In this episode, we read Richard Scott's poem 'Still Life with Snail, Oyster, Spoon and Shallot Vinegar' from his collection That Broke into Shining Crystals (2025). You can buy this book, and his previous collection Soho, from your local bookshop or from Faber [https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571391318-that-broke-into-shining-crystals/?srsltid=AfmBOopV2xXR7oBPMFbOXnKdj-me8eDvp4Qe49yo256saZhSEq0HvXs-].

Richard Scott is the author of Soho (Faber & Faber, 2018) and most recently That Broke into Shining Crystals (Faber & Faber, 2025). He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Episode references:

 * Still lives: Jan Davidsz. de Heem, 'Still Life' [https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-davidsz-de-heem-still-life?utm_source=google&utm_medium=google_paid_aip&utm_campaign=aip-grant&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22885782904&gbraid=0AAAAADjwvWlB1OU1aYxBxKzdXeOTLOqeP&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqqDFBhDhARIsAIHTlkvWcoWDtfJgM2UD-hF4TxTMJQfoKFt5zWOvcTdGVZoRSmKdzzJ8DLYaApY3EALw_wcB] and N. Adama, 'Still Life of Oysters and a Prawn on a Ledge, with a Snail and a Butterfly' [https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/1257230]
 * Sappho, trans. Anne Carson [https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/anne-carson/if-not-winter-the-complete-fragments-of-sappho/9781844080816/]
 * Mary Ruefle, Madness, Rack, and Honey: Collected Lectures [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/madness-rack-and-honey-collected-lectures-mary-ruefle/7049835?ean=9781933517575]
 * The Letters of Emily Dickinson [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-letters-of-emily-dickinson-emily-dickinson/7587644?ean=9780674982970]
 * Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge, A Treatise on Stars [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/a-treatise-on-stars-mei-mei-berssenbrugge/3306080?ean=9780811229388]

Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u].

Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9].

Ep. 14. Richard Scott, 'Still Life with Snail, Oyster, Spoon and Shallot Vinegar'

In this episode, we read a passage from Okechukwu Nzelu's Here Again Now (p.47 of the UK paperback). You can buy this book and Nzelu's previous novel from your local bookshop or at Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/here-again-now-written-in-exquisite-prose-and-told-with-compassion-and-tenderness-brit-bennett-author-of-the-vanishing-half-okechukwu-nzelu/4957903?ean=9780349701097].

Dr Okechukwu Nzelu FRSL won a Northern Writers' Award from New Writing North in 2015. His debut novel, The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney [https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-private-joys-of-nnenna-maloney/okechukwu-nzelu/9780349701035] (Dialogue Books, 2019), won a Betty Trask Award; it was also shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Polari First Book Prize, and longlisted for the Portico Prize. In 2021, it was selected for the Kingston University Big Read and distributed to all staff and students at three universities. His second novel, Here Again Now [https://geni.us/HereAgainNow] (Dialogue Books, 2022) was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Encore Award, the Polari Prize, the Jhalak Prize and the Diverse Book Awards. He has made several appearances on national radio, and is a regular contributor to Kinfolk magazine. He is a non-executive director of ALCS and CLA, and Lecturer in Creative Writing at Lancaster University. In 2024 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Episode references:

 * Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf
 * John Milton, Paradise Lost
 * Janet Burroway (with Elizabeth and Ned Stuckey-French), Writing Fiction [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/writing-fiction-tenth-edition-a-guide-to-narrative-craft-janet-burroway/2482624?ean=9780226616698]
 * Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
 * Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/their-eyes-were-watching-god-zora-neale-hurston/161660?ean=9780349019680]
 * D.H. Lawrence, The Rainbow
 * George Eliot, Middlemarch
 * John Williams, Stoner [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/stoner-a-novel-john-williams/3261498?ean=9780099561545]

Follow the show (and Okechukwu [https://www.instagram.com/nzeluwrites/?hl=en-gb]) on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u].

Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9].

Ep. 13. Okechukwu Nzelu, Here Again Now

In this episode, we read a passage from the end of chapter 1 of Abigail Bergstrom's new novel Selfish Girls. You can buy this and her previous book What a Shame from your local bookshop or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/selfish-girls-the-searing-darkly-humourous-new-novel-from-the-much-acclaimed-author-of-what-a-shame-abigail-bergstrom/7839182?ean=9781399719483].

Abigail Bergstrom is an author and writer, she has written for national magazines and broadsheets including the Guardian, Sunday Times, the Telegraph, Grazia and ELLE, and she reviews books for the quarterly magazine, Konfek. She writes the substack newsletter ‘Something to Say,’ [https://abigailbergstrom.substack.com/] offering writing advice and cultural commentary to thousands of readers worldwide. Her debut novel What a Shame was published to critical acclaim and the screen rights were optioned by Severn Productions. Her second novel Selfish Girls publishes this summer. She is also the founder of Bergstrom Studio, a literary agency and publishing consultancy that has represented many Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling authors whose books have won literary prizes and awards. She has been listed in the ‘The Bookseller 150’ which names the industry’s most influential and she sits on the advisory board for Cheltenham Literature festival.

Episode references:

 * Faulkner, As I Lay Dying; The Bone Project
 * Melissa Febos, The Dry Season [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-dry-season-finding-pleasure-in-a-year-without-sex-melissa-febos/7850208?ean=9781837260096] and Body Work [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/body-work-the-radical-power-of-personal-narrative-melissa-febos/6496635?ean=9781526165848]; Guadalupe Nettel, Still Born [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/still-born-guadalupe-nettel/6762450?ean=9781913097660]; Vincenzo Latronico, Perfection [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/perfection-vincenzo-latronico/7688914?ean=9781804271049]; Georges Perec, Things [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/things-a-story-of-the-sixties-with-a-man-asleep-georges-perec/1090395?ean=9780099541660]

Follow the show (and Abi [https://www.instagram.com/abigailbergstrom/?hl=en]) on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u].

Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9].

Ep. 12. Abigail Bergstrom, Selfish Girls 

In this episode, we read Peter Scalpello's poem 'Performance Archive', which you can read online at Berlin Lit [https://www.berlinlit.com/performance-archive/]. You can also buy Peter's first collection Limbic from your local bookshop or at Cipher Press [https://www.cipherpress.co.uk/limbic].

Peter Scalpello is a poet and psychotherapist from Glasgow, based in London. Their work has appeared in Five Dials, Granta, The London Magazine and the New York Times, among other publications. Peter’s debut, Limbic, was Highly Commended for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Poetry, and adapted into a stage production at the University of Edinburgh. Their second book, Mirrorstage, will be published with Cipher Press in 2026.

Episode references:

 * Jacques Lacan; Paul B. Preciado; So Mayer; Nisha Ramayya; Oluwaseun Olayiwola; Isabel Waidner
 * Peter's book recs: T. Fleischmann, Time is the Thing a Body Moves Through [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/time-is-the-thing-a-body-moves-through-t-fleischmann/3319906?ean=9781566895477]; Andrew McMillan, Physical [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/physical-andrew-mcmillan/1473242?ean=9780224102131]; Nuar Alsadir, Animal Joy [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/animal-joy-a-book-of-laughter-and-resuscitation-nuar-alsadir/6879077?ean=9781913097950] and Fourth Person Singular [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/fourth-person-singular-nuar-alsadir/1276189?ean=9781786940193]; Christina Sharpe, Ordinary Notes [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ordinary-notes-christina-sharpe/7448029?ean=9781914198144]; Shon Faye, Love in Exile. [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/love-in-exile-shon-faye/7685433?ean=9780241605981]

Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u].

Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9/].

