The Influx Press Podcast: Recent Episodes
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Books and Publishing podcasts from award winning, London-based independent publishing house, Influx Press
Author Iphgenia Baal reads her story Pain In The Neck, which is from her caustic and brilliant 2021 collection Man Hating Psycho.
The Influx Press Podcast returns for a new series: 'What we talk about'.
Jacques Testard, publisher at Fitzcarraldo Editions and Ellie Steel from Harvill Secker join Gary and Kit to discuss all things translation.
Dorothy Koomson reads the opening from her newest novel, 'All My Lies Are True', in one continuous take.
Luan Goldie reads the first chapter to her new novel, 'Homecoming' in one, uninterrupted go. Chapter one is called 'Coffee Shop'.
Eliza Clark talks to Julia Armfield (author of Salt Slow) about her debut novel BOY PARTS, her obsession with extreme cinema, anti-heroines and much more. This audio was taken from an Instagram Live video broadcast of the conversation.
Wayne Holloway talks to Kit Caless about the great Croatian novelist Daša Drndić and her influence on his current work in progress, 'Our Struggle'.
Yvonne Battle-Felton reads from her new piece of work 'Curdle Creek' in one, uninterrupted go.
Eley Williams talks to Kit Caless about the short story specialist and Edwardian satirist, Saki, his influence on her work and playful use of language.
We talk about the publishing ecosystem. What are the moons that orbit the publishing planet? Are literary journals a good start for a writer or are they something more? What does going on a writing workshop do? How are online writing communities helping literary culture stay alive?
Would you start your own lit mag?
Lee Rourke talks to Kit Caless about Josipovici's novel Everything Passes in relation to his own novels, teaching and outlook on the power literature.
We talk about Self Publishing. What is it? What is the difference between independent publishing and self publishing? What is the benefits of going the self publishing route? What about the radical history of self publishing and pamphleteering, zines and magazines? What is the Amazon way of self publishing?
Is it good for you as an author, or not - what are the deciding factors?
Novelist Neel Mukherjee talks to Kit Caless about the difficulties of naming your influences, Penelope Fitzgerald, Samuel Beckett and more.
Ayesha Siddiqi reads her short story 'Woman Left To Her Devices' in one, uninterrupted go.
Courttia Newland introduces the "One Take Wonder" series and reads his short story, 'Breathless, The Pale' in one, uninterrupted go.
Stuart Evers talks to Kit Caless about Eva Figes's influence on his writing and way of seeing the transformational potential of literature.
We talk about Fear. What are publishers afraid of? What gives us the shits when a book is about to be released? What is publishing itself afraid of? Change or stasis, commercial success or critical acclaim?
What is it that we fear from the reader and the critic?
All this and more.
Niven Govinden talks to Kit Caless about his current author favourite, Giorgio Bassani. Covering Italian post-war fiction, writing the Other, anti-fascism and more.
We talk about why the hell we do this Independent Publishing lark. What do we get out of it? Would we ever take a corporate publishing job? How does Influx feed into our personal identities?
Plus tips and advice for anyone wanting to start their own independent publishing house.
Meena Kandasamy talks to Kit Caless about the poet Kamala Das and the social reformer, jurist and politician Dr B.R. Ambedkar
Nell Stevens cuts Eley Williams's hair during UK Lockdown for our Instagram Live Friday night broadcasts. They talk about writing, stories, and how to live with another writer, writing processes, and a whole host of lovely things.
Very funny and you can even hear the scissors chopping away!
We talk about Book Covers. Why do publishers still insist on acacia trees to tell us the book is in Africa? Why do book covers have trends? Is following a trend going to help the book sell? How much can you piss your designer off? Should authors ever get involved?
All this and more.
Isabel Waidner talks to Kit Caless about the author CA Conrad's influence on their writing and development as an artist.
We talk about Prizes. What is a prize-winning book? How much can a prize benefit and author, and a publisher? Do prizes discriminate? Are they just 'posh bingo'? Does the prize ecosystem naturally favour corporate publishers? What changes would we like to see?
Plus... do prizes even matter?
Courttia Newland talks to Kit Caless about the author Percival Everett's influence on his writing and life.
Fernando Sdrigotti talks to Wendy Erskine (author of Sweet Home) about his latest book JOLTS, his writing career, short stories and much more. This audio was taken from an Instagram Live video broadcast of the conversation.
We talk about Money. What do authors earn? How much is a realistic income from just writing. Is the idea of a full-time writer living off their fiction a fallacy? Where is the 'hidden money' with writers who celebrate a certain bourgeois literary lifestyle?
Plus... what is exactly wrong with having a job and writing on the side?
We talk about Social Media. What is good social media practice for a public author? What are the pitfalls of Twitter? When to engage, when not to engage. Does social media affect the way you think and the way you write?
Is it better to be bad on social media than be on it all?
We talk about the dreaded c-word: Class. What barriers are there in the industry to working class people? What do we talk about when we talk about middle class publishing? How do writers access publishers if they aren't in the same class bracket? How big a problem is private education in publishing?
Gary and Kit take a deep dive into our own class backgrounds and try to cover a lot of ground...
We talk about Risks. What constitutes taking a risk as a publisher? How do you know a book is going to do well? What risks are inherent in the content you publish as well as the way you market the book? Can small publishers afford not to take risks?
As awriter, is it important to take risks with form, style and delivery, or is that just for academic parlour games? What risks can you take anymore, have all the risks been taken?
We talk about Rejection and Acceptance. What do publishers look for? What's the difference between agented and non-agented submissions. How do we commission stuff? How to take rejection, how to give rejection. Dos and Don'ts for submitting and how to persevere... All this and more!
We talk about Anthologies. What are our favourites? Why do so many small presses start out with an anthology as their first book. What is the impact an 'issue led' anthology can have? Is non-fiction better than fiction when anthologised.