Sunday 16:00-16:30, repeated Thursday 16:00-16:30, except first Sunday in the month when it is replaced by Book Club.
Open Book spotlights new fiction and non-fiction, picks out the best of the paperbacks, talks to authors and publishers, and unearths lost masterpieces.
This week
Sunday 20th May 2007
Owen Sheers on what might have happened in a Welsh valley had the Germans invaded in 1944, and why American book critics are worried.
Owen Sheers
The acclaimed poet Owen Sheers has written his first novel. Inspired by true stories he heard growing up in Wales, Resistance is a counter-factual version of history, set in a Welsh valley deserted by its menfolk who have left to fight an invading German army in 1944.
Resistance - Owen Sheers Publisher: Faber and Faber
Skirrid Hill - Owen Sheers Publisher: Seren Books
The Dust Diaries - Owen Sheers Publisher: Faber and Faber
The Blue Book - Owen Sheers Publisher: Seren Books
World Building in Science Fiction
Earlier this year on Open Book, historical novelist Tracy Chevalier admitted that she was in awe of science fiction writers who have to create a new world from scratch. Mariella Frostrup is joined by one such writer, Justina Robson and one of the judges of this year's Arthur C Clarke Awards Graham Sleight to discuss approaches to inventing a whole new universe.
Selling Out: Quantum Gravity Book Two – Justina Robson Publisher: Gollancz (17 May 2007)
Keeping It Real – Justina Robson Publisher: Gollancz
Natural History – Justina Robson Publisher: Pan
Mappa Mundi - Justina Robson Publisher: Tor
Living Next-Door to the God of Love Publisher: Tor
American Book Critics
American literary critics have launched a campaign to save book reviews, as many newpapers in the US are cutting the number of pages devoted to them. John Freeman, President of the National Book Critics Circle talks to Mariella about the critics' concerns.
Blurbs
Kate Lyall Grant from Simon and Schuster and Katy Follain from Penguin reveal the secrets of writing seductive paragraphs for the back of book jackets which will succeed in enticing the casual browser to buy
The Ice Trap – Kitty Sewell Publisher: Pocket Books
My Life with George: Surviving Life with the King of the Canines – Judith Summers Publisher: Michael Joseph Ltd (7 August 2007)
Gangs – Ross Kemp Publisher: Penguin
A Jarful of Angels - Babs Horton Publisher: Pocket Books (31 May 2007)
