Portable Magic: A History of Books and their Readers with Emma Smith

In this episode, Ladey Adey interviews Emma Smith. 

Emma joined a live book academy group call to talk about her experiences as an author, her book, and her studies. This podcast episode is shared from the recording of the session. 

Dr. Emma Smith is a Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Hertford College. A Fellow Librarian, Director of Teaching, and author.

Emma introduces her book Portable Magic: A History of Books and their Readers.

We hear about Emma's take on "Bookhood", their physical form, their smell, their presence in our lives, and the feelings that books can ignite in readers. 

Portable Magic unfurls an exciting and iconoclastic new story of the book in human hands, exploring when, why, and how it acquired its particular hold over us.

Within Emma's book, she dedicates chapters to exploring historic and difficult topics, discussing where these fit in our life now and whether profits should be made from them. 

Useful links

Guest: Emma Smith

Book: Portable Magic: A History of Books and their Readers

Book link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-Magic-History-Books-Readers/dp/0241427266/ 

Ladey Adey: https://www.ladeyadey.com/ 

Book Academy: https://www.ladeyadey.com/the-book-academy/ 

Vicky Galbraith - Podcast VA: www.podcastva.co.uk 

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