ON THE POD THIS MONTH

nation of strangers

Ece temelkuran

This month Canongate publish Nation of Strangers, the third ‘instalment’ in a series by Turkish novelist, essayist and journalist Ece Temelkuran. Following on from How To Lose A Country and Together it is, once more, rooted in Ece’s experience of the Erdogan regime’s unrelenting assault on human rights.

Recorded last December at Canongate’s offices in London, Sam met Ece to discuss this deeply personal and unflinching account of being ‘unhomed’ - not only in the literal sense but also something less obvious. Nation of Strangers, is centred on a loss that will resonate deeply with anyone who struggles - in the face of rising global authoritarianism - to recognise the country they call home. Written as a set of letters to a stranger it embraces humility and love as a rejection of the politics of cynicism and asks us once we recognise what is happening, what choice do we have but to act?

YOUR LIFE WITHOUT ME

JAMES MEEK

Lara meets up with James Meek to hear about his latest novel ‘Your Life Without Me’; a tale of loss, provocation and the radical discomfort of the new. Centred around a single act of destruction (the attempted demolition of St Paul’s Cathedral) it is a book which asks how much of the past we can hold on to if we are to build a future worth living in. And whether change is inherently and unavoidably destructive.

Reckoning with the death of his wife Ada, and struggling to understand his grown-up daughter Leila, the novel’s central protagonist Mr Burman finds himself on a train to London, at the invitation of the police. He is to meet Raf, a young man suspected of trying to blow up St Paul’s – and who once looked to ruin the Burman’s family home.