The fourth episode of The London Library Podcast is now live. This month we're delighted to be joined Ahsan Akbar - a London Library member, poet, co-founder of the Dhaka Literary Festival and owner of Teatulia tea shop and bar in Covent Garden.

In conversation with The London Library’s Director, Philip Marshall, Ahsan discusses the books that have shaped his life, including The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi; A Bend in the River by V S Naipaul; Money by Martin Amis; Virginia Woolf's Orlando and Reunion by Fred Uhlman.

The London Library Podcast launched on 18 November 2019 and features a leading writer or figure in the cultural world discussing the books which have shaped them. Each month the guest is in conversation with The London Library’s Director, Philip Marshall and will delve into the Library’s archive and collection to uncover treasured books and nuggets of historical detail about the guest’s book choices.

The London Library Podcast is a celebration of books and the ideas they inspire and a personal love letter from each guest to the books that have been most influential to them.

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As we gear up for the first performance of Creation Theatre’s The Time Machine on 29th February, we’ve been exploring our membership records to unearth some of the many links HG Wells had with the Library during his 50-year membership.

Wells joined the Library on 9th April 1896 a year after his first novel The Time Machine had been serialised in the New Review and then published in book form to international acclaim.

It was an extraordinarily productive period in his life – he’d already largely written the Invisible Man and his third novel The Island of Dr Moreau appeared in the same month he became a Library member.

Many of Wells' contacts from that time became Library members. In September 1896, WE Henley Editor of the New Review and the man responsible for serialising the Time Machine joined the Library. Wells had dedicated The Time Machine to him and he became a regular at Wells’ social gatherings.

In the same year, Wells also began correspondence with the emerging novelist Joseph Conrad. Conrad joined the Library in 1897 and along with novelist Henry James the trio become regular visitors to their respective Kentish seaside homes.

In 1902 we see Lewis Hind joining the Library. As editor of The Pall Mall Budget he had given Wells his first big break, publishing 36 of his short stories in 1894. Also in 1902 Wells nominated Sidney Bowkett as a Library member. Bowkett was his great school friend from the age of eight – the pair lost touch but met up by accident in 1898 and their friendship resumed.

One of the most striking membership records is that of Cicily Fairfield, who under the pen name Rebecca West went on to become a highly celebrated writer, a Dame and a Library vice-president, remaining a Library member until her death in 1983.

Wells met the 20-year-old Fairfield in 1912 after the pair agreed to have lunch following her dismissive review of one of his articles. The following year they begin a relationship and by November 1913 Fairfield was pregnant and the couple were talking of living together under assumed names. (Their son, Anthony West was born in August 1914).

Rebecca West joined the Library in January 1914 – her application form is seconded by HG Wells.

The third episode of The London Library Podcast is now live. This month we're delighted to be joined by actor and rare book dealer Neil Pearson.

Neil talks about the five books that have shaped his life, schooling and various career choices. His book selection includes the Jennings series, Henry Miller and Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter.

The London Library Podcast launched on 18 November 2019 and features a leading writer or figure in the cultural world discussing the books which have shaped them. Each month the guest is in conversation with The London Library’s Director, Philip Marshall and will delve into the Library’s archive and collection to uncover treasured books and nuggets of historical detail about the guest’s book choices.

The London Library Podcast is a celebration of books and the ideas they inspire and a personal love letter from each guest to the books that have been most influential to them.

Listen to the podcast