Neil Gaiman sends Damien Walter on a tour of Weird London, invites a panel of guests to assess the future of literature and reads his haunting story, Down to a Sunless Sea

This week's podcast heads into strange territory, guided by the Books site's editor-for-a-day, Neil Gaiman.

First, we follow Damien Walter on the trail of Weird London, a parallel city that has been built on the banks of another Thames by writers of fantasy fiction. He explores why the capital has made such fertile ground for writers who look beyond the real, along with Tom Pollock, M John Harrison and the owner of the Atlantis Bookshop, Geraldine Beskin.

Back in the studio, Cory Doctorow outlines how the digital revolution is transforming writers' lives. But how are authors to make money? The agent Jonny Geller and the head of Faber Digital, Henry Volans, investigate how writers can survive in a new publishing landscape.

We finish with a live reading by Neil Gaiman of the haunting story he contributed to the Guardian's Water stories, Down to a Sunless Sea.

Reading list

The City's Son by Tom Pollock (Jo Fletcher Books)

From Hell by Alan Moore (Knockabout Comics)

The Course of the Heart by M John Harrison (Flamingo)

Down to a Sunless Sea by Neil Gaiman

