What can Little Women teach modern boys about sisterhood? How does food become a language of love and grief? How does writing in a third language shape your creative rhythm? And why can finishing a masterpiece feel like a tragedy?

This week on Ask Penguin, Rhianna is joined by bestselling, award-winning novelist Elif Shafak to talk about her latest novel, In One Brief Moment All Eternity, a vivid reimagining of Gustave Flaubert’s life, told through the women who knew him, including his most famous creation, Emma Bovary.

Together they explore the stories and people history often forgets, why the world needs fiction more than ever, and what drew Shafak to Flaubert’s world.

Plus, we answer your listening questions and, as ever, send you away with plenty of brilliant books to add to your reading pile

Discover all the books mentioned in this episode here

About the guest

Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist and storyteller. She has published 21 books, 13 of which are novels and her books have been translated into almost 60 languages.The Island of Missing Trees was a finalist for the Costa Award, British Book Awards, RSL Ondaatje Prize and Women’s Prize for Fiction

For more information about the National Year of Reading, click here https://goallin.org.uk

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Can you read a cookbook cover-to-cover like a thriller? Does your reading level predict a longer life? Why is a punk chef’s memoir the ultimate weapon for reluctant readers? And how do we inspire children to read if we don’t have the time to read to them?

In this special episode of Ask Penguin, Rhianna sits down with children’s author and illustrator, Nadia Shireen, and Jonathan Douglas CBE, Chief Executive of the National Literacy Trust. Together, they discuss the National Year of Reading’s Go All In campaign and why reading for pleasure has the power to change lives and help tackle social inequality.

Plus, we answer your questions about the reluctant readers in your life, helping you find the perfect book to spark a lifelong love of reading.

Discover all the books mentioned in this episode here

About the guests

Nadia Shireen is a writer and illustrator. She enjoyed making homemade magazines and comics as a child. She studied law at university and then worked in magazine journalism; it was during this time that she started to draw again. After a lifetime of doodling in the sidelines, Nadia decided to pay some attention to drawing and in 2007 was accepted onto an MA course in Children's Book Illustration at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. Her debut book Good Little Wolf received a mention in the Bologna Ragazzi Opera Prima Award and won the UKLA Book Award. Nadia has been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize.

Jonathan Douglas CBE is CEO of the National Literacy Trust, a trustee of the Philosophy Foundation and of World Book Day. He is passionate about promoting access to literature and addressing inequality through literacy. He has lobbied and campaigned extensively and led the formation of the Literacy All Party Parliamentary Group. He is a chartered librarian and was Head of Policy Development at the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and previously worked at CILIP and in Westminster Libraries.

For more information about the National Year of Reading, click here https://goallin.org.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.