James Crawford's Avatar

James Crawford

@jdcrawf.bsky.social

THE EDGE OF THE PLAIN @canongatebooks @wwnorton | WILD HISTORY @BirlinnBooks | Presenter @BBCRadio4 TAKE FOUR BOOKS | Editor @PolygonBooks | CHAIR of the Board @edbookfest jamescrawford.space

772 Followers  |  637 Following  |  75 Posts  |  Joined: 17.11.2024  |  1.9169

Latest posts by jdcrawf.bsky.social on Bluesky

It’s a great round up - with different presenter every week. Well worth bookmarking!

07.10.2025 08:46 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Great programme John!

06.10.2025 14:41 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Love to see it! Light Years in particular is excellent

05.10.2025 20:37 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
BBC Radio 4 - Pick of the Week, James Crawford James Crawford presents a selection of the best bits of audio across the BBC.

My PICK OF THE WEEK!
Mexican gothic, railways, distortion, immortalists, unfolding landscapes & JMW Turner ft @petroc.bsky.social, @silviamg.bsky.social, @kermodemovie.bsky.social, @johnrobbofficial.bsky.social, @alekskrotoski.bsky.social, @adamrutherford.bsky.social
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

05.10.2025 18:37 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

This week on #TakeFourBooks on BBC Radio 4 I was talking to William Boyd about his new spy novel 'The Predicament' and 3 influences Lawrence Durrell, Len Deighton and John Le Carre - also with guest @louisewelsh00.bsky.social - listen now!
πŸ‘‡πŸŽ§πŸ“š
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

29.09.2025 10:18 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks John! Recordings are often a lot longer (Andrew was done at Hay and lasted almost an hour) - schedule slot is c28mins, but we’re looking at longer cuts for Sounds/podcasts (see recent Ian McEwan for instance which has extra 5 mins or so…)

25.09.2025 10:59 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Coming up later today on BBC Radio 4 I'm talking to Graham Norton on #TakeFourBooks about his latest novel Frankie, along with 3 influences - Elizabeth Bowen, Armistead Maupin & Gabrielle Zevin (and bonus influence Charlie Brown!) - at 4pm πŸ‘‡πŸŽ§πŸ“š
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

21.09.2025 12:09 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Take Four Books
@jdcrawf.bsky.social on R4 Sundays 4pm, always worth listening to. Sunday 14th Sept on Ian McEwan with @damedenisemina.bsky.social on Sounds particularly so.

20.09.2025 08:48 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image Post image

Loved talking to Ian McEwan (& @damedenisemina.bsky.social!) on BBCRadio4
#TakeFourBooks about climate, memory & the way the past haunts the present in his new @jonathancape.bsky.social novel WHAT WE CAN KNOW with 3 influences incl the epic
Footsteps by Richard Holmes
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

14.09.2025 15:26 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks to Radio 4's Take Four Books I'm re-reading The Bone People (Keri Hulme) about forty years after the first (and second) time. And it's still absolutely brilliant, so thank you for reminding me, Melissa Lucashenko and @jdcrawf.bsky.social

13.09.2025 10:34 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Great to hear Margaret - that’s exactly what the programme is all about!

13.09.2025 13:40 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image Post image

Listen now to my chat with Melissa Lucashenko on Radio4's #TakeFourBooks about her latest @oneworldbooks.bsky.social novel 'Edenglassie' and 3 influences incl Keri Hulme & Sebastian Barry (recorded with @rodgeglass.bsky.social & live audience at @edbookfest.bsky.social) www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

31.08.2025 15:22 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image

Listen to my chat with Sarah Hall on #TakeFourBooks on BBC Radio4 discussing new @faberbooks.bsky.social novel HELM (the first book to have a wind as its main character?) & 3 influences incl George Saunders & Angela Carter. With Alan McMunnigall of @thiwurd.bsky.social! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

24.08.2025 15:43 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image Post image

Listen now on BBC Radio4 to my chat with Rachel Kushner and live audience @edbookfest.bsky.social for #TakeFourBooks - talking about Creation Lake and 3 influences including Nabokov's Pale Fire and radical 1970s French crime noir! Also with @andrewmeehanesq.bsky.social
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

