Episode 37

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Published on:

13th Dec 2023

Masculinity and Memoir - Blake Morrison on Family Life

Blake Morrison’s award-winning, bestselling memoir ‘And When Did You Last See Your Father?’ is an honest and intimate portrait of family life, father-son relations, and the impact of bereavement. Since it came out in 1993, Blake has continued to revisit his family’s past through ‘Things My Mother Never Told Me’ (2002), and is ‘still working things out’ in his poignant recent book ‘Two Sisters’, about his sister Gill and half-sister Josie, published earlier this year.

In this episode, Blake reads extracts from ‘Two Sisters’ and ‘And When Did You Last See Your Father?’, and we explore with him key themes in his work, including: sibling relationships; family secrets; men controlling women; male violence; transitions in father-son relations; youthful rebellion, and becoming a man. We also discuss issues around men, emotion and grief, the genres of ‘sib-lit’ and ‘dad-lit’, and the impact of feminism on Blake’s own development and writing. 

As well as a memoirist, Blake is a poet, novelist, and journalist. His published work includes the poetry collections ‘Dark Glasses’, ‘The Ballad of the Yorkshire Ripper’ and ‘Shingle Street’, and most recently, ‘Skin and Blister’, and four novels, including ‘The Last Weekend’ and ‘The Executor’. He’s a regular literary critic for the Guardian newspaper and the London Review of Books, and is Professor Emeritus of creative and life writing at Goldsmiths University. Born in Yorkshire, he has lived in South London for many years. 

We cover the following in this episode:

  • Reading from 'Two Sisters' (01:24-06:42)
  • Blake’s motivations for writing the book (06:42-08:14)
  • Why brothers don’t write about sisters (08:14-10:12)
  • Examples of ‘sib-lit’ (10:12-11:47)
  • The impact of alcoholism on Gill (11:47-13:46)
  • Alcoholism and gender (13:46-16:04)
  • Male violence and the efforts of adults to hide it (16:04-19:18)
  • The significance of women in Blake’s life (19:18-21:02)
  • The supposed stability of 1950s/60s family life (21:02-22:22)
  • Reading from ‘And When Did you Last See Your Father?' (22:22-26:09)
  • Why the book was so successful (26:09-27:47)
  • The extent to which Blake’s portrayal of fatherhood was culturally specific (27:47-30:21)
  • ‘Dad-lit’ and other authors to read on father-son relations (30:21-32:28)
  • Shifts in Blake’s relationship with his dad and how he saw him (32:28-34:41)
  • Blake’s capacity for writing honestly and sensitively about emotion (34:41-37:21)
  • Where Blake himself fits into his memoirs (37:21-39:39)
  • Gender and dealing with grief (39:39-41:25)
  • Why Blake kept his Dad's pacemaker (41:25-43:46)
  • What led him to write ‘Things My Mother Never Told Me’ (43:46-46:43)
  • The impact feminism had on Blake and his writing (46:43-50:32)
  • The influence that poetry and literature can have on young men (50:32-55:03)
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About the Podcast

Now and Men
Changing Masculinities, Challenging Norms
What role can men play in achieving gender equality?
Why is feminism good for men?
How are rigid ideas about masculinity holding back our lives—and how are people around the world challenging them?

These are the questions at the heart of Now and Men, a podcast hosted by social researchers Dr Stephen Burrell (Lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Australia) and Sandy Ruxton (Independent Researcher and Honorary Fellow at Durham University, UK).

We explore masculinity and change in the lives of men and boys today, diving into issues such as gender-based violence, fatherhood, men’s health, politics and the environment. Grounded in feminist thinking, our conversations connect big ideas to everyday experiences—showing how gender shapes all of us, and how men can be part of building a more equal world.

At a time when regressive versions of masculinity are resurging—amplified by political leaders, online influencers, even podcasters—we spotlight the people pushing back. Each episode features inspiring voices working to engage men and boys in positive, transformative ways and imagining feminist futures.

New episodes drop every month. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts, and join us in exploring what healthy, caring, equitable paths forward can look like for men. Questions or comments? We’d love to hear from you at nowandmen@gmail.com.

About your hosts

Stephen Burrell

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I am a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Melbourne. I'm originally from the UK, and moved to Australia at the beginning of 2024. My research is about men, masculinities, and violence. I am particularly interested in the prevention of men's violence - especially violence against women, and violence against the environment - and promoting care as an alternative. I'm a big fan of feminism, drinking tea, connecting with nature, eating vegan snacks, and listening to heavy metal.

Sandy Ruxton

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Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Durham University (UK). Independent researcher, expert on men and masculinities. Previous policy work on human rights, children and families, poverty and social exclusion, and asylum and migration. Programme experience with boys and young men in schools, community, and prisons. Steering Committee member, MenEngage Europe. Volunteer for OX4 Food Crew. Chess-player, bike-rider, tree-hugger. Great grandfather edited Boy's Own Paper, but was sacked.