Inklings Book Club

Welcome to our special Inklings Book Club series spotlighting each of the Women's Prize for Fiction shortlisted authors. First up, we’re meeting Rozie Kelly, author of Kingfisher. This is her debut novel, about an academic married to a man who becomes infatuated with a female poet. Kelly finds beauty in the messiness of being human in this meditation on grief, power, desire, our search for identity, how we love and the consequences when we fall short.

Rozie Kelly was shortlisted for the PFD Queer Fiction Prize 2023 and was one of the eight participants in the inaugural Prototype Development Programme 2024. Her debut novel Kingfisher won the NorthBound Book Award before being shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2026.
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Today we’re joined by Anders Lustgarten whose new book Kill Billionaire follows a wise beyond her years 14 year old girl from rural Australia called Kayla, who starts taking down billionaires. I was so intrigued to ask Anders about crafting this character, and his outlook on the world.

He is a talented playwright – with 12 original plays under his belt. Now he’s turning his pen to novel writing – and he’s here to tell us all about it. 

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Greg James has been a presenter for BBC Radio 1 since 2007 where he now host the coveted breakfast show. He is also a children’s author, known for the Kid Normal series he writes with Chris Smith, and now his memoir is here. It’s called All The Best For The Future, and it’s a meditation on life and all its trimmings.

My first ever job was at a plastic factory, and when I worked there I used to always listen to Radio 1 and my favourite radio DJ, Greg James. Listening to how he hosted his show made me want to be in this world, so today this is very full circle moment for me to be introducing Greg to the Inklings Book Club podcast.
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This month we have been reading Nova Scotia House by Charlie Porter. I totally fell in love with this book which follows a gay couple called Johnny and Jerry in the 90s, as Jerry lives his final days. He is a victim of the AIDS crisis, and this book is both a celebration of his life. We continue to follow Johnny in the present day after Jerry has passed, with a few appearances from Gareth, Jerry’s best friend. We see what Jerry’s life could have been like if he had survived, like Gareth, and what his life could’ve been like if we was born a generation later, like Johnny. It’s moving and it’s so heartfelt, but also experimental in its writing style. For me, this book was a total triumph, I utterly adored it and I’m thrilled to be talking to Charlie Porter, its author today.

Charlie is also a fashion journalist and the author of two non-fictioj title. His book Bring No Clothes explores the clothing choices of the Bloomsbury Group from a philosophical perspective, while What Artists Wear examines the clothes of various artists.

Nova Scotia House is his debut novel, so please welcome to the Inklings Book Club, Charlie Porter!
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Today we’re joined by poet, lecturer, and literary critic Seán Hewitt. Seán is the author of three original poetry collections, a memoir, and several curations of other poets’ work, from wood engravings to tales of love from the ancient world. His debut novel, Open, Heaven, was published last year and I utterly adored it. A man returns to the small village in which he first fell in love, which summons up memories of the charismatic and impulsive Luke. There’s gorgeous nature writing, and plenty of yearning, but also that perfect literary alchemy that happens when a poet writes a novel.

I interviewed Seán at Waterstones with a bunch of you wonderful people – so, here’s what happened.

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