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Heyer Today

Heyer Today: a podcast about Georgette Heyer 

Last year, we won bronze for our season 1: The Sugar Baby Confessionals. This year, we’ve given ourselves a massive challenge: we’ve created a series twice as long, with over 39 participants, original music, a cinematic investigation and a book club rolled into one.

And guess what? Episode 1, featuring Stephen Fry, is already out now!

From February 2020, we’ll be releasing half our epic season on a weekly basis. What’s it like? Try a mash up of You Must Remember This, Unspooled and the Guardian Books Podcast. It’s hilarious, poignant, insightful, historically fascinating, smart and full of fabulous guests (who? Glad you asked… only Stephen Fry, Joanne Harris, Harriet Evans, Mary Jo Putney…to name but three).

What’s it about?

“I think myself I ought to be shot for writing such nonsense.”

As a bestselling author, Georgette Heyer hasn’t been out of print since 1921 – so why hasn’t Hollywood snapped up her plots for a big screen franchise?

  • Jane Austen – 6 best-selling Regency romances; 6 major screen adaptations.
  • Georgette Heyer – 34 best-selling Regency romances; 0 major screen adaptations.

One major film producer has been trying to get the first big screen adaptation of Heyer’s ‘The Grand Sophy’ made for years, but what’s been standing in the way? We’ll investigate the difficulties facing film makers when it comes to period work.

Plus, find out what the uber-Heyerites think of Sophy’s choice. We chat to Peter Buckman (agent for Heyer’s estate) about his struggles with trying to get a Heyer film made, and we  chart his journey towards adapting one of her books himself.

Join our Regency romance book club!

Every alternate week, we’ll attempt to convert people who’ve never heard of Heyer, including comedians Emma Moran, Glen Tickle, Dom Patmore, Rhiannon Shaw and Kate Hinksman.

Discover what Hollywood producers, Australian biographers, British national treasures and worldwide readers think about Heyer’s popularity. And join super-fans and newbies as they discover and discuss some of the top-selling novels of our time – in Heyer Today.

Highlights include:

  • Actor Stephen Fry on how he came to be hooked on Heyer
  • Author Joanne Harris on why adapting books into film can be problematic
  • Producer Andy Paterson discusses a mystery project and the difficulties of bringing Heyer’s work to the screen
  • Best-selling historical romance novelist, Mary Jo Putney, on writing Regency romance through a 21st century lens
  • Peter Buckman on his joy in adapting Heyer’s work
  • Romance novelist Harriet Evans lists her all-time favourite Heyers and why
  • Susannah Fullerton, head of the Jane Austen Society in Australia, compares Austen and Heyer
  • Acclaimed biographer Jennifer Kloester shares some anecdotes about her journey in discovering never-before-seen letters from Heyer and doing Heyer justice
  • Blogger Eleanor Turner (Jane to Georgette) discusses Heyer related on-dits and crim cons
  • Comedians who’ve never read Heyer, fall in love (or not!) with her work
  • Author Jane Holland and literary agent Alison Bonami from LBA on Heyer’s greatest romantic heroes
  • Audio drama inspired by Heyer’s life
  • Music from the incomparable Emma Gatrill and Message to Bears, plus original music composed especially for the podcast

PLEASE RATE, REVIEW AND SUBSCRIBE TO KEEP US GOING…

Feb 26, 2020

This week we look at Heyer’s treatment of her heroes and heroines and unpick why she was largely ignored by the literati. Our guests are two people who could definitely fall into that category: Alison Bonomi of the LBA literary agency and poet and novelist Jane Holland.

With Charlotte Lamb as her mum, Jane knows all...


Feb 19, 2020

 

Heyer Today is the ultimate Georgette Heyer podcast. This week bass player and teacher, Khalid Ham, joins us to talk about one of Heyer’s most popular books: Devil’s Cub. As he’s the same age as Vidal, Sara-Mae quizzes him on the similarities between himself and the hot-headed hero.

Plus, we journey to 1920s...


Feb 12, 2020

Heyer Today is the ultimate Georgette Heyer podcast. This week we talk to Emma Darwin. She's the only author to be simultaneously listed for the Commonwealth Writers' Best First Book, AND the Romantic Novelist's Association Book of the Year.

And she has one other small detail about her ancestry that people tend to...


Feb 5, 2020

Heyer Today is the ultimate podcast on Regency romance queen, Georgette Heyer. This week is the first of our biweekly book club episodes, featuring two potential converts, Sonali and Genna, audio drama on Heyer’s life and a juicy historical contextualisation segment giving an insight into Heyer’s world around the...