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We’re a weekly podcast for anyone who writes. We talk to writers about their writing journeys and techniques, from early career debuts to self-publishers and narrative designers. We’ve featured Margaret Atwood, Jackie Kay, Sara Collins, Antti Tuomainen, Val McDermid, Sarah Perry, Elif Shafak and many more!
The Writing Life is produced by the National Centre for Writing at Dragon Hall in Norwich.
The podcast The Writing Life is created by National Centre for Writing. The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).
In this episode of The Writing Life, writers Alex Allison, George Harrison, and Ashley Hickson-Lovence share their insights into writing about sport and modern masculinity.
Alex Allison is a writer from London. He is the author of two novels, published by Dialogue. His second novel, Greatest of All Time, was released on 30th January 2025. With humour, heart and a touch of rebellion, Greatest of All Time explores queer love and the trials of growing up in the hyper-masculine world of sport.
George Harrison is a writer based in Norwich. His debut novel, Season, is published by Eye Books. Set on the terraces of a fictionalised football club and old through thirty-eight chapters – one for each game of the Premier League campaign – Season is a lyrical, hypnotic and gently uplifting study of loneliness and modern masculinity. He wrote Season while participating in our Escalator New Writing Fellowships.
Ashley Hickson-Lovence is a novelist, poet, literary critic and Lecturer of Creative Writing. His second novel Your Show, published by Faber in 2022, was shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Awards. Your Show is the thrilling story of one man’s pioneering efforts to make it, against the odds, to the very top of his profession as a football referee and beyond.
Together, they discuss their novels Greatest of All Time and Season, and how they capture the unifying role of football. They also touch on the framework of their novels, the importance of writing a novel that you would want to read, and the challenge of balancing modern masculinity with intimacy and vulnerability in their writing.
In this episode of The Writing Life, writer, poetry programmer, and NCW Academy mentor Julia Bird shares her insights into developing your creative practice.
Julia Bird is a highly experienced poetry programmer who has worked for organisations including the Poetry School and The Poetry Society. As a freelancer, she’s worked for literary development agencies, festivals, publishers and magazines, and in arts, university and healthcare settings. Through her company Jaybird Live Literature she has produced eight Arts Council England-funded touring poetry shows; and she is the author or co-author of six poetry collections.
She sits down with NCW Programme Officer Ellie to discuss practical advice for those looking to pursue a creative career. Together, they explore how structured mentoring can help writers to develop their practice, guidance for bringing out the vibrancy of your ideas in funding applications, and the barriers writers and creatives may face along the way.
If you're interested in learning more from Julia, go to nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/mentoring/ to book a mentoring session with her now.
In this episode of The Writing Life, writer Chloe Dalton shares her insights into writing about nature and landscape.
Chloe Dalton is a foreign policy specialist and writer. She spent over a decade working in the UK Parliament and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as a special adviser and speechwriter. She now works as a consultant on international political and humanitarian issues. Raising Hare is her debut book.
She sits down with NCW Head of Programmes & Creative Engagement Holly to discuss her debut nature book Raising Hare, which tells the story of the unusual experience of raising a leveret to adulthood and beyond. Together, they explore the importance of nature writing and its ability to educate and entertain readers, the art of observation and noticing, and the power of research when writing about nature, wildlife and the environment.
In this episode of The Writing Life, YA writer Abiola Bello shares her insights into writing festive novels.
Abiola Bello is a Nigerian-British, prize-winning children’s/YA author who was born and raised in London. She is an advocate for diversity in books for young people. Her debut YA, 'Love in Winter Wonderland', was published in winter 2022. It was an Amazon Number 1 bestseller, The Bookseller One To Watch, Amazon Editor's Choice for Black History Month 2022, featured in The Guardian Children's & Teens Best New Novels and was on an Amazon Billboard for Black History Month in Leicester Square. Her latest book 'Only For the Holidays' was published autumn 2023.
She sits down with NCW Communications Assistant Caitlin to discuss her festive YA books 'Love in Winter Wonderland' and 'Only for the Holidays'. Together, they explore Abiola's advice for creating the perfect festive setting, her decision to write dual perspective books, and the importance of diversity in media set at Christmas.
In this episode of The Writing Life podcast, cultural writer and editor Josh Baines is joined by narrative non-fiction writer Aniefiok Ekpoudom to discuss writing about the music industry.
