Borders and Speculative Fiction

Send us a MessageProphet Song by Paul Lynch is available for purchase here, at your local independent bookstore, or check out your local library. It won the Booker Prize in 2023. (Read an article by Gillian about the Booker Prize.) Booker Prize chair Esi Edugyan described it as "claustrophobic"; Lynch called it "an attempt at radical empathy."We mentioned Métis author Cherie Dimaline's novels The Marrow Thieves (2017) and Hunting by Stars (2021).We referred to the Indian Residential School system in Canada. Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their communities, and separated from their families, communities, and cultures in favour of a colonial "education." The 2015  Final Report of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission described this as cultural genocide. Read the Final Report and the Calls to Action.The westernmost point of Europe is Cape Roca, Portugal.The surge of applications for Irish citizenship after Brexit. The attempt to introduce mandatory military service in the UK under Rishi Sunak. The border-crossing powers of The Sound of Music (1965) had a lasting impact on both Gillian and Zalfa.Refugee Council resource on the "small boats" issue exercising UK politics.Gillian briefly channels Sophia in The Golden Girls.The Peace Arch.Prophet Song is about families in a time of crisis. In the real world, please consider donating to Watermelon Relief, All Our Relations, or Beit El Baraka.The material in this podcast is for informational purposes only. The personal views expressed by the hosts and their guests on the Borders Talk podcast do not constitute an endorsement from associated organisations.Thanks to the School of Arts, Media and Communication at the University of Leicester for the use of recording equipment, and to the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies at the University of Nottingham for financial support.Music: “Corrupted” by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.comEdited by Steve Woodward at podcastingeditor.com