In this conversation recorded live at Shakespeare and Company, travel writer Monisha Rajesh talks about her new book Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train. From Paris to Istanbul, Scotland to India, the United States to Lapland, Rajesh explores the romance and realities of sleeper trains—where the carriages, the landscapes, and above all, the people become the story. She shares how her love of rail travel began in India, why night trains are enjoying a resurgence amid the climate crisis, and what it means to travel as a woman, a mother, and a writer in a turbulent world. Alongside the practicalities of packing eye masks and hot water bottles, Rajesh reflects on the communities that form in dining cars, the unexpected intimacy of train travel, and the way technology, politics, and global events shape the journeys we take.

Buy Moonlight Express: https://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/books/moonlight-express

Monisha Rajesh is a British journalist whose writing has appeared in Time magazine, the New York Times, and Vanity Fair. Her first book, Around India in 80 Trains, was named one of the Independent’s best books on India. Her second book, Around the World in 80 Trains, won the National Geographic Traveller Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year. In 2024 she was named in Condé Nast Traveller’s Women Who Travel Power List. She lives in London.

Adam Biles is Literary Director at Shakespeare and Company.

Listen to Alex Freiman’s latest EP, In The Beginning: https://open.spotify.com/album/5iZYPMCUnG7xiCtsFCBlVa?si=h5x3FK1URq6SwH9Kb_SO3w

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In this special episode of the Shakespeare and Company Interview Podcast, we celebrate the paperback release of The Shakespeare and Company Book of Interviews (Canongate), a compelling collection of literary conversations recorded live at our bookshop in Paris. Capturing a decade of rich, revealing discussions, the episode revisits unforgettable moments with some of the world’s most acclaimed writers, exploring the craft of writing, the power of stories, and the electric atmosphere of bookshops. Expect insights into the creative process, unexpected moments of vulnerability, and reflections on how literature intersects with politics, identity, and the human condition. Featuring live clips and commentary, this episode is both a celebration and an invitation—to listen, to read, and to be part of the ongoing conversation.

Buy The Shakespeare and Company Book of Interviews: https://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/books/the-shakespeare-and-company-book-of-interviews-2

Featuring…

Percival Everett

Olivia Laing

Marlon James

George Saunders

Karl Ove Knausgaard

Colson Whitehead

Hari Kunzru

Leïla Slimani

Jesmyn Ward

Reni Eddo-Lodge

Carlo Rovelli

Jenny Zhang

Annie Ernaux

Rachel Cusk

Meena Kandasamy

Madeline Miller

Miriam Toews

Katie Kitamura

Claire-Louise Bennett

Geoff Dyer

Adam Biles is Literary Director at Shakespeare and Company.

Listen to Alex Freiman’s latest EP, In The Beginning: https://open.spotify.com/album/5iZYPMCUnG7xiCtsFCBlVa?si=h5x3FK1URq6SwH9Kb_SO3w

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Adam speaks with translator Frank Wynne and Argentinian writer Samanta Schweblin about the first-ever English edition of Mafalda, the beloved Argentine comic strip by Quino (Archipelago Books). Together, they explore how this precocious, principled six-year-old girl—who challenged everything from soup to capitalism—shaped generations of readers in Argentina and beyond. Frank discusses the joys and puzzles of translating Mafalda’s quick wit and political edge, while Samanta recalls how the strip introduced her to feminism, philosophy, and satire as a child. The conversation touches on cartooning as subversion, and why Mafalda’s questions still matter today. Whether you're meeting Mafalda for the first time or grew up with her, this episode is a moving celebration of one of the 20th century's most enduring comic heroines.

Buy Mafalda: https://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/books/mafalda-3

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Samanta Schweblin won the 2022 National Book Award for Translated Literature for her story collection, Seven Empty Houses. Her debut novel, Fever Dream, was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, and her novel Little Eyes and story collection Mouthful of Birds have been longlisted for the same prize. Her books have been translated into more than forty languages, and her stories have appeared in English in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Granta, Harper’s Magazine and elsewhere. Originally from Buenos Aires, Schweblin lives in Berlin. Good and Evil and Other Stories is her third collection.

Frank Wynne is a writer and award-winning literary translator. Born in Ireland he has lived and worked in Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Buenos Aires and currently lives in San José, Costa Rica. He has translated more than a dozen major novels, among them the works of Michel Houellebecq, Frédéric Beigbeder, Pierre Mérot and the Ivorian novelist Ahmadou Kourouma. A journalist and broadcaster, he has written for the Sunday Times, the Independent, the Irish Times, Melody Maker, and Time Out.

Adam Biles is Literary Director at Shakespeare and Company.

Listen to Alex Freiman’s latest EP, In The Beginning: https://open.spotify.com/album/5iZYPMCUnG7xiCtsFCBlVa?si=h5x3FK1URq6SwH9Kb_SO3w

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.