Aniefiok ‘Neef’ Ekpoudom is a writer and storyteller from South London whose work documents community and culture in contemporary Britain. His debut book Where We Come From: Rap Home and Hope in Modern Britain is a social history of British Rap. It was released via Faber & Faber in January 2024.
Together, Josh and Aniefiok discuss Neef's route into journalism, and why he decided to write about music in his debut book. They also touch on writing national and landmark stories, how to turn real life events into fully immersive and colourful storytelling, and the process of interviewing and reporting for narrative non-fiction.
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Chief Executive Peggy is joined by bestselling author Peter James to discuss researching for crime novels.
Peter James is a UK No.1 bestselling author, best known for his Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, now a hit ITV drama starring John Simm as the troubled Brighton copper.
Much loved by crime and thriller fans for his fast-paced page-turners full of unexpected plot twists, sinister characters, and accurate portrayal of modern day policing, he has won over 40 awards for his work including the WHSmith Best Crime Author of All Time Award and Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger.
Together, Peter and Peggy discuss the practical implications of his research for his thriller novels. They also touch on the start of his writing career, his advice for keeping readers glued to the page, and his process for writing and developing the characters for his crime thriller series.
In this podcast, NCW Communications & Participation Assistant Ruby is joined by S G Bell to discuss routes into writing.
S G Bell is a writer working from his rural home in Norfolk. The Epilogue Event is the first instalment in the AI Aftermath series. In his fiction, he explores ideas intercepted at the boundaries of his professional and academic experience – most specifically, speculations about the vulnerability of social groups, and the existential challenges emerging from the internet and artificial intelligence.
Together, Simon and Ruby discuss his debut novel The Epilogue Event, and the circumstances that led to him becoming a novelist. They also touch on the benefits of uniting with a community of emerging writers, the idea of ‘failing forward’, and the benefits of continued learning.
Simon is a graduate of our Develop Your Fiction course. If you’re considering signing up for an online tutored course, go to our website and click NCW Academy now to find out more about our course programme, read more success stories like Simon’s, and discover why you should learn with us.
In this podcast, NCW Head of Programme & Creative Engagement Holly is joined by author Ferdia Lennon to discuss writing dialect in fiction.
Ferdia Lennon was born and raised in Dublin. He holds a BA in History and Classics from University College Dublin and an MA in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia. His short stories have appeared in publications such as The Irish Times and The Stinging Fly. In 2019 and 2021, he received Literature Bursary Awards from the Arts Council of Ireland. Glorious Exploits is his first novel. A Sunday Times bestseller, it was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as a Book at Bedtime and was the winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024.
Together, Holly and Ferdia discuss his debut novel Glorious Exploits, and his decision to represent contemporary Dublin-Irish dialect through his writing. They also touch on writing a story within a story, how language and dialect can make historical fiction more accessible, and the important decision of whose voice and delivery should lead the story.
In this episode of The Writing Life, poets Rebecca Goss and Heidi Williamson discuss using place as a vessel to write about difficult subjects and memories in poetry.
Rebecca Goss is a poet, tutor and mentor, living in Suffolk. Her poems have appeared in many literary journals, anthologies and have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Arts online. Her third full-length collection, Girl, was published with Carcanet/Northern House in 2019 and was shortlisted in the East Anglian Book Awards 2019. Her fourth full-length collection, Latch, was published in 2023.
Heidi Williamson’s first collection Electric Shadow was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry Prize. Heidi works with poets worldwide by Skype as a Poetry Surgeon for The Poetry Society, teaches for The Poetry School, and mentors writers through the National Centre for Writing.
In this podcast, Rebecca and Heidi discuss the moments they knew they were ready to write about their past experiences, and the power that comes from giving yourself permission to feel the happiness alongside the pain when writing about difficult moments in their lives. They also explore the importance of drawing from memories of landscape and place, the power of quietness in poetry, and how researching for writing may initially feel inauthentic but is actually a powerful tool for building depth.
In this podcast, NCW Programme Officer Ellie is joined by author and presenter Nick Acheson to discuss structuring non-fiction, and how to create rhythm with your writing.
Nick Acheson is an author, conservationist and environmentalist living in North Norfolk. He has written for BBC Wildlife, British Birds, British Wildlife, The Guardian, The Big Issue, BTO News, The Countryman and numerous other publications. His book The Meaning of Geese was published in February 2023, and was awarded the East Anglian Book of the Year 2023
Together, Ellie and Nick discuss his book The Meaning of Geese, and why he decided to build the book with journal entries. They also touch on writing about climate change, the editing process for non-fiction books, and how to interest readers with a topic that they may not have previously considered.
