Already finished the first season of *HOLLYWORD* and looking for something to fill the gap?
Key Whiskey recommends the following time-killers and bookshelf-fillers…

FURTHER LISTENING

YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS

My favourite podcast and a massive inspiration. In 2018, I was re-listening to YMRT from the beginning for the hundredth time when I thought to myself, ‘I wish there was a show like this for authors’. Fast forward to 2020 and HOLLYWORD was born. YMRT probes the ‘secret/and or forgotten histories’ of the golden era of Hollywood (1910s to 1960s). It is thoroughly-researched, well-written and as enchanting as the movie stars featured within.

THE DEAD AUTHORS PODCAST

Paul F. Tomkins plays the role of legendary time-travelling author H.G. Wells, whose mission is to interview dead literary giants in front of a live audience. A hilarious, unscripted, barely-researched faux-historical show featuring a brilliant line-up of comedians bringing to life the most bizarre and interesting characters from the literary canon.

THE HISTORY OF LITERATURE

Author, host and self-described ‘amateur-scholar’ Jacke Wilson takes you on a journey through the history of literature, examining and celebrating the greatest works of writing, from ancient epics to contemporary classics. Some HoL episodes survey literature more broadly, while others focus in on a particular author or a particular work, to analyse where and how it all fits into the great evolutionary timeline.

LITERATURE AND HISTORY

A similar show to the one above, though more structured and researched. Doug Metzger, Ph.D., traces the history of Anglophone literature on a chronological timeline, starting from ancient times to the present. As of 2020, Metzger has only managed to reach Ancient Rome, so you know there are plenty more episodes to come!

LEGACY

If you like my podcast, you’ll love Legacy. It’s a casual, conversational alternative, hosted by self-published author, pianist and yogi Whiskey Emerson. Each episode uncovers a famous author’s life and career trajectory, and investigates the events that might have impacted and influenced their writing. The distinguishing feature of Legacy is its quirky ‘Drink’ segment at the top of each episode, wherein Emerson provides the recipe for a cocktail inspired by the featured author or one of his or her works.

SASS MOUTH DAMES

Another of my go-to Old Hollywood podcasts. Author academic Megan McGurk celebrates and analyses ‘women’s pictures’ released during the ‘studio era’ between 1929 to 1959. Though a popular genre, it is often overlooked by mainstream Twentieth Century cinema historians. Each SMD episode breaks down a classic female-centric film and its female perspective/s, to remind us women haven’t always been confined to playing the arm candy of the leading man.

WORLD BOOK CLUB

A BBC radio programme helmed by English writer, academic and presenter Harriet Gilbert, who invites famous authors from all over the world to discuss his or her work in front of a live audience. A great way to keep up with the newest book releases, be reminded of a classic, and discover your next favourite author.

Stephen King - On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Maya Angelou - I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Anne Frank - The Diary of a Young Girl
Agatha Christie - Agatha Christie: An Autobiography
Ernest Hemingway - A Moveable Feast
Mark Twain - Autobiography of Mark Twain
Anaïs Nin - The Diary of Anaïs Nin
Frank McCourt - Angela’s Ashes
James Baldwin - Notes of a Native Son
Roald Dhal - Boy
Vladimir Nabokov - Speak, Memory
Gertrude Stein - The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
Joan Didion - The Year of Magical Thinking
Oscar Wilde - De Profundis
George Orwell - Down and Out in Paris and London

BIOGRAPHIES

John Kennedy Toole - Ignatius Rising by Deborah George Hardy and Rene Pol Nevils
Zora Neale Hurston - Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Valeria Boyd
Virginia Woolf - Virginia Woolf by Hermione Lee
David Foster Wallace - Every Love Story is a Ghost Story by D. T. Max
Jane Austen - Jane Austen at Home: A Biography by Lucy Worsley
Ray Bradbury - The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury by Sam Weller
J. R. R. Tolkein - J. R. R. Tolkein: A Biography by Humphrey Carter
Flannery O’Connor - Flannery: A Life of Flannery O’Connor by Brad Gooch
William Shakespeare - Shakespeare by Peter Ackroyd
Clarice Lispector - Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector by Benjamin Moser
Shirley Jackson - Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin
Charlotte Brontë - The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell
Arthur Miller - Arthur Miller: His Life and Work by Martin Gottfried
Patricia Highsmith - Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith by Andrew Wilson
Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë - The Brontë Myth by Lucasta Miller
John Cheever - Cheever: A Life by Blake Bailey
Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre - Tête-à-Tête: Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre by Hazel Rowley
Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley - Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon
Philip K. Dick - I Am Alive and You Are Death: A Journey into the Mind of Philip K. Dick by Emmanuel Carrère
Charles Dickens - Dickens: A Public Life and Private Passions by Peter Ackroyd
Edith Wharton - Edith Wharton: A Biography by R. W. B. Lewis
P.G. Wodehouse - P.G. Wodehouse: A Biography by Frances Donaldson
Edna St. Vincent Millay - Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford
Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald - Zelda: A Biography by Nancy Milford
Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes - The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes by Janet Malcolm

FURTHER WATCHING

If you want to take a break from reading and see an author’s life play out on the screen instead, check out the following biopics. Some are better than others, but if you’re like me, your tolerance level rises if it means some time in the company of your favourite author (or, at least, an actor pretending to be the author).

Sylvia (2003) - Sylvia Plath - starring Gwyneth Paltrow
Howl (2010) - Allen Ginsberg - starring James Franco
Capote (2005) - Truman Capote - starring Philip Seymour Hoffman
The Hours (2003) - Virginia Woolf - starring Nicole Kidman
Trumbo (2015) - Dalton Trumbo - starring Bryan Cranston
Shakespeare In Love (1998) - William Shakespeare - starring Joseph Fiennes
The Invisible Woman (2013) - Charles Dickens - starring Ralph Fiennes
Barfly (1987) - Charles Bukowski - starring Mickey Rourke
Kill Your Darlings (2013) - Allen Ginsberg, Lucian Carr and Jack Kerouac - starring Daniel Radcliffe
On The Road (2012) - Jack Kerouac - starring Sam Riley
Miss Potter (2006) - Beatrix Potter - starring Renee Zellweger
Colette (2018) - Colette - starring Keira Knightley
A Quiet Passion (2016) - Emily Dickinson - starring Cynthia Nixon
Genius (2016) - Tom Wolfe - starring Jude Law
Mary Shelley (2017) - Mary Shelley - starring Elle Fanning
Becoming Jane (2007) - Jane Austen - starring Anne Hathaway
Daphne (2007) - Daphne Du Maurier - starring Geraldine Somerville
My Brilliant Career (1979) - Miles Franklin - starring Judy Davis
The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) - Oscar Wilde - starring Peter Finch
Agatha (1979) - Agatha Christie - starring Vanessa Redgrave
Enid (2009) - Enid Blyton - starring Helena Bonham Carter
Finding Neverland (2004) - J. M. Barrie - starring Johnny Depp
Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters (2016) - Charlotte, Anne and Emily Bronte - starring Finn Atkins
Bright Star (2009) - John Keats - starring Ben Whishaw
Rebel in the Rye (2017) - J. D. Salinger - starring Nicholas Hoult
Vita and Virginia (2018) - Virginia Wolf - starring Elizabeth Debicki