Ian Patterson & Ali Smith: Books – A Manifesto

In Books: A Manifesto (Weidenfeld) subtitled How to Build a Library, poet and critic Ian Patterson reflects on a life spent with and formed by books. Now, as he constructs the last of many libraries, he makes an impassioned case for the radical importance of reading in our lives - from Proust to Jilly Cooper, from golden-age detective novels to avant-garde poetry. He talked about books and libraries with the novelist Ali Smith who, in Public Library and Other Stories, explored our many-faceted fascination with the book.

You can listen to Ian Patterson & Ali Smith: Books – A Manifesto online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Ian Patterson & Ali Smith: Books – A Manifesto is an episode from London Review Bookshop Podcast by London Review Bookshop.

This episode is 62:56 long.

This episode was published on Apr 18, 2026.

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