PODCAST · arts
The Literary Salon
by Damian Barr
From the freshest debuts to the biggest bestsellers, this is where the world’s best writers read for the first time from their latest greatest books and share their own personal stories. Recent world premieres include ‘Hamnet’, ‘Again, Rachel’ and ‘Shuggie Bain’. Enjoy our Book of the Week strand (formerly named Salon Exclusives), where each bite-size episode offers an exclusive taster of a new book. Or relax into an in-depth interview with one of your very favourite writers. Warm your heart with Armstead Maupin. Or hang on every word with Yaa Gyasi. Hosted by writer and broadcaster, Damian Barr, and handpicked Guest Hosts, the Literary Salon live events and recordings celebrate storytelling and invite you to be part of it. Produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman. Programmed by Matt Casbourne.
Episodes
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A special announcement: it's The End...
Our dearest podcast listeners - we have a special, important message for you from our founder Damian Barr, as we say a very fond but sad farewell to the Literary Salon... Some of you have come along in person or online or listened to our podcast for years. Thank you for being there—readers bring…
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: The Orchid Hour by Nancy Bilyeau
Before the summer is out we wanted to share a page-turning holiday read on the podcast. The Orchid Hour takes us back to New York City, 1923, when Zia De Luca’s life is about to be shattered. She lives with her in-laws in Little Italy and works at the public library, but when an unassuming patron...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: At the Edge of the Woods by Kathryn Bromwich
Our Book of the Week is a spellbinding debut novel by writer and commissioning editor on The Observer newspaper, Kathryn Bromwich. In At the Edge of the Woods, Laura lives alone in a cabin deep in the Italian Alps. When she isn’t translating documents, she spends her days climbing the mountains...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: The Funny Thing About Death by Jo Caulfield
Our Book of the Week will have you laughing and crying in equal measure! Stand-up comedian Jo Caulfield’s hilarious memoir, The Funny Thing About Death, is about two unconventional girls growing up in the 1970s. Six years ago, Jo was about to go on stage when she found out that her big sister…
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: A Country of Eternal Light by Paul Dalgarno
This week we’re joined by Paul Dalgarno reading from his thoughtful, existential novel, A Country of Eternal Light. Margaret Bryce has been having a hard time since dying in 2014. In a liminal place, we join Margaret as she revisits her life, from her Aberdeen prefab childhood to the birth of her...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: The Stirrings: A Memoir in Northern Time by Catherine Taylor
In this week's episode, Catherine Taylor reads from her new book The Stirrings: A Memoir in Northern Time, a story about coming of age in the north of England during the 1970s and 80s. Historical events were happening all around her: from the pursuit and capture of the Yorkshire Ripper, to the...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Tiger Work by Ben Okri
In this week’s episode, Booker award-winning author Ben Okri combines fiction, essay and poetry in Tiger Work. This incredible collection, inspired by environmental activism, displays his classic blend of storytelling, fantasy and magic in tales that imagine messages sent to us from beyond the…
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan
From the Booker longlisted author, and an Irish Times No.1 bestseller - Donal Ryan’s The Queen of Dirt Island is a searing, jubilant novel about four generations of women and the stories that bind them. On a council estate in County Tipperary, Ireland, the Aylward women stick with each other...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: The Fascination by Essie Fox
Our next guest on the podcast is Essie Fox, reading from her instant Sunday Times bestseller, The Fascination. It’s a Victorian story about the estranged grandson of a wealthy collector of human curiosities, who becomes fascinated with teenage twin sisters, leading them into a web of dark...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Kala by Colin Walsh
We’ve got a literary thriller in store for you this week! In the seaside town of Kinlough, Ireland, three old friends are thrown together for the first time since the disappearance of their friend Kala... Fifteen years later Helen has reluctantly returned for her father's wedding; Joe is a...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior
Deep in Brazil's neglected Bahia hinterland, two sisters find an ancient knife beneath their grandmother's bed and, momentarily mystified by its power, decide to taste its metal. The tragedy that follows marks their lives and binds them together forever... Heralded as a new masterpiece and the…
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Miriam Margolyes in conversation with Damian Barr, at the Literary Salon
Award-winning actor and creator of a myriad of unforgettable characters from Lady Whiteadder to Gertrude Stein, Miriam truly is a national treasure - and possibly our very favourite lesbian. She made us wait a long time for her extraordinary life story, and it's far richer and stranger than any...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Black Girl, No Magic by Kimberly McIntosh
