Lit with Charles

Mairi Kidd, author of "Poor Creatures"

Lit with Charles

Show Notes

As we approach Halloween, I figured it was time to get a little gothic on the Lit With Charles podcast. My guest today is writer and literary champion Mairi Kidd, whose new novel Poor Creatures imagines the world of Mary Shelley before she wrote Frankenstein - the people around her, the ideas she was grappling with, and the forces that shaped one of the most enduring stories in literature. Our conversation ranges from the radical literary circles of the early 19th century to the power of Scottish folklore and those places where the veil between worlds feels thin. It was such a pleasure to speak with Mairi, and learn a little bit more about a fascinating writer’s history. Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at @litwithcharles. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

Mairi Kidd’s four books were: Possession, A. S. Byatt (1990)

The Owl Service, Alan Garner (1967)

Sunset Song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon (1932) The Sea Road, Margaret Elphinstone (2000)

More from Lit with Charles

Oct 19, 2026

Religion, artificial intelligence and a particularly terrifying lunch date are on the menu this week. Liv has been reading Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, while Charles tackles Pope Leo XIV’s thoughts on AI and the relationship between humanity and technology.

Oct 12, 2026

Marguerite Duras and Philip K. Dick make for an unlikely pairing this week, as Charles and Liv compare notes on The Lover and A Scanner Darkly. Then, things get stranger with a trip through the extraordinary life of Victor Hugo – a man whose habits involved live bats, raw lobsters and some deeply questionable party tricks.

Oct 5, 2026

This week, Charles and Liv discuss Gisèle Pelicot’s harrowing memoir A Hymn to Life and Alan Bennett’s brilliantly subtle Talking Heads.

Sep 28, 2026

This week, Charles and Liv discuss Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House and Kamel Daoud’s controversial novel Houris, exploring the Algerian Civil War and the strange story surrounding the book.

Sep 21, 2026

This week, Charles and Liv discuss Ian Fleming’s For Your Eyes Only, Clarice Lispector’s strange and brilliant The Hour of the Star, and why some books are better read like poetry. They also uncover John Steinbeck’s unpublished werewolf novel and debate whether authors’ work should ever be published against their wishes. Plus, they answer a listener question: what would you change about contemporary book culture? From endless “best books” lists to the pressure to read 100 books a year, Charles and Liv have a few complaints.

See all episodes →