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Bookshelfie: Women’s Prize Podcast

Bookshelfie: Women’s Prize Podcast

Written by: Women’s Prize Podcast/ Bird Lime Media
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 The podcast that asks women with lives as inspiring as any fiction, to share the five books by women that have shaped them. Join Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, and her inspirational guests as they celebrate the best books written by women, sharing their creativity, voices, and perspectives. The Women’s Prize for Fiction is the biggest celebration of women's creativity in the world and has been running for over 30 years. Sit back and enjoy.








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Episodes
  • S8 Ep25: Bookshelfie: Self Esteem

    S8 Ep25: Bookshelfie: Self Esteem
    Dec 30 2025
    Rebecca Lucy Taylor, AKA Self Esteem talks to Vick about pushing back against the male gaze, the healing power of her art and how to carry on as a female music artist in your 40s.

    Rebecca is one of the UK’s most exciting breakout musical stars of the past decade. Performing as Self Esteem, she rose from cult favourite to mainstream hero following the huge success of her empowering, truth-telling 2021 single, I Do This All The Time. Her trademark lyricism and razor-sharp wit led to a Mercury Prize nomination for her second solo album, Prioritise Pleasure, and was crowned the Guardian and Sunday Times Culture’s Album of the Year. Her latest album, A Complicated Woman, received the Visionary Award at the 2025 Ivor Novello Awards, praised for its ‘fearless, genre-defying songwriting that is reshaping the sound and substance of modern pop’.

    Her first book, also titled A Complicated Woman, is a Sunday Times bestseller, taking readers on a poignant, witty journey using notes, lyrics, and observational prose that gets to the heart of being a woman in the world today.

    Rebecca’s book choices are:

    **The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
    **Women Who Run with The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estès
    **All Fours by Miranda July
    **Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa
    **Milk Fed by Melissa Broder

    Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season eight of the Women’s Prize’s Bookshelfie Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize for Fiction is the biggest celebration of women's creativity in the world and has been running for over 30 years.
    Listen back to all previous seasons of the podcast for even more book recommendations, and subscribe now to be the first to hear when we return for season nine.

    You can buy all books mentioned from our dedicated shelf on Bookshop.org - every purchase supports the work of the Women's Prize Trust and independent bookshops.
    This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.
    Show More Show Less
    58 mins
  • S8 Ep24: Bookshelfie: Rachel Parris

    S8 Ep24: Bookshelfie: Rachel Parris
    Dec 23 2025
    Comedian, actor and improviser Rachel Parris discusses why people can be so wrong about Jane Austen, the knotty complexities of female friendship and her love for crime fiction.

    Rachel is officially a member of the British comedy elite – she has appeared on Live at the Apollo, Have I Got News For You, and Mock the Week, and was BAFTA-nominated for her satirical sketches on BBC's The Mash Report, which have garnered over 100 million views online. She’s a regular on BBC Radio 4 where she can be heard on Just A Minute, I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue and, formerly, The Now Show. Rachel hosts the comedy podcast How Was It For You?, with her husband, Marcus Brigstocke; and another podcast for the Children’s Book Project called The Power of a Book, where guests share the children’s stories that mean the most to them. On the stage, she is a co-founder of Austentatious – a Jane Austen themed improv comedy show in the West End.

    Her debut novel, Introducing Mrs Collins, is a tale of love, loss, and second chances, for anyone who’s wondered if there’s more to the sensible character we met in Pride and Prejudice.

    Rachel’s book choices are:
    **Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
    **Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
    **The Names by Florence Knapp
    **My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
    **The Lost by Claire McGowan

    Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season eight of the Women’s Prize’s Bookshelfie Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize for Fiction is the biggest celebration of women's creativity in the world and has been running for over 30 years.
    Don’t want to miss the rest of season eight? Listen and subscribe now!

    You can buy all books mentioned from our dedicated shelf on Bookshop.org – every purchase supports the work of the Women's Prize Trust and independent bookshops.
    This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.
    Show More Show Less
    47 mins
  • S8 Ep23: Bookshelfie: Clare Balding

    S8 Ep23: Bookshelfie: Clare Balding
    Dec 16 2025
    Broadcasting legend Clare Balding tells us why the Celebrity Traitors’ castle was the perfect place to finish writing her latest book, how the author of a ‘bonkbuster’ that was banned from her school became the person who got Clare into novel-writing, and the animals and women in literature who have captured her imagination.

    Clare grew up in the countryside surrounded by horses and dogs, reading everything from Jilly Cooper to Henry James. A keen rider, she competed as an amateur flat jockey during her teenage years, winning Champion Lady Rider in 1990. She is now one of Britain’s leading broadcasters, receiving the BAFTA Special Award and RTS Presenter of the Year Award for her expert coverage of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and is an ardent campaigner for better coverage of women’s sport. Clare hosts her much-loved Ramblings series on Radio 4, taking her across the British Isles exploring its landscape and its storytelling. She is also a bestselling and award-winning author of numerous books and children’s novels, including her autobiography, My Animals and Other Family, which won the National Book Award for Autobiography of the Year. Her debut novel for adults, Pastures New, is a love letter to the countryside and the kindness of small communities, told with Clare’s characteristic warmth and wit.


    Clare’s book choices are:
    **Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
    **Riders by Jilly Cooper
    **The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
    **Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
    **Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

    Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season eight of the Women’s Prize’s BookshelfiePodcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize for Fiction is the biggest celebration of women's creativity in the world and has been running for over 30 years.
    Don’t want to miss the rest of season eight? Listen and subscribe now!

    You can buy all books mentioned from our dedicated shelf on Bookshop.org- every purchase supports the work of the Women's Prize Trust and independent bookshops.
    This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.
    Show More Show Less
    46 mins
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