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Associate Programme Director Kate Griffin is joined by writers Maarja Pärtna and Penny Boxall to discuss the process of multi-disciplinary collaboration.
Maarja Pärtna is an Estonian writer, translator, and editor who focuses on socio-ecological themes in her work. She has published five poetry collections. Pärtna has worked as an editor of both a literary magazine and a cultural newspaper, and edited several poetry collections. Her poems have been translated into more than ten languages.
Penny Boxall is a poet and children’s writer who has worked in various UK museums. She won the 2016 Edwin Morgan Poetry Award with her debut collection, Ship of the Line. Her fourth poetry book, The Curiosities, about the materiality of memory, was published in June 2024.
In this podcast, they discuss their experience collaborating together on the ‘Bring Your Own Utopia’ project with Prima Vista Literary Festival, and read some of their writing from the project. They also touch on the vulnerability of working collaboratively, how collaboration is a great opportunity to learn from other writers and artists, and their advice for other writers planning to collaborate across borders.
In this episode of The Writing Life, novelists and NCW Academy tutors Benjamin Johncock and Megan Bradbury give insight into their writing lives, and offer their advice to emerging novelists and writers of all kinds.
Benjamin Johncock is an award-winning novelist, short story writer and journalist. His debut novel, The Last Pilot, was published in the U.S. and U.K. to widespread critical acclaim. It won the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award, was shortlisted for the East Anglian Book of the Year, selected for Brave New Reads, and was one of The Observer’s Hidden Gems of 2016.
Megan Bradbury is a British writer, tutor, and mentor, and author of the critically acclaimed novel, Everyone is Watching. Described as a ‘beating heart of a novel’ by Ali Smith and ‘kaleidoscopic’ by Eimear McBride, the novel was longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, and was listed as one of the Guardian’s Best Books of 2016.
Benjamin and Megan will be teaching on our beginner and intermediate online tutored fiction courses, which begin on Monday 23 September. This podcast is a great first look into the practical advice and guidance they offer on their courses, and an excellent insight into their writing and teaching styles. If you listen to this podcast and would like the opportunity to learn more from Benjamin or Megan, you can go to nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/academy/tutored-courses/ to find out more.
In this podcast, Benjamin and Megan discuss the writing tools, programmes and learning opportunities available for emerging writers, and the benefits of continued learning. They also touch on the early influences in their writing, how their routines have changed over time, and the challenge of separating your creative life from your domestic life.
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Programme Officer Vicki is joined by novelist and NCW Academy tutor Melissa Fu to discuss the difficult task of writing your second novel.
Melissa’s writing appears in several publications including The Lonely Crowd, International Literature Showcase, Bare Fiction, Wasafiri Online, and The Willowherb Review. In 2019, her debut poetry pamphlet was published by the Hedgehog Poetry Press. Her first novel, Peach Blossom Spring, was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick in the UK and a 2022 Indies Introduce title for the American Booksellers Association. It has also been nominated as 2022 Book of the Year by the Book of the Month Club.
Melissa will be teaching on our 12-week beginners’ online tutored course ‘How to Write Fiction’, which begins on Monday 23 September 2024. This podcast is an excellent sneak peek into the practical advice and guidance Melissa offers on this course, and a great introduction to her writing and teaching style. If you listen to this podcast and would like the opportunity to learn more from Melissa, you can go to nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/academy/tutored-courses/ to find out more.
Together, Vicki and Melissa discuss the writing process for the ‘difficult second novel’, and how writing her debut novel Peach Blossom Spring has differed from her experience working on her second book. They also touch on Melissa’s journey into writing, her daily writing routine, and the challenges she has faced since publication.
In this episode of The Writing Life podcast, NCW Communications Assistant Caitlin is joined by author PJ Ellis to discuss writing romantic comedies.
PJ Ellis is a journalist covering relationships, pop culture and LGBTQ+ issues. His writing has appeared in publications including GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller, Men’s Health and MTV. His short fiction has been longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Love & Other Scams was his first novel, and his second novel We Could Be Heroes was published in June 2024.
