Mythago Wood with John Jarrold

07/04/22 • 124 min

Chronscast - The Fantasy, Science Fiction & Horror Podcast

We're joined by one of the kings of UK science-fiction and fantasy, the literary agent John Jarrold, to talk about Rob Holdstock's majestic 1984 novel Mythago Wood, winner of the World Fantasy Award.

Over a career spanning almost fifty years John has become one of the leading lights and champions for British genre fiction, and a household name within that community. In the publishing industry he has run three SFF imprints: Legend at Random House; Earthlight at Simon & Schuster, and Orbit books, where one of his authors was none other than Rob Holdstock. These days he runs the John Jarrold Literary Agency, with and continues to be a hugely influential and popular figure in the industry and SFF community.

We talk about the peculiar Englishness of Mythago Wood, with respect to its post-war setting, which informs the damaged male characters at the heart of the book and how this in turn has an impact on the representation of the female characters present. We also touch upon the cycle of myth and history, the myth of the hostile brothers, and Holdstock's wonderful writing style.

John brings his enormous experience to bear as we talk at length about the publishing industry and how it has changed over the last fifty years. He is armed with great anecdotes, and the list of people he's worked with over the years read like a Who's Who of international SFF.

Elsewhere Damaris Browne dishes up some salacious details on how to handle the issue of privacy, and how to approach using real-life people in your stories (spoiler alert: very, very carefully). Christine Wheelwright reads Weeping Willows, her winning 75-word entry from June's writing challenge, and the trees in Slish Wood are not - I repeat not - of interest to the CIA.

Join us next month when our guest will be the novelist, poet and essayist Naomi Foyle, who'll be talking with us about Jo Zebedee's alien invasion-cum-prison break thriller Inish Carraig .

Further Reading

There'll Always Be An England in Mythago Wood

Index

[0:00:00 - 49:15] John Jarrold Interview Part 1

[49:16 - 50:24] Voicemail 1

[50:25 - 1:05:10] The Judge's Corner

[1:05:16 - 1:06:14] Voicemail 2

[1:06:15 - 1:07:20] Writing Challenge Winner

[1:07:21 - 1:08:36] Voicemail 3

[1:08:37 - 2:02:12] John Jarrold Interview Part 2

[2:02:13 - 2:04:18] Credits and Close

Join us next month when our guest will be the novelist, poet and essayist Naomi Foyle, who'll be talking with us about Jo Zebedee's alien invasion-cum-prison break thriller Inish Carraig .

Further Reading

There'll Always Be An England in Mythago Wood

Index

[0:00:00 - 49:15] John Jarrold Interview Part 1

[49:16 - 50:24] Voicemail 1

[50:25 - 1:05:10] The Judge's Corner

[1:05:16 - 1:06:14] Voicemail 2

[1:06:15 - 1:07:20] Writing Challenge Winner

[1:07:21 - 1:08:36] Voicemail 3

[1:08:37 - 2:02:12] John Jarrold Interview Part 2

[2:02:13 - 2:04:18] Credits and Close

Previous Episode

House Of Leaves with Ed Wilson

This episode we finally open that door of the Chronscast household we'd not dared to open before and plunge into the abyssal labyrinth that is Mark Danielewski's maddeningly epic debut novel, House Of Leaves. A book that defies conventional categorisation, it's been described as a horror, a literary piece, a puzzle, and even a love story. We're joined on this subterranean literary odyssey by renowned literary agent Ed Wilson. Ed is the director of the Johnson & Alcock literary agency, representing a vibrant and developing list of fiction and non-fiction, from new and debut writers to established, bestselling and award-winning authors.

With Ed we gleefully dip down the House Of Leaves rabbithole, discussing ergodic literature, innovation in writing, the perils of overanalysing texts, and the Manic Street Preachers. We also chat about the submissions process and navigating the slush pile, and the options open to authors and agents.

Elsewhere, The Judge gives a sumptuous talk on the use of clothing in worldbuilding, and the effects that clothing can have on society, and our writing. We'll hear the winning entries to May's 75-word challenge, and April's 300-word challenge, written by Oliver Helm and Victoria Silverwolf respectively, and we get an unexpected phone call from an ex-President of the United States, whose home extension has gotten out of hand and seems to lead to the belt of Orion.

Join us next month when we'll be joined by literary agent John Jarrold to talk about Rob Holdstock's winner of the 1984 World Fantasy Award, Mythago Wood.

Index

[00:00 - 52:54] Ed Wilson Interview Part 1

[52:54 - 54:07] Voicemail 1

[54:08 - 1:08:28] The Judge's Corner

[1:08:28 - 1:09:10] Voicemail 2

[1:09:11 - 1:12:31] Writing Challenge Winners

[1:12:32 - 1:13:43] Voicemail 3

[1:13:44 - 2:07:31] Ed Wilson Interview Part 2

[2:07:32 - 2:09:36] - Credits

Next Episode

Inish Carraig with Naomi Foyle

This month we're joined by the award-winning British-Canadian author, poet and essayist Naomi Foyle, to talk about Inish Carraig, the alien-invasion-cum-prison break thriller by our very own @Jo Zebedee.

Among the topics we cover is the quintessential "Norn Irishness" of the book, conveyed without ever lapsing into cliché, but yet acknowledging the unique history and culture of the place in a subtle and different manner. We also talk about the physiology of alien species, robots, the gothic setting, and the different identities and representations the book plays with.

Elsewhere we also discuss the possibilities and processes that enable writers to access Arts Council funding (England only) to further their writing careers. Specifically we talk about adapting one's own work for other media; Naomi recently adapted her own Gaia Chronicles quartet of SF novels into a multimedia stage show, Astra, featuring cutting-edge puppetry, acting, music, and technical effects, and she discusses the mammoth effort this has entailed.

@The Judge corners us with another fascinating talk, this time about privacy. Her Honour also relates her winning entry from the July 75-word challenge, The Eternal Scapegoat, and (we think) Sally Rooney is having trouble with the accuracy - and the characters - of her latest, er, science fiction epic.

Next Month

In September's episode we'll be talking to fantasy author Juliet E. McKenna about Hope Mirrlees's 1926 prototypical fantasy novel, Lud-In-The-Mist.

Index

[0:00:00 - 55:30] Naomi Foyle Interview Part 1

[55:30 - 56:42] Voicemail 1

[56:43 - 1:12:33] The Judge's Corner

[1:12:38 - 1:13:45] Voicemail 2

[1:13:45 - 1:14:53] Writing Challenge Winner

[1:14:54 - 1:15:35] Voicemail 3

[1:15:37 - 2:00:44] Naomi Foyle Interview Part 2

[2:00:45 - 2:02:49] Credits and Close