Happy Bloomsday! This month I'm delighted to welcome back writer and top-tier Joycean David Collard to celebrate the publication (on 16 June, no less) of Guillermo Stitch's dazzling new novel The Coast of Everything.

Guillermo Stitch's Substack:

https://guillermostitch.substack.com/

Support the podcast:

https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender

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

This month on The Allender Calendar I’m talking to comedian, broadcaster, and very good friend John Robins about his book Thirst: Twelve Drinks That Changed My Life. It's a beautifully written account of alcoholism and recovery – candid, profound and very funny. I’m positive it will help a lot of people. I’m extremely proud of John for writing this book, and for getting to the place he’s at now. It was great to talk to him about the writing process, and about addiction, spirituality and much more. I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation!

You can get hold of a copy of Thirst here:

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/465247/thirst-by-robins-john/9780241740040

And, if you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:

https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender

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

This month on the pod I'm joined by London-based Cardiff-born musician Simon Love! Simon is a superb songwriter with excellent pop smarts, an innate feeling for hooks, and a gift for Ray Davies-esque scene-setting. His lyrics are often very funny (in particular the bridge-burning bitterness of 'Green Man Blues'), but there's a noticeable air of melancholy to his new album The One True Prince of Wales (in exile after abdication), which contains songs about grief, nostalgia, exile and childhood.

Simon's album was released on 3 April by Hurrah Musica, and you can buy it here (it's also on the streamers):

https://hurrahmusica.bandcamp.com/album/the-one-true-prince-of-wales

And you can find out more about Simon's previous records here:

http://simonlove.org/

Follow Simon on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/simonloverules/

If you want to support the pod, you can buy me a coffee here:

https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender

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