17.08.2025 16:16 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Listen now to @irvinewelsh.bsky.social on #TakeFourBooks on BBC Radio 4 - talking Trainspotting sequel 'Men In Love' and his 3 influences, no less than James Joyce, Marcel Proust and Bill Shakespeare! Also with guest @kirstininnes.bsky.social
πŸŽ§πŸ“šπŸ‘‡
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

10.08.2025 15:46 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
BBC at Edinburgh International Book Festival | Edinburgh International Book Festival Information on how you can get involved in BBC radio recordings happening at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Come and be part of a live Take Four Books audience this Saturday at Edinburgh International Book Festival - I’m talking to Rachel Kushner about her Booker-shortlisted Creation Lake and 3 influences! Book your FREE tickets here πŸ‘‡ www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival...

04.08.2025 15:06 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

A joy to commission this from Graeme Macrae Burnet - and fantastic to now see it making its way out into the world…

28.07.2025 12:56 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This was great fun and includes a short history of the great journalist Dorothy Thompson (β€˜Who Goes Nazi’) who was the 1st journalist expelled from Germany by Hitler

27.07.2025 15:51 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Listen now to our Radio4 #TakeFourBooks chat with @damedenisemina.bsky.social about new novel β€˜The Good Liar’, and 3 influences - 1984, Obedience to Authority and the Dorothy Thompson’s essay β€˜Who Goes Nazi?’ - also with Kim Sherwood! πŸ‘‡πŸŽ§πŸ“»πŸ“š
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

27.07.2025 15:26 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
Post image

We are excited to be partnering with the @edbookfest.bsky.social to bring a super panel of international publishers together, chaired by the fabulous @jdcrawf.bsky.social to discuss 'Books that Travel'.
www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival... part of the Global Ink Industry series, Tuesday 12 August.

22.07.2025 14:31 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image Post image

Listen now to my chat on Radio4 with Gurnaik Johal on his debut @serpents-tail.bsky.social novel Saraswati on #TakeFourBooks: where a lost river re-emerges in contemporary India. His 3 influences include @amitav.bsky.social, Joseph Conrad and poet Natalie Diaz! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

20.07.2025 15:28 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

A long train journey means starting another pick from Take Four Books with @jdcrawf.bsky.social Looking forward to this one.

16.07.2025 05:58 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image

Listen now to my chat with Colm Toibin on #TakeFourBooks on Radio 4 - talking about Long Island (his first sequel!) and three influences, Hardy, Conrad & Wharton - also with @jancarsonwrites.bsky.social! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

13.07.2025 15:11 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image Post image

Listen now to my chat on Radio 4's #TakeFourBooks with Madeleine Thien about her new, time-warping @grantabooks.bsky.social novel of war, exile and refugees, 'The Book of Records' - and her three influences, including the evergreen 'Invisible Cities' by Italo Calvino...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

29.06.2025 15:06 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
Post image Post image

A joy to talk to @wednesdayerskin.bsky.social about her new, polyphonic novel 'The Benefactors' on #TakeFourBooks, along with 3 influences Chernobyl Prayer, The Slap and @larapawson.bsky.social's This Is The Place to Be - listen now on Radio 4 & BBC Sounds!
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

22.06.2025 14:56 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
Post image

This Sunday at 4.00pm on BBC Radio 4, Take Four Books focuses on The Benefactors. I’m joined by my brill pal Emma Warren and I talk about, among other books This is the Place to Be by @larapawson.bsky.social, published by @cbeditions.bsky.social. I love this programme so was made up to be on it.

20.06.2025 08:33 β€” πŸ‘ 55    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2

Thanks Caroline!

16.06.2025 10:51 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I loved this episode, an exploration of what sounds like a beautiful book about storytelling & interconnection The comment β€œthe same water we might have shed as tears yesterday may be the same drop that fell on the head of a mighty king in Ancient Assyria” may have led to a few tears itself.

15.06.2025 19:38 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks Helen!

15.06.2025 20:23 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image Post image

Listen to us chat to Elif Shafak behind the scenes at @hayfestival.bsky.social on R4 #TakeFourBooks: talking 'There Are Rivers in the Sky' & 3 influences including the earliest recorded poem The Epic of Gilgamesh - along with first national poet of Wales, Gwyneth Lewis! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

15.06.2025 19:07 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1

@jdcrawf is following 20 prominent accounts