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Bonus episode transcript: an interview with Garth Nix
Alex
Welcome to Paper Defiance, which is usually a fortnightly podcast all about indie bookshops and their owners. My name is Alex, and I am recording this on Wadawaurang land, in Ballarat Australia. It’s exciting to have you join me.
This is a break in my fortnightly schedule, to bring you a slightly different episode. It’s still an interview, but this time it’s not with a bookshop owner but more someone adjacent to that world. Garth Nix is an author whose books I’ve loved for a very long time. His most recent series starts with The Left-handed Booksellers of London and will continue with The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, which hopefully gives you an idea for why I asked him to be on the podcast. He also started his working life in a bookshop and has had various other book-connected roles in the following decades, all of which makes this interview fit really nicely into the Paper Defiance niche, as I hope you’ll agree.
Garth
Hello, I’m Garth Nix. I’m the author of many, many books over many, many years, including the Old Kingdom series that begins with Sabriel, the Keys to the Kingdom series that begins with Mister. Monday. And many, many others. Most recently, Terciel and Eleanor, which is the sixth book in the Old Kingdom series. And just before that, The Left-handed Booksellers of London. And my next book coming up is The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, which continues in the Lefthanded Booksellers universe, as it were.
Alex
Fantastic. I’ll get to those latest books in a moment. But I wanted to start, Garth, by taking you back to when you weren’t yet a full time author. And I know that you spent some time in the book selling world. Can you tell me a little bit about that and how you got into it?
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Bonus episode: an interview with Garth Nix
Yes, an out-of-schedule interview! Author Garth Nix has written many (many) books, with his most recent series beginning with The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, and if that’s not a reason to have him on this podcast, well… it just is.
See the next post for a transcript.
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Episode 5: Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights (pictures)
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Episode 5 Transcript: Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights
Slightly edited for clarity.
Alex
Welcome to Paper Defiance, a fortnightly podcast all about indie bookshops and their owners. My name is Alex, and I am recording this on Wadawaurang land, in Ballarat Australia. It’s exciting to have you join me.
For this episode, we’re leaving Australia and heading to Bath, in England. I’m joined by Nic from Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights, and yes we do get into why that particular name. We discuss the evolution of the physical space of the shop, the role of ebooks and the importance of bricks and mortar bookshops, and I even introduce Nic to what is apparently an Australian term, or at least one not usually used in England, which was honestly a very satisfying moment for me.
Before I hand you over to Nic, a request: if you’ve enjoyed Paper Defiance so far, would you consider leaving a review on iTunes, if that’s where you listen? Or maybe tell someone else who you think might enjoy it? I’d really appreciate it.
OK, here’s Nic, with tales of starting a bookshop and doing pop-ups at music festivals.
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Episode 5: Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights
In which I talk to Nic at Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights. See next post for a slightly edited transcript of the whole episode; and the one after that for some photos of the shop.
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Episode 4 Transcript: Hares and Hyenas
Slightly edited for clarity.
Alex
Welcome to Paper Defiance, a fortnightly podcast all about indie bookshops and their owners. My name is Alex, and I am recording this on Wadawaurang land, in Ballarat Australia. It’s exciting to have you join me.
The last three episodes have been focused on people who are relatively new to the business of bookshops, with Leah at the Ripped Bodice the oldest with about 7 years of experience. In this episode, I’m talking to someone with 30 years of experience in owning his bookshop, and a few more years before that in the book trade.
Rowland owns Hares and Hyenas, a – or really, the – queer bookshop in Melbourne. I should note that this episode was recorded several weeks ago now, so bookclubs do seem to be back on, and events starting soon; you should check their website for details. Rowland also mentions a police raid on their premise, which as he notes turned out to have nothing to do with being a queer bookshop; if you don’t remember this, or if you’ve never heard of it, here are some links:
Now, over to Rowland – and I hope you’re ready to write down a bunch of book recommendations.
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Episode 4: Hares and Hyenas
In which I talk to Rowland of Hares and Hyenas in Melbourne, Australia. See next post for (slightly edited) transcript.
News articles about the police raid Rowland mentions: Music: “Loopster” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Bonus episode: Love Your Bookshop Day!
October 8 is Love Your Bookshop Day, so how could I not have a special bonus episode? This one is made up of vignettes – people talking about why they love a particular bookshop – and a special sneak-peek at the NEXT episode at the end.
If you want to share a vignette like these, record a voice memo and send it through to paperdefiancepod @ gmail . com . I’d love to hear it!
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Episode 3: Typeface (pictures)
See this Instagram link for a walk-through of the shop. (All images courtesy of Typeface.)
Typeface Books online; the Australian subscription box mentioned in the podcast. Instagram; Facebook.
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Episode 3 Transcript: Typeface
Slightly edited for clarity
Alex
Welcome to Paper Defiance, a fortnightly podcast all about indie bookshops and their owners. My name is Alex, and I am recording this on Wadawaurang land, in Ballarat Australia. It’s exciting to have you join me.
Since I recorded the last episode I’ve actually visited a bookshop, which shouldn’t be as exciting as it was but for lots of reasons I don’t actually go into bookshops that much at the moment. Anyway, this bookshop is in Kyneton, a little town in regional Victoria, and it’s called Aesop’s Attic, which is a truly excellent name. By quantity it’s one third new books and two thirds used, and I think this mixed media kind of approach is a really clever one, especially in a small town. The owner was a delight and was very helpful to the customers who couldn’t figure out what they wanted. So Victorian listeners, if you’re in the Kyneton area, Aesop’s Attic is well worth a visit.
Last episode, I spoke to Charlotte about taking over a bookshop as 2020 began. In this episode I speak to Guinevere of Typeface Books in Perth, who did the exact same thing. Her experience was a bit different, because Perth is and was different from Mansfield, and the shop itself is different too. As always, remember to hang around after the interview for another vignette about visiting a bookshop.
Over to Guinevere.
Guinevere
My name is Guinevere Hall. What do you what you want me to say? I own Typeface Books. And I’m 53.
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A podcast all about indie bookshops and their owners
Paper Defiance 