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Nicholas Royle on writing about his love for second hand books and bookshops (archive re-release) – Rippling Pages: Interviews with Writers
Let’s dust off the archives again and celebrate some of the guests we’ve had on the Rippling Pages
This time, we’re going back to a conversation that was had in 2022 with the writer, editor, and all around bookish good guy, Nicholas Royle.
I spoke to Nicholas about his wonderful book about book collecting, WHITE SPINES:THE CONFESSIONS OF A BOOK COLLECTOR
Chances are, if you’ve a penchant for second-hand books, you’ll have been or known about one of the many bookshops Nicholas visited to find the Picador books that he coveted.
We’re also celebrating Leeds Literature Festival. The book features Leeds bookshops, and Nicholas is in Leeds talking about the art of the short story with Alice Jolly and Naomi Booth.
Get your tickets below
Tickets to me in conversation with Alice Hattrick.
https://www.leedslitfest.co.uk/events/alice-hattrick-fancy-work/
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Reference Points
Writers and Books
AJ Ashworth
Andrea Ashworth
The Lake John Foxx (Nightjar Press)
M. John Harrison
Anna Kavan – Ice (Picador: 1967)
Alberto Manguel (editor) Black Water: The Anthology of Fantastic Literature (Picador: 1983)
Livi Michael – The Lake (Nightjar Press)
Alison Moore
Nicholas Royle – First Novel (Vintage: 2013)
Nicholas Royle – Counterparts (Penguin: 1995)
Nicholas Royle – Ornithology (Confingo: 2017)
Nicholas Royle – An English Guide to Bird Watching (Myriad Editions: 2017)
Nicholas Royle – Uncanny (Manchester University Press: 2003)
Per Wahlöö – The Lorry (Picador: 1972)
Conrad Williams
Artists
Paul Delvaux
Salvador Dali
Chapters
3.00 – when did he first see the white spines?
7.00 – what was special about the books
9.00 – why write this book
12.15 – Writing a quest
14.45 – is it about confession or obsession
18.10 – giving second life to writers
19.35 – second hand bookshops
24.55 – tactile nature of books
26.09 – sharing names and uncanniness
28.15 – two Nicholas Royles
30.30 – dreams and realities of being a writer
34.45 – nightjar press
- Nicholas Royle on writing about his love for second hand books and bookshops (archive re-release)
- Stu Hennigan on writing in vernacular and sympathetic truthful portrayals of the north
- Amber Medland on overcoming writers block and writing with George Saunders
- Polly Barton on writing about knotty linguistic concepts and loving language (Archive Re-Release)
- Camille Bordas on finding detail in small objects and writing in different languages
- Camille Bordas on making difficult topics funny and crafting sharp dialogue
- Bonus! Lucy Caldwell on annotated Hamlet and Easter Eggs
- Lucy Caldwell on writing transcendent psychic moments and finding meaning in life
- Bonus! Why a letter knife told Leon Craig everything she needed to know about her characters’ desires
- Leon Craig on misunderstanding ghosts and getting what we want

© Liam Bishop, 2025. All rights reserved.