This episode is one we've been hoping for since the beginning of the podcast! Today, we have the chance to sit down with the inexpressibly brilliant AF (Ashley) Harrold, prolific poet and author, Big Red Button pusher (if you haven't seen his excellent videos about his walks along the Thames, meeting herons and suchlike, you're in for a treat), hilarious performer and public speaker, and overall general Good Egg. We had so much fun chatting stories, books, and creativity with one of the best in the business. Won't you join us? Come along, then!

Books mentioned in this week's episode include AF's own:

The Imaginary

Imagining the Imaginary

The Afterwards

The Song From Somewhere Else

The Worlds We Leave Behind

... and countless books of poetry!

And the stories which shaped him include:

Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak

Fox Eyes, by Margaret Wise Brown and Garth Williams

Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd (link to the Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen essay)

The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien

Dunmousie Monsters, by Robin and Jocelyn Wild

Tin Tin, by Herge

The World of Myth and Legend, by Brenda Ralph Lewis, illustrated by Rob McCaig

The Adventures of Humbert, Simp and Harquin, by John Burningham

Phenomena: A Book of Wonders, by John Mitchell and Robert J Rickard

Gentleman Jim, by Raymond Briggs

Fungus the Bogeyman, by Raymond Briggs

Father Christmas, by Raymond Briggs

When the Wind Blows, by Raymond Briggs

Can't You Sleep, Little Bear? by Barbara Firth and Martin Waddell

The work of Bernard O'Donoghue, including his translations of The Wanderer and The Seafarer

Riddley Walker, by Russell Hoban

The Mouse and His Child, by Russell Hoban and David Small

A Bargain for Frances, by Russell Hoban and Lillian Hoban

Monsters, by Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake

M.O.L.E. by Russell Hoban and Jan Pienkowski

The Twenty-Elephant Restaurant, by Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake

Tom Tit Moves House, by Molly Brett

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, by Laurence Sterne

Awful End, by Philip Ardagh and David Roberts

I Like This Poem, by Kaye Webb and Antony Maitland

This Craft of Verse, by Jorge Luis Borges

About the House, by WH Auden

The Tale of Beren and Luthien - translated by AF Harrold!

The Silmarillion, by JRR Tolkien

The Collected Poems of Stevie Smith

Our podcast bookshop in Ireland is Halfway Up the Stairs: www.halfwayupthestairs.ie. You might also like to check out www.kennys.ie for free shipping within the Republic of Ireland!

In the UK, check out our storefront on: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/Storyshaped. Disclaimer: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops.

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