Smart, accessible, thoughtful, entertaining and frank: our Book of the Week is Black Girl, No Magic by Kimberly McIntosh. Informed by years of social policy research and campaign work, as well as her own personal experiences, this debut essay collection investigates the intersection of race and...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Hokey Pokey by Kate Mascarenhas
A grand hotel, a famous opera star and a psychoanalyst with a hidden agenda. Our Book of the Week offers a glamorous, thrilling ride through murder, madness and the darkest recesses of the mind, set at Birmingham’s Regent Hotel in 1929, where guests sip absinthe cocktails on velvet banquettes and...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: And Then He Sang A Lullaby by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu
We’re thrilled to bring you a reading from And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu. This is the inaugural title from a new publisher on the scene: Roxane Gay Books, an imprint of Grove Atlantic. Roxane Gay is of course the bestselling author of Bad Feminist and her press will publish...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: There's Been A Little Incident by Alice Ryan
This week we’re bringing you a brilliant, poignant and darkly comic novel by Irish author Alice Ryan. Molly Black has been running away since her parents died. But this time, or so says her note, she's gone for good... There's Been a Little Incident is an award-winning debut novel about grief,...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Boyslut: A Memoir and Manifesto by Zachary Zane
It’s time for some sex positivity! This week we’ve invited sex and relationship columnist Zachary Zane to read to you from his painfully funny memoir, Boyslut: A Memoir and Manifesto. The New York based author bares all in this memoir-manifesto, exploring how, even today, we live in a world that...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Broken Light by Joanne Harris
We’ve got another page-turner on the podcast this week, this time by internationally bestselling author Joanne Harris! In Broken Light, Bernie Moon has given her life to other people: her husband, her son, her friends. At nineteen she was full of dreams and ambitions; now almost fifty, and going...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Eyes Guts Throat Bones by Moïra Fowley
Prepare to be dazzled by our Book of the Week, Eyes Guts Throat Bones, an anthology of macabre tales at the end of civilisation. Moïra Fowley's spellbinding imagination will captivate your senses in an irresistible collection that explores our darkest impulses and deepest fears, interlaced with...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Nothing Left to Fear from Hell by Alan Warner
We’re delighted to bring you a new instalment of The Darkland Tales! In this series, leading Scottish authors offer dramatic retellings of stories from their nation's history, myth and legend. Last season we brought you Hex by Jenni Fagan. This season we’re spotlighting Nothing Left to Fear From...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Arthur and Teddy Are Coming Out
Make room in your heart for our book of the week! Arthur and Teddy Are Coming Out by Ryan Love is the feel-good book you need to read right now. When 79-year-old Arthur comes out to his family the announcement is met with mixed feelings and leads his grandson Teddy to reconsider sharing his own...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: The Bequest by Joanna Margaret
This week we’re bringing you a gripping literary thriller set in the world of dark academia, for fans of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and Katy Hays The Cloisters. In Joanna Margaret’s debut novel The Bequest, PhD student Isabel Henley arrives to study at St Andrew’s University but when her...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Shy by Max Porter
We’re beyond thrilled to welcome Max Porter onto the podcast to read from his highly anticipated and acclaimed new novel, Shy! Max is the bestselling author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers and Lanny. His latest story is about adolescent rage, struggles with mental health, imagination and...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link
This week’s episode is especially for fans of folklore and readers of marvellous myths. White Cat, Black Dog contains seven modern fairytales from Pulitzer Prize finalist Kelly Link, featuring illustrations by award-winning artist Shaun Tan. Each is inspired by a classic fable retold with a…
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Three Gifts by Mark A. Radcliffe
If you could save the life of a loved one by trading in years of your own life, how many years would you give? How many lives could you save? Would you know when to stop? Francis Broad has negotiated the day of his death and now he must come to terms with the decisions he has made. Three Gifts by...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah
We love platforming talented new voices on the podcast and this week we're thrilled to be joined by debut author Krystle Zara Appiah, as she reads from her new book, Rootless. When an unplanned pregnancy forces Efe and Sam to confront their differences, they’ll discover if what they really want…
