035 Marianne Brooker: The Politics of Care
In this episode, we speak to writer Marianne Brooker about her book Intervals. We discuss the politics of care and the precarious economics of social, hospice and funeral care. We talk about the importance of interdependence, and how networks of care link to activism and writing. We think about the right to abundance and life, while considering what it means to die a good death. We chat about intersections of class, gender and disability, and beauty and maximalism as an act of resistance. We imagine writing as reparative magic and consider what it means to write into and with grief, as opposed to pushing against it. We speak about what it means to draw kinship with other writers and thinkers such as Denise Riley, Anne Boyer, Maggie Nelson and Lola Olufemi, among others. Marianne Brooker is a writer based in Bristol, where she works for a charity campaigning on climate and social justice. She has a PhD from Birkbeck and a background in arts research and teaching. She won the 2022 Fitzcarraldo Essay Prize for Intervals, her first book, which was also longlisted for the inaugral Women's Prize for Non-Fiction in 2024. You can now subscribe to our Patreon for £5 a month, which will enable us to keep bringing you more in-depth conversations with writers. As a subscriber, you will have access to: 10% listener discount on all books at Storysmith, either online or in person Opportunities to submit questions to upcoming guests Free book giveaways each month related to our featured guests Early access to episodes each month Exclusive free tickets each month to live Storysmith events A free Storysmith tote bag after 3 months subscription Please like, rate and subscribe to help promote the podcast and support our work. References Intervals by Marianne Brooker Time Lived, Without its Flow by Denise Riley The Undying by Anne Boyer The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson Experiments in Imagining Otherwise by Lola Olufemi Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments by Saidiya Hartman In the Wake: On Blackness and Being by Christina Sharpe