Together, they discuss his romantic comedy We Could Be Heroes, and its exploration of queer identities and closeted relationships. They also touch on writing different types of relationships, setting novels across multiple timelines, and how to keep your writing lighthearted and funny even when addressing difficult topics and situations.
In this episode of The Writing Life podcast, NCW Chief Executive Peggy Hughes is joined by author Jon McGregor to discuss researching for fiction.
Jon McGregor is an award-winning author and short story writer. He has been nominated for the Booker Prize for three of his novels, including his 2002 debut If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, which also went on to win the Betty Trask Prize and the Somerset Maugham Award. His third novel, Even the Dogs (2010) earned McGregor the International Dublin Literary Award in 2012, whilst his 2017 work Reservoir 13 scooped up the Costa Book Award. His latest book Learn Fall Stand was a Waterstones Fiction Book of the Month.
Together, they discuss his book Lean Fall Stand, which was inspired by his travels to Antarctica in 2004. They also touch on the challenge of writing complicated characters and storylines, how to turn real-world experience into fiction, and the importance of risk taking in writing.
In this episode of The Writing Life, scriptwriters Stephen Keyworth and James McDermott discuss the craft and industry of writing for long-running radio or television serials, commonly known as soaps.
Stephen Keyworth is an award-winning director and writer who has worked extensively as a director in theatre and written over 60 hours of television, film and radio. His doctors episode ‘The Joe Pasquale Problem’ was shortlisted for the Writers Guild of Great Britain Awards, and his Radio 4 adaptation of The Man Who Fell To Earth can currently be heard on BBC Sounds.
James McDermott is a writer based in East Anglia. He graduated from the University of East Anglia with an MA in Scriptwriting and First Class BA Honours in Scriptwriting and Performance. James has written multiple episodes of BBC One soap opera 'EastEnders' and plays for BBC Radio 4. His short films include 'Clause', which was nominated for Best East Anglian Film at Norwich Film Festival 2023.
Together, they discuss their personal journeys into writing for soaps, the process of writing a script, and the power of humour in this kind of writing. They also touch on life as a freelance writer, the importance of structure in a writing routine, and what they were able to learn from watching the episodes they wrote for.
In this episode of The Writing Life, we’re joined by writers and NCW Academy tutors Dan Richards and Edward Parnell to discuss the process of researching, writing, and publishing narrative non-fiction books.
Dan Richards is a writer and journalist who specialises in travel, memoir, and culture. He has taught at Bristol University, and currently tutors for NCW Academy. His book Outpost: A Journey to the Wild Ends of the Earth examines the appeal and pull of far-flung shelters in mountains, tundra, forests, oceans & deserts; landscapes which have long inspired adventurers, pilgrims, writers, & artists. His new book, Overnight, an exploration of nocturnal operations which replenish, repair and protect the world whilst most of us are asleep, is set to be published later this year.
Edward Parnell has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. He’s been the recipient of an Escalator Award from the National Centre for Writing, and has taught Creative Non-Fiction wish us since 2020. His second book, Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country, a work of narrative non-fiction was published in hardback in the UK during October 2019 by William Collins, and subsequently released in the UK and US in paperback in October 2020. The book was shortlisted for the PEN Ackerley Prize 2020 for memoir and autobiography.
Both Dan and Edward are tutors for our online tutored creative non-fiction courses, and you can find out when their upcoming courses with us by visiting nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/academy/tutored-courses/
Together, they discuss their experiences researching and writing their books Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country and Outpost: A Journey to the Wild Ends of the Earth, the importance of being open to all subject manners and commission possibilities, and how writing non-fiction allows you to meet and connect with groups of people from various walks of life. They also touch on the ongoing editing process of writing non-fiction, the advantages of not writing in a linear way, and the differences in the process and pay of writing a non-fiction book compared to a fiction novel.
In this episode of The Writing Life podcast, NCW Chief Executive Peggy Hughes is joined by author and professional campaigner Sarah P Corbett to discuss craftivism, a form of activism and collective empowerment that is centered on practices of craft.
Sarah P Corbett is an activist, author, speaker, and the founder of Craftivist Collective. She is known for developing the 'gentle protest' approach to activism, which is activism that is slow, attractive, kind, strategic and deeply engaging. She is the author of three books on craftivism and her new book, The Craftivist Collective Handbook, which was published on 2 May 2024.
