31: Louise Kennedy, Penelope Shuttle, Denise Levertov

Send us Fan MailThis morning's show features  interviews with two outstanding writers. First up is Louise Kennedy whose collection of stories The End of the World is a Cul de Sac has been widely praised. 'A dazzling, heartbreaking debut collection' said the Guardian while the Sunday Times said that 'Kennedy's voice, and her unforgiving gaze, are electric'. Our Toaster Challenge guest is the fine poet Penelope Shuttle whose new collection, Lyonesse, is published this month by Bloodaxe. The submerged land of Lyonesse was once part of Cornwall, according to myth and the oral tradition, standing for a lost paradise in Arthurian legend, but for this poet, who has lived all her adult life in Cornwall, it's now an emblem of human frailty. Her Toaster Challenge choice is Denise Levertov's still available Collected Earlier Poems 1940-1960.Intro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomaire, ‘Thou Shalt Not Carry’ from The Hare’s Corner, 2008, with thanks to Colm for permission to use it.Other music: 'Undertow' and 'Wanderlust' by Scott Buckley | https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckleyMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Alone, Purple Planet Music, https://www.purple-planet.com/Artwork by Freya SirrTo subscribe to Books for Breakfast go to your podcast provider of choice (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google etc) and search for the podcast then hit subscribe or follow, or simply click the appropriate button above. Support the show