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JOJO MOYES SPECIAL: in conversation about Someone Else's Shoes
Welcome to this special episode sharing a conversation between Jojo Moyes and Alex Clark about Jojo's new novel, 'Someone Else’s Shoes'! Jojo's novels have sold over 51 million copies worldwide, hit the Number One spot in 12 countries, have been translated into 46 languages and one of her...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry
We’re delighted to welcome award-winning author Sebastian Barry to the podcast, reading from his new novel Old God’s Time. Recently retired policeman Tom Kettle is settling into the quiet of his new home, but when two former colleagues turn up at his door with questions about a decades-old case,...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: In Ordinary Time by Carmel McMahon
If you love literary memoir by newly discovered Irish authors then have we got the book for you! Carmel Mc Mahon’s In Ordinary Time is a revelation - a multi-layered exploration of memory, grief and addiction that mines the ways that trauma reverberates through time. From tragically lost siblings...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore
Publicist to the stars, Georgina Moore, is our beloved guest of the week. Her debut novel The Garnett Girls is the most talked about book of 2023, and trust us when we say: believe the hype! The charismatic Margo is matriarch of the Garnett girls: Rachel, Imogen and Sasha, her three daughters who...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes
It’s our 250th episode! My how time flies when you’re enjoying phenomenal books. Since it’s a very special episode, we have a very special guest to celebrate with us - the one and only internationally bestselling Jojo Moyes! We couldn't be more thrilled to have Jojo join us with a wonderful…
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Getting Better by Michael Rosen
We welcome national treasure Michael Rosen onto the podcast this week to share some beautiful, witty and thoughtful reflections from his new memoir, Getting Better. Exploring the roles that trauma and grief have played in his own life, Michael investigates the road to recovery, asking how we can...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson
We’re back with another episode of the podcast featuring the bestselling literary thriller, Mouth to Mouth, selected as a Best Book of the Year many times over by Vogue, Esquire and even Barack Obama. Alone on the beach, Jeff spots a drowning man in the rough surf. He rescues and resuscitates…
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer
We’re back with our first episode of the new season and we’re starting off with a bang! Debut novel River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer is a deeply affecting work of historical fiction that will transport you to the slave plantations of Barbados in 1834. Mary Grace, Micah, Thomas Augustus…
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‘Marple’ Special: Kate Mosse, Lucy Foley & Ella Berthoud join Damian Barr For A Night of Marple!
'Marple: Twelve New Stories' is a brand-new collection of original tales penned by some of the world’s bestselling female writers. Each story takes inspiration from Agatha Christie’s classic originals to feature a new mystery for Miss Marple to solve. As ever, she knows more than she appears to....
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Cells by Gavin McCrea
It’s our final Book of the Week episode of the season before we take a little break and return next year with more undiscovered gems. But before we go, we want to bring your attention to an incredibly powerful memoir by critically acclaimed author Gavin McCrea, entitled Cells: Memories for My...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner
An eccentric tinkerer for a father and a cross-dressing woman who can read the language of clouds; The Weather Woman is spellbinding historical fiction with a love story at its heart. We’re delighted to welcome award-winning author Sally Gardner to the podcast for this reading from her immersive...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
We have not one but two bestselling authors joining us this week on the podcast, with readings from their new book Mad Honey. Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan have teamed up in a beautiful collaboration to produce a gripping novel that is at once a murder mystery and a court room drama,...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Carrie Kills A Man by Carrie Marshall
Our Book of the Week is a whip smart and thoughtful memoir by Carrie Marshall. Carrie Kills A Man is about growing up in a world that doesn’t want you, and about how it feels to throw a hand grenade into what appears to everyone else to be a perfect middle-class life. It’s the story of how a...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: The Marmalade Diaries
Our book of the week is a fantastic memoir packed full of wit, warmth and candour. The Marmalade Diaries follows 30-something Ben Aitken as he rents a room from formidable 85-year old Winnie at the start of the very first UK coronavirus lockdown. Their lives interweave, forming an unlikely...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Difference is Born on the Lips by Michael Handrick