Together, Peggy and Sarah discuss her new book, The Craftivism Collective Handbook, which features instructions for twenty craftivism projects, and delves into the methodology on gentle craftivism. They also touch on how craft can provoke people to think about social change, the links between craftivism and wellbeing, and how social media enabled her to build a strong community of craftivists.
In this episode of The Writing Life, Holly is joined by Colchester-based playwright and HighTide/Peggy Ramsay Foundation writer in residence Nicola Werenowska and Norwich-based folk musician Georgia Shackleton to discuss writing for performance.
Nicola and Georgia were central to the development of Suffolk-based theatre company HighTide’s touring show Ghost Stories by Candlelight, which we were lucky enough to host at Dragon Hall last autumn. Ghost Stories by Candlelight was a brand new commission that brought together stories, music and song to tell a set of chilling, contemporary ghost stories that celebrate the people, landscape and fragile natural world of East Anglia… And we are very excited to announce that HighTide will return to Dragon Hall as part of a new tour in autumn 2024.
Together, Holly, Nicola and Georgia discuss the process of writing collectively, and the particular characteristics of ghost stories. They also touch on the representation of different voices and identities in the performance world, and the importance of place in their writing.
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Chief Executive Peggy Hughes is joined by award-winning poet Martin Figura to discuss the process of writing poetry, and how things make their way into his poetic imagination.
Martin Figura was born in Liverpool and lives in Norwich. His collections include The Little Book of Harm (Firewater Press, 2000), Ahem (Eggbox, 2005) and Whistle (Arrowhead, 2010), which deals with the murder in 1966 of his mother, June, by his father Frank. His collection and show Whistle were shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award and won the 2013 Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Show. The Remaining Men is his latest full collection.
Together, they discuss Martin’s latest poetry collection The Remaining Men, why he chose to write about those whose lives are too easily dismissed by society and government, and what inspired him to order the collection in the way he did. They also touch on the ethics around writing about your personal relationships and the lives of others, and what makes poetry such a powerful vehicle for exploring and articulating trauma and difficult topics.
Martin has also written a poem for the new addition of Wandering Words, a literary walking tour of Norwich UNESCO City of Literature. With a new look, two new locations, and two new poems, the new addition of Wandering Words map will be available to download from our website, or to pick up from the Norfolk & Norwich Box Office. To find out more, click here.
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Chief Executive Peggy Hughes is joined by writers and members of The Martineau Society Stuart Hobday and Gaby Weiner to discuss their new book Reintroducing Harriet Martineau: Pioneering Sociologist and Activist, which explores the innovative, sociological approach adopted by Harriet Martineau in her efforts to develop a ‘scientific’ approach to understanding social and societal change.
Stuart Hobday is the founder of the annual Harriet Martineau Lecture and the author of Encounters with Harriet Martineau. He is a former Director of Norwich Arts Centre and in 2016 produced the first Norwich Science Festival.
Gaby Weiner has been researching the life and achievements of Harriet Martineau since the 1980s and completed a PhD in 1991 entitled Controversies and Contradictions: Approaches to the Study of Harriet Martineau (1802-76). In 2017, she co-edited with Valerie Sanders a collection entitled Harriet Martineau and the Birth of the Disciplines, and has recently completed a book for Routledge with Stuart Hobday on Harriet Martineau as a foundational sociologist.
Together, they discuss the life and legacy of Harriet Martineau, the things that formed her desire for social progress, and how and why her reputation changed over time. They also touch on their experience co-authoring the book, their journeys finding and researching Harriet Martineau, and how the annual Harriet Martineau Lecture, hosted by NCW as part of Norfolk & Norwich Festival, honours her legacy.
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Head of Programmes & Creative Engagement Holly speaks with novelist Michael Donkor about crafting identity in fiction.
Michael Donkor was born in London to Ghanaian parents. He studied English at Wadham College, Oxford, followed by a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway. His first novel, Hold, was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas and shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize. He is a frequent contributor to outlets including the Guardian, the TLS and the Independent.
Together, they discuss his new novel, Grow Where They Fall, and the different forms of identity represented in the book. Michael talks about writing queer characters of colour, how to show the reader signs that a character may not be as confident in their identity as they claim to be, and creating links between the past and present when writing different timelines of one character’s life.
They also touch on how Michael will be joining us for an event and workshop at our City of Literature weekend at Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2024, where he will expand on crafting identities and writing conflict in fiction further.
