Polly Barton on writing about knotty linguistic concepts and loving language (Archive Re-Release)

Let’s dust off the archives and celebrate some of the guests we’ve had on the Rippling Pages. This is a re-release of a previous episode with Polly Barton. Over the years, we’ve been proud to feature emergent writers on the Rippling Pages and speak to them in the early stages of their careers. One of those writers is Polly Barton, who’s just released her debut novel, WHAT AM I, A DEER? with Fitzcarraldo Editions. I spoke to Polly five years ago about her Fitzcarraldo Essay Prize winning, FIFTY SOUNDS.  Polly is a writer and translator from Japanese. Translations include Butter by Asako Yuzuki, Hunchback by Saul Ichikawa, and Where the Where the Wild Ladies Are by Akko Matsuda. Her essay, Porn: An Oral History was also published by Fitzcarraldo Editons.  In our conversation, we picked out knotty debates about language, her time in Japan, and what it means to love and love in language Enjoy! If you fancy hearing another Fitzcarraldo essayist, why not buy tickets for my event with Alice Hattrick at Leeds Lit Fest: https://www.leedslitfest.co.uk/events/alice-hattrick-fancy-work/ Get exclusive subscriber benefits from the Rippling Pages.  https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medi Check out the Rippling Pages Bookshop and buy all the books featured on the Rippling Pages: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages  Chapters 3.00 - What are the Fifty Sounds 5.40 - what is the philosophy behind the bok 10.00 - Wittgenstein 14.30 - Embarrasment, error and comedy 16.15 - Binaries 20.15 - Outsiders and immersion 21.45 - Language games 24.14 - Structuring the book 28.00 - Japan as a man 31.45 - Loving language and people Reference Points Ludwig Wittgenstein