This week, Richard Lea sits down with Tom Mole, professor of English literature and book history at the University of Edinburgh and director of the Centre for the History of the Book. In his new work, The Secret Life of Books, Mole looks at books as physical objects and how the experience of reading has changed through time. Could modern technologies transform the ways we read our favourite stories? Can you claim to have read a book if you’ve only listened to the audio version of it?
We then explore the most ancient long poem known to exist, Gilgamesh, with the poet and publisher Michael Schmidt, whose latest book explores the history of its translation and publication.
And Claire Armitstead and Sian Cain discuss the winners of the 2019 Forward prizes for poetry.
Please note: this podcast contains some graphic language during the poetry readings.
Reading list
The Secret Life of Books: Why They Are So Much More Than Just Words by Tom Mole (Elliott & Thompson)
Gilgamesh: The Life of a Poem by Michael Schmidt (Princeton University Press)
Photograph: Igor Stevanovic/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Stock Photo
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