Ep. 11. Peter Scalpello, 'Performance Archive'

These book reviews will drop into the feed in between interviews. You can also find the review on the YouTube channel. Go subscribe if you haven't already!

You can buy The Emperor of Gladness at a local bookshop or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-emperor-of-gladness-ocean-vuong/7739583?ean=9781787335400].

Follow the podcast on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose].

Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u].

Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9/].

Book Review: Ocean Vuong, The Emperor of Gladness 

In this episode, we read the opening of the story 'Shut Your Mouth' from Marni Appleton's collection I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY. Buy the book from a local indie bookshop, Bookshop.org, or Indigo Press [https://theindigopress.com/product/i-hope-youre-happy/].

Marni Appleton is a writer living in London. She holds a PhD in creative and critical writing from the University of East Anglia. Her fiction has been published in literary journals such as The London Magazine, Banshee and The Tangerine. I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY is Marni’s first book, and was published by the Indigo Press in February 2025.

Find the transcript and more about the show on Substack [https://open.substack.com/pub/booksupclose/p/marni-appleton-shut-your-mouth?r=6s1le&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true]. Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose].

Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u].

Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9/].

Ep. 10. Marni Appleton, 'Shut Your Mouth'

In this episode, we read the opening passage from Gurnaik Johal's new novel Saraswati (2025). Buy the book from a local independent bookshop or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/saraswati-gurnaik-johal/6331093].

Gurnaik Johal’s short story collection, We Move, won the Somerset Maugham Award, the Tata Literature Live! Prize and the Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize in 2022. Saraswati, his first novel, is out on 12th June.

Find the transcript and more about the show on Substack [https://open.substack.com/pub/booksupclose/p/gurnaik-johal-saraswati?r=6s1le&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true]. Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose].

Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u].

Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9/].

Ep. 9. Gurnaik Johal, Saraswati

In this episode, I review Sophie Lewis' Enemy Feminisms.

These book reviews will drop into the feed in between interviews. You can also find the review on the YouTube channel. Go subscribe if you haven't already!

You can buy Enemy Feminisms from your local bookstore or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/enemy-feminisms-terfs-policewomen-and-girlbosses-against-liberation-sophie-lewis/7805991?ean=9798888902493].

Follow the podcast on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose].

Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u].

Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9/].

Book Review: Sophie Lewis, Enemy Feminisms

In this episode, we read a passage (p. 55 of the hardback) from Tawseef Khan's novel Determination (2024). Buy the book from a local independent bookshop or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/determination-tawseef-khan/7639228?ean=9781804440902].

Tawseef Khan is a qualified immigration solicitor and holds a doctoral degree from the University of Liverpool, where he examined the fairness of the British asylum system. He is also a graduate of the creative writing programme at the University of East Anglia, where he received the Seth Donaldson Memorial Bursary. His fiction has appeared in Lighthouse and Test Signal: a Northern anthology; his non-fiction in the New York Times, The Face and Hyphen. His debut non-fiction book Muslim, Actually was published by Atlantic in 2021 and his novel Determination was published in 2024. He lives in Manchester.

Find the transcript and more about the show on Substack [https://open.substack.com/pub/booksupclose/p/tawseef-khan-determination?r=6s1le&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true]. Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose].

Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u].

Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9/].

Ep. 8. Tawseef Khan, Determination 

In this episode, I review Vincenzo Latronico's Perfection (2022/5), trans. by Sophie Hughes. 

These book reviews will drop into the feed in between interviews. You can also find the review on the YouTube channel. Go subscribe if you haven't already!

You can buy Perfection from your local bookstore, Fitzcarraldo, or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/perfection-vincenzo-latronico/7688914].

Follow the podcast on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose].

Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u].

Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9/].

Book Review: Vincenzo Latronico, Perfection 

Books Up Close is a show for book lovers, language nerds, or anyone who wants to know how texts get made. Listen as writer and academic Chris Lloyd performs a 'close reading' of some writing with the author themselves.

Books Up Close: The Podcast