This is a Backlisted special, recorded at the Bodleian Library in Oxford to celebrate the publication of Treacle Walker the new novel by Alan Garner (published by Fourth Estate). We were honoured to be asked by Alan and his wife Griselda to host the launch, so this isn’t a regular episode of Backlisted – it’s a recording of a live panel discussion, chaired by John (who used to publish Alan), with an introduction by Andy: a bonus extra for our regular listeners.
The panellists are: Erica Wagner, writer and critic and editor of First Light, an anthology of pieces about Alan Garner’s work, who has been a guest on several previous Backlisteds; Dr Melanie Giles, archaeologist and the author of Bog Bodies, the definitive account of the phenomenon which plays a significant role in the book’s story; and Professor Bob Cywinski, physicist, whose conversations with Alan Garner about time, landscape and local legend provided the initial inspiration for the novel.
The podcast also features readings from the novel from the (excellent) 4th Estate audio book featuring Alan’s schoolfriend, the actor Robert Powell and audio clips from an interview about the novel that Alan recorded with his daughter, Elizabeth Garner. The music is by John Dipper, taken from a short film by David Heke, premiered at the live event. All proceeds from the event went to support The Blackden Trust, the Garner’s educational charity based in The Old Medicine House, a Grade II timber framed building that Alan and Griselda Garner saved from destruction and which is also the setting of Treacle Walker.