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David Sanger’s debut novel is 'All Their Minds in Tandem' (Quercus). Set in West Virginia 14 years after the end of the civil war, the book asks the question: Would we be better off without our troubling memories? David tells Ian that the book began with character and he had to allow the characters to develop before researching the period he was writing about.

The poet Claire Askew’s latest collection ‘This Changes Things’ (Bloodaxe) also deals with memory. Inspired by another poet, Sharon Olds, she examines what it means to be in love with her female relatives. The collection also features a found poem comprised of sayings of her Grandmother, and she explains that through reading the poem aloud she has discovered how some of the sayings invoke a collective memory, but some are more unique…

Greta and Robert’s work challenges the idea that writing poetry is a solitary pursuit with their collection ‘Points for Time in the Sky’, which they wrote collaboratively. The collection is a ‘psychogeographical journey around Britain in their heads’ and has been published by their new publishing company New River Press, which aims to encourage young poets by putting poetry in non-traditional spaces.

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New River Press

RM Hubbert’s latest collaborative album is ‘Telling the Trees’. He wrote the album with the aim of working with more women songwriters. His collaborators, who included Kathryn Williams and Eleanor Friedberger, were sent Hubbert’s melodies, and asked not to get back in touch until they had finished writing the lyrics, which meant that every song was a surprise. RM Hubbert is joined in The Verb studio by Katherine Joseph who explains how she overcame the difficulties of adding lyrics to something that felt perfect already.

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