Preti Taneja on finding the words; on collective grief; on Partition; on the question of home and how prison is never home; on the inevitability of political writing; on anguish; on the necessary fiction that is trust — with TWBC

The Wandering Book Collector

Welcome to the travel/literary podcast The Wandering Book Collector with host Michelle Jana Chan. This is a series of conversations with writers exploring what's informed their books and their lives around themes of movement, memory, sense of place, borders, identity, belonging and home.

In this edition, I speak with the writer Preti Taneja to discuss her book, AFTERMATH, which has just been published. It’s a work of fragmented non-fiction, of life after the terrorist attack at Fishmongers’ Hall in London in 2019. Preti knew one the victims of the attack and the perpetrator of the crime.

Preti is also the author of WE THAT ARE YOUNG, which won the 2018 Desmond Elliot Prize for debut novelists. The story — set in contemporary India — holds parallels with Shakespeare’s King Lear; it’s a dynamic and devastating story of greed and corruption.

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The Wandering Book Collector would like to thank the supporters of this podcast:

Abercrombie & Kent — Creating unique, meticulously planned journeys into hard-to-reach wildernesses and cultures.

TUMI — Creating world-class business, travel and performance luxury essentials.

Ultimate Library — Creating bespoke book collections to educate and inspire.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love you to leave a rating or a review. To learn about future editions, please subscribe or hit “follow” on your podcast app of choice. Thank you for listening! For more on the podcast, book recs, what books to pack for where’s next, and who’s up next, I’m across socials @michellejchan. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you’ve missed any, do catch up. From Janine di Giovanni to Bernardine Evaristo to Afua Hirsch to Carla Power to Maaza Mengiste to Kapka Kassabova to Sara Wheeler to Brigid Delaney to Horatio Clare to Rebecca Mead.

All credit for sound effects goes to the artists and founders of Freesound.org and Zapsplat.com. All credit for music goes to the artists and founders of Soundstripe.com

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