Bookshelfie: Women’s Prize Podcast

Author, journalist and powerlifter Poorna Bell discusses love, loss, the depiction of South India in literature and female representation in the male-dominated world of sports. Poorna Bell is an award-winning journalist, author and powerlifter(!) who writes across mental and physical wellbeing, women and diversity. Poorna has published three works of non-fiction: Chase The Rainbow, In Search of Silence and Stronger, which is part memoir, part manifesto about women's strength and fitness. In 2019 she won Stylist's Rising Star award, Red magazine's Big Book Award and secured a Sunday Times Sports Book Accolade in 2022. Her debut novel In Case of Emergency is out now. Poorna’s book choices: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Beloved by Toni Morrison My Fight, Your Fight by Ronda Rousey Luster by Raven Leilani Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season six of the Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and they continue to champion the very best books written by women. Don’t want to miss the rest of Season Six? Listen and subscribe now! This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.

Author, podcaster and multi-hyphenate Emma Gannon shares her wisdom, her books and explains why we need to reframe our definition of success. Emma Gannon is a Times bestselling author, broadcaster, speaker, novelist and host of the recently retired Ctrl Alt Delete podcast. She has been a columnist for The Times, Telegraph and Courier magazine and can now be found over on her Substack page The Hyphen. In 2018, she was selected in the Forbes 30 under 30 list in media and is an ambassador for The Princes Trust and World Literacy Foundation. Emma has published five bestselling books to date, including The Multi-Hyphen Method; Sabotage and Disconnected, and her newest book The Success Myth, which unpicks society’s often problematic definitions of success, is out next month. Emma’s book choices are:  ** The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson  ** Floor Sample by Julia Cameron ** The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan  ** Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby  ** The Way of Integrity by Martha Beck  Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season six of the Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and they continue to champion the very best books written by women. Don’t want to miss the rest of Season Six? Listen and subscribe now! This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.

Join Vick Hope as she sits down with writer Irenosen Okojie to discuss wild imaginations and magical realism in literature and if imposter syndrome comes into play when you're a judge for the Women's Prize for Fiction. Irenosen’s intoxicating debut novel, Butterfly Fish, won the 2016 Betty Trask Award, and her highly acclaimed short story collections, Speak Gigantular and Nudibranch have both been nominated for countless awards and received praise from Bernardine Evaristo and Margaret Atwood to name just a couple. In 2021 she was awarded an MBE For Services To Literature. Irenosen is also a judge for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction, and has previously judged the Women’s Prize Discoveries programme for new writers. Irenosen’s book choices are:  ** Jazz by Toni Morrison  ** Black Vodka by Deborah Levy  ** At the Bottom of The River by Jamaica Kincaid  **  I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell  ** The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season six of the Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and they continue to champion the very best books written by women. Don’t want to miss the rest of Season Six? Listen and subscribe now! This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.

Mary Portas discusses books, poetry, her connection to nature and tells us what we can all do to help protect our planet and build our communities. Mary is one of the UK's most well-known and innovative people in business.She made her name turning Harvey Nichols into a global fashion destination, by the age of just 30 she was on the board of directors. At 37, she left corporate life to launch Portas, her own creative company, with the mission to turn businesses into brands, places and spaces people want in their lives. She has been a regular on our TV screens, advised the government on the future of high streets and developed a fashion label. She is the author of Shop Girl, Work Like a Woman and most recently Rebuild: How to thrive in the new Kindness Economy. Mary’s book choices are:  ** Angel by Elizabeth Taylor  ** The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs ** The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy **  Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver ** The Pocket by Pema Chodron Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season six of the Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and they continue to champion the very best books written by women. Don’t want to miss the rest of Season Six? Listen and subscribe now! This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.

Dancer Motsi Mabuse kicks off season six with all the glamour, energy and determination you’d expect from a Strictly judge but she also shares the books that have helped her manifest the life she enjoys today. Mosti Mabuse is a world-class professional dancer and has been bringing fun to the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom as a Judge since 2019. Originally from South Africa, Motsi started dancing at a young age. She studied Law at university, until she decided to dedicate her life to dance and moved to Germany.  She won the South African Latin American title eight times. In 2013 she became the German Latin dance champion with her now-husband whom she also runs a dance school with. Her book Finding My Own Rhythm documents the ups and downs, romances and heartbreaks, the obstacles and adversity, and the long hours that have led her to her success. Motsi’s book choices are:  ** Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert  ** The Secret by Rhonda Byrne ** You Got Anything Stronger by Gabrielle Union **  Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes ** Untamed by Glennon Doyle Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season six of the Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and they continue to champion the very best books written by women. Don’t want to miss the rest of season six? Listen and subscribe now! This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.

