The Fitzcarraldo Editions Archive: Polly Barton In Conversation With Rachael Allen

Munir Hachemi, author of Living Things and The Mulai, speaks to Ned Beauman, author of Venomous Lumpsucker and Spiller Saves the Day, forthcoming in 2027. Their discussion touches on productive misunderstandings, the boundaries of language and writing fanfiction.

Holly Pester, poet and author of Cafés, The Lodgers and Comic Timing, speaks to Rebecca May Johnson, author of Small Fires: An Epic in the Kitchen. Their discussion touches on the romantic, radical ideal of the café, the conflicting rhythms of the body and work, and the right to leisure and the right to dream.

Jeremy Cooper, author of Discord, Brian, Bolt from the Blue and Ash Before Oak, speaks to Gareth Evans, writer, editor and film/event producer, about his writing to date. The conversation touches on his trajectory from the art world into writing, how our relationships with others underpin creativity, and the correspondence between art and feeling. Recorded at Young Space in February 2026. Edited by Frankie Wells. Music composed by Kwes Darko.

Joanna Pocock, author of Surrender and Greyhound, speaks to Samantha Walton, academic and author of Everybody Needs Beauty: In Search of the Nature Cure, about her writing to date. The conversation touches on resistance to nostalgia in nature writing, mapping internal journeys onto landscape and the invention of ‘wilderness’ in American literature.

Thea Lenarduzzi, author of Dandelions and The Tower, speaks to Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women and A Woman’s Work (forthcoming in 2026). The conversation touches on the imaginative resonances of fairy tales, storytelling in the pub, and the generative possibilities of not-knowing. Recorded at Young Space in August 2025. Editing by Frankie Wells. Music by Kwes Darko.