly in the footsteps of her debut novel Academy Street ( Novel of the Year 2014, The Irish Book Awards) and her first collection The China Factory in its fearlessness. Never afraid to shine a light on our darker side, Barcelona is unsparing...

Send us Fan Mail January is grim, there’s no two ways about it. So here are two fantastic debuts to keep you tucked up indoors and out of whichever storm has just landed. First off  a chat with Lottie Hazell whose novel Piglet is published on 25.01.  An unrelenting story of compulsion and unfulfilled hunger, it majors on love, class and the lack at the centre of modern life. (It also has one of th...

Send us Fan Mail Happy 2024 people! In our first episode of the year we hear from author Ali Millar about her debut novel Ava Anna Ada. Many of you will know Ali from her incredible memoir The Last Days, a courageous and unsparing account of her upbringing in and break from the Jehovah’s Witness Cult. It was an incredible read and is a huge recommend if you’ve yet to get to it Described by Ali as...

Send us Fan Mail Field sees the year out with Mike McCormack and JP McHugh. John's short story collection was the find of the year at Field HQ a beautiful set of stories about the fragility and cut throat business of friendship. If you're doing some last minute Christmas shopping this is a huge recommend. Mike McCormack needs little introduction. A multi award winning novelist, whose wor...

Send us Fan Mail This month Field is joined by novelist Keiran Goddard to discuss his upcoming novel I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning.  The book lovingly traces the relationships between a group of friends who have remained close since childhood. Central to the novel are thoughts on lost opportunity and fragmented community. Why is success measured by leaving the place we love? Why do those ear...

Send us Fan Mail This month Field is joined by novelist Daisy Johnson from the depths of her writing shed to talk ghosts, hotels and the Fen. If you get to this time of year and fancy swimming in darker waters then look no further than Daisy's short story collections. From the opening line these are stories that beguile,  disorientate and terrify. There are things in the walls of Daisy's...

Send us Fan Mail This month’s episode of Field Ramble is a conversation I’ve been looking forward to for so long. Wendy Erskine needs little introduction. Author of two incredible collections Sweet Home and Dance Move, she is an unbelievable story teller and my go to when I’m asked for a book recommend. Wendy writes through the voices that surround her in her East Belfast home. In them we soon sli...

Send us Fan Mail This month Field sits down with author Rachelle Atallato discuss her latest novel Thirsty Animals as well as her new radio series Invasive Species , currently unfolding on Radio 4. Both are fantastic pieces of speculative story telling that pose compelling what ifs which live on long after you've put the novel down or turned the radio off.  Rachelle has also contributed a wid...

Send us Fan Mail This month's pod is devoted entirely to an extended interview with author Guy Gunaratne, discussing  his latest novel Mister Mister. Many of you will know Guy from his incredible debut In Our Mad and Furious City and Mister Mister is another  compelling and provocative read (& a huge favourite at Field HQ.) If you've yet to read it, don't push that Amazon button...

Send us Fan Mail This month Field goes for a swim with David Roberts to discuss the rather beautiful  The Way The Day Breaks and sits down with Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi to hear all about The Centre her incredible debut novel which is out this month.  We also have a performance from Syrian poet Dua Al Bostani Al Fattohi to start the show and of course more gorgeous soundscapes from musician Ian Hawgo...

Send us Fan Mail Two more great interviews with two wonderful writers.  Field heads to France to talk  with Laurent Petitmangin about his latest novel What You Need From The Night.  L 'Obs calls the book 'A tragedy of Unconditional Love' & Le Parisien 'As sublime as it is painful.' Then we head to Charleston Festival on a sunny evening  to talk Kim Moore about her incr...

Send us Fan Mail Two more great interviews with two wonderful authors.   We talk to Martin Macinnes about his stunning, epic  In Ascension. And the wonderful Kerri ní Dochartaigh about her incredible lockdown chronicles Cacophony of Bone.  Our beautiful music on this episode is all by Ian Hawgood. Find all his music on Bandcamp by searching Home Normal and check out the  beaut that is @_handstitch...

Send us Fan Mail Field Ramble is back and we have two great interviews with Aidan Cottrell-Boyce and Niamh Mulvey.  Aidan tells us what lies behind his incredible novel The End of Nightwork an absolute favourite at Field. Then we catch up with Niamh to discuss her beautiful collection of short stories, Hearts and Bones,  published last year. If you've yet to read it, we'd echo Sinéad Gle...

Send us Fan Mail In the final episode of this series Sam and Spencer chat with  author Cynan Jones about his incredible novels The Dig, The Long Dry and Everything I Found on the Beach. Cynan conjures a deep sense of place and we delve into how he does it. The Dig is a big favourite in Field HQ, so if you're yet to read it, get it on the top of the pile. We also chat with the wonderful Orla F...

Send us Fan Mail Sam and Spencer chat with  Ros Anderson about her compelling page turner The Hierarchies.   Ros's novel is the story of Sylvie a sex robot whose growing self awareness compellingly clashes with her programming. Think Angela Carter goes to work on  A.I. We also chat with emerging novelist Dan Hett about the joys of writing speculative fiction and his current project Arc. As we...

Send us Fan Mail A  Halloween special. Julia from the wonderful Golden Hare Books in Edinburgh gives us her top 5 for Halloween & Sam & Spencer chat with Lucie McKnight Hardy and Naomi Booth about their incredible short story collections Dead Relatives & Animals at Night.  Thanks as ever to superstar Kibrom Birhane for the use of his beautiful track Maleda as our theme. Hope you enjoy...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we chat with the marvellous Rosa Rankin Gee about her wonderful novel Dreamland. We also meet writer Abby Walker to discuss her new collection of eerie short stories , check in with Ben at the wonderful Interesting Books in Berwick Upon Tweed & we have a fantastic performance by poet Kate Bradley too.  Thanks as ever to Kibrom Birhane for the use of Maleda take...

Send us Fan Mail We talk all things folk horror with  Andrew Michael Hurley author of The Loney & Devil's Day & emerging novelist Johnny Gaunt. We also chat with  Tom, owner of Gloucester Road Books in Bristol & have a performance from poet Ezra England.  @fieldzine  www.fieldzine.com www.patreon.com/fieldzine