Actor Ophelia Lovibond shares the moment - aged 10 - when she knew she was going to be an actor, and which book inspired her to make the decision. Ophelia began honing her skills in a youth theatre club at the age of ten. Since then she has been working for over two decades, taking a variety of roles, including Apple’s Trying, BBC’s Roadkill, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, CBS’s Elementary, and recently This England - a series about British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in which she plays his wife, Carrie Johnson. Her latest role Minx sees her front and centre as the exuberant young feminist Joyce Prigger, who seeks to dismantle the rigid gender norms of the 1970s by creating the first erotic magazine for women. Ophelia’s book choices are:  ** Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston  ** Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion ** To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf **  Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell   ** Song by Christina Rossetti Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season five of the Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and they continue to champion the very best books written by women. Don’t want to miss the rest of Season Five? Listen and subscribe now! This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.

Labour MP Lisa Nandy gives her advice on how we can all stay hopeful and keep progressing even in dark political times. Lisa was first elected as the Labour MP for Wigan in 2010. During her time in Parliament, she has served on the front bench in a number of roles and is currently serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. She is also the co-founder of the think tank Centre for Towns which was set up to ensure priority is given to the viability and prosperity of Britain’s towns. Before entering Parliament, Lisa worked for the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint and The Children’s Society. She has also written a book -  All In: How We Build a Country That Works . Lisa’s book choices are:  ** Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell  ** The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman ** Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ** GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History by Diane Coyle  ** The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season five of the Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and they continue to champion the very best books written by women. Don’t want to miss the rest of Season Five? Listen and subscribe now! This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.

Author and Women’s Prize founder director Kate Mosse reveals the books that have shaped her and also makes an exciting announcement: the intention to launch a new annual book prize, the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction. Kate is the author of ten novels and short story collections, her books have sold more than 8 million copies worldwide and her fiction has been translated into 38 languages. She has also written four works of non-fiction including the critically acclaimed memoir An Extra Pair of Hands and four plays. A ceaseless champion of women’s creativity, Kate is of course also the Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the recently announced Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction. Kate’s latest book Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries, looks at the achievements of 1,000 unsung women in history, and she is kicking off her one-woman theatre tour on February 28th.  Kate’s book choices are:  ** The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison ** Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ** Diving Into the Wreck by Adrienne Rich ** Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie ** This is Not a Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan  Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season five of the Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and they continue to champion the very best books written by women. Don’t want to miss the rest of Season Five? Listen and subscribe now! This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.

Gillian Anderson is an award-winning film, television and theatre actor, producer, activist and author who rose to international fame playing FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in The X-Files. She has had countless notable roles - from Lady Dedlock in Bleak House, Margaret Thatcher in The Crown to DSU Stella Gibson in the BBC crime series The Fall,  sex therapist Jean Milburn in Sex Education and most recently Mrs Marquis in Netflix’s gothic-horror film The Pale Blue Eye with Christian Bale. Her extensive acting accolades include an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe, plus in 2016 Anderson was appointed an honorary OBE. She’s just become a War Child ambassador and has also recently launched her own Curio podcast “What Do I Know?!”.  Her new project, Dear Gillian - inspired by one of her book choices - is inviting letters from all women to reveal their secret fantasies, and be a part of an inclusive, intersectional new book on what it means to be a woman in the twenty first century. Head to www.deargillian.com to submit yours! Gillian’s book choices are:  ** My Secret Garden by Nancy Friday ** Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason ** Three Women by Lisa Taddeo ** Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid ** The Salt Path by Raynor Winn Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season five of the Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and they continue to champion the very best books written by women. Don’t want to miss the rest of Season Five? Listen and subscribe now! This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.

Broadcaster Cherry Healey brings in books that spark discussions on the perimenopause, divorce, sibling bonds, feminism and the art of manifesting.  Cherry Healey started her onscreen career as a presenter for numerous lifestyle documentaries for BBC Three focusing on her own life - Cherry Gets Married, Cherry Has a Baby and Cherry Gets Pierced, to name just a few.  She now presents Inside the Factory and 10 Years Younger in 10 Days. In 2022 Cherry launched a series with Channel 5, Women’s Health Uncovered, which explored the ‘secrets and taboos’ surrounding women’s bodies.  Cherry’s book choices are:  ** Three Sisters by Heather Morris ** We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ** Glennon Doyle by Untamed ** Hormone Repair Manual by Lara Briden ** The Law of Attraction by Esther Hicks Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season five of the Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and they continue to champion the very best books written by women. Don’t want to miss the rest of Season Five? Listen and subscribe now! This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.