This week’s episode is a meditation on sexuality, mental health and abusive relationships. In this probing and intimate book that combines memoir with social history, Michael Handrick unpicks the narratives and societal expectations of what it means to be a man, working class and gay. Beautifully...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Jackdaw by Tade Thompson
A psychologically dark and graphic novel haunted by the spectre of Francis Bacon. This week’s episode could not be any spookier. We’re welcoming Tade Thompson onto the show to read from his new novel Jackdaw. In the book, a psychiatrist hired to write a short piece on Francis Bacon becomes…
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Alan Cumming Book Week Scotland Salon Special! November 2021
Relive this very special night of stories and poetry at our special Salon celebrating three of Scotland’s most exciting voices: Len Pennie, Courtney Stoddart and Alan Cumming! Len is a champion for Scots and isnae feart! Her poems have been enjoyed by millions online and she appeared with Damian…
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: I Am Not Raymond Wallace by Sam Kenyon
There’s nothing we like more than to highlight the exceptional talents of our queer literary community, so it’s our pleasure to bring you Am Not Raymond Wallace by debut author Sam Kenyon. Manhattan, 1963: Raymond lands in the New York Times newsroom on a three-month bursary from Cambridge...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: One For Sorrow, Two For Joy by Marie-Claire Amuah
Our Book of the Week is a dazzling debut novel you need to add to your TBRs. Brimming with compassion, One for Sorrow, Two for Joy by Marie-Claire Amuah is a sensitive portrayal of the consequences of domestic violence and a defiant story of friendship, resilience and hope. 'Intense and beautiful...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: New Skin for the Old Ceremony by Arun Sood
Our Book of the Week is by a debut author and an independent press - our favourite mash-up! New Skin for the Old Ceremony is a novel by Scottish-Indian author Arun Sood that tells the story of four estranged friends, reunited for a motorcycle trip up the Isle of Skye. They hope to reconcile how...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: Boy Friends by Michael Pedersen
Our Book of the Week is an exceptional meditation on masculinity, male friendship and grief. Poet and author Michael Pedersen lost a cherished friend, Scott Hutchison, soon after their voyage across the Scottish Highlands. Just weeks later, Michael began to write to him. As he confronts the...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: The Foghorn Echoes by Danny Ramadan
We’ve got a brilliantly evocative book for your listening pleasure on this week’s episode. The Foghorn Echoes is by Danny Ramadan, an award-winning Canadian-Syrian author and advocate for LGBTQ+ refugees. Danny’s new novel is about two gay men who find themselves in war-torn Damascus and an...
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
We love to treat our listeners to the most sought after books and in a podcast world premiere we’re celebrating the launch of Maggie O’Farrell’s hotly anticipated, soon to be chart-smashing historical novel, The Marriage Portrait. That's right, this is the first podcast in the WORLD where you can...
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SALON EXCLUSIVE: Bobby Palmer reads from 'Isaac and the Egg'
If you’re in the market for something a little unusual and totally brilliant then let us introduce you to Bobby Palmer’s wholly original debut novel Isaac and the Egg. A man who has lost everything finds a reason to keep going when he discovers a two-foot-tall egg of unknown origin in a forest....
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
From the freshest debuts to the biggest bestsellers, this is where the world’s best writers read for the first time from their latest greatest books and share their own personal stories. Recent world premieres include ‘Hamnet’, ‘Again, Rachel’ and ‘Shuggie Bain’.
Enjoy our Book of the Week strand (formerly named Salon Exclusives), where each bite-size episode offers an exclusive taster of a new book. Or relax into an in-depth interview with one of your very favourite writers. Warm your heart with Armstead Maupin. Or hang on every word with Yaa Gyasi.
Hosted by writer and broadcaster, Damian Barr, and handpicked Guest Hosts, the Literary Salon live events and recordings celebrate storytelling and invite you to be part of it.
Produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman. Programmed by Matt Casbourne.
HOSTED BY
Damian Barr
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Literary Salon have?
The Literary Salon currently has 280 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Literary Salon about?
From the freshest debuts to the biggest bestsellers, this is where the world’s best writers read for the first time from their latest greatest books and share their own personal stories. Recent world premieres include ‘Hamnet’, ‘Again, Rachel’ and ‘Shuggie Bain’. Enjoy our Book of the Week strand...
How often does The Literary Salon release new episodes?
The Literary Salon publishes regularly with 280 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to The Literary Salon?
You can listen to The Literary Salon on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Literary Salon?
The Literary Salon is created and hosted by Damian Barr.
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