In this episode of The Writing Life, former NCW Communications Assistant Molly speaks with author Naomi Wood about writing subversive women.
Naomi Wood is the award-winning author of three novels, including the bestselling Mrs. Hemingway. Her stories have been published in the Mid-American Review, Washington Square Review, Joyland and Stylist, and have been shortlisted for the Manchester Fiction Prize, the London Magazine Short Story Prize and longlisted for the Galley Beggar Press Story Prize. 'Comorbidities' won the 2023 BBC National Short Story Award.
In this episode, Molly and Naomi discuss Naomi's experience writing subversive, malicious women in her debut short story collection This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things. They also discuss themes of motherhood, family connections and perceptions of pregnant women, and how to craft a range of different voices in short story writing.
In this episode of The Writing Life, writer and translator Daniel Hahn speaks with three former virtual residents Nur-El-Hudaa Jaffar, Sim Wai-chew and Tse Hao Guang about the quirks of virtual residencies, and how their expectations compared to reality.
We were delighted to host them from June to December 2023, in a virtual residency generously supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore.
In this episode, they discuss the projects they were working on during their residencies with us, how they found inspiration when writing as though they were in Norwich UNESCO City of Literature, and their lives and careers as translators. They also touch on the blogs they wrote for our Writing Hub, which you can read here.
In this episode of The Writing Life podcast, NCW Senior Communications and Marketing Manager Steph speaks with author Heather Parry about writing the grotesque body.
Heather Parry was born in Rotherham and lives in Glasgow. She has won the Bridge Award for an Emerging Writer, Cove Park's Emerging Writer Residency and the Laxfield Literary Launch Prize. In 2021 she was a Hawthornden Fellow and her first novel, Orpheus Builds a Girl, was released in 2022.
Heather discusses writing the grotesque body, which combines elements of comedy and horror. She explores reimagining gothic tropes, the impact of who gets a voice in your narrative, and the differences between long- and short-form writing.
Heather also mentions her experience on the writing residency and programme Here and Now 2023, bringing together established Scottish and West African writers, and how instrumental residencies are for writers.
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Emerging Translator Mentorships Programme Manager Annie speaks with author Polly Atkin about writing with a chronic illness.
Polly Atkin is a multi-award-winning writer, essayist and poet. She is the author of the poetry collections Basic Nest Architecture, which won a Northern Writers' Award, and Much With Body, which was longlisted for the Laurel Prize, as well as Recovering Dorothy, the first biography to focus on Dorothy Wordsworth's later life and illness.
In this episode, Polly and Annie discuss writing and navigating the publishing industry as a chronically ill person. The pair discuss Polly’s memoir Some of Us Just Fall, released in summer 2023, and explore how Polly imagined time as a chronically ill person, how to advocate for yourself as a disabled writer, and hopes for embedded accessibility in the future of the publishing industry.
They also look ahead to their exciting joint writing project on Dorothy Wordsworth and Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, investigating their common identities and experiences.
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Programme Officer Ellie speaks with author and NCW mentor Chip Colquhoun about oral storytelling and writing for younger audiences.
An NCW Associate Artist, Chip is a storyteller and children’s author. He’s trained teachers through the Department for Education’s English Hub, young creatives through Rathbone College, vicars through Ridley Hall in Cambridge, and children’s writers with publisher Epic Tales.
Together, they discuss Chip’s journey into oral storytelling, and some of the distinctions between story writing and storytelling. They also explore the importance of understanding your reader, the key components needed for every story, and how to target your writing to different age groups.
Discover Chip’s mentoring offer here.
Chip is launching his educational handbook, All the Better to Read You With: Stories & Lessons to Inspire Reading for Pleasure at the London ExCel on Wednesday 24 January. Get your free ticket to the Bett Show where this will be launched here.
In this episode of The Writing Life podcast, NCW Programme Officer Ellie speaks with American author Margot Douaihy about the development of the noir genre in crime writing.
Margot Douaihy is the author of several noir titles including the mystery novel Scorched Grace, the inaugural title of Gillian Flynn Books. Douaihy is originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, and now lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, in the US where she teaches popular fiction and literature with Emerson College. Margot stayed with us on a writing residency in September in the Dragon Hall Cottage.
Together, Ellie and Margot explore growth and changes in the noir genre, and how crime novels are well-equipped for generating social commentary. They also touch on alienation and the representation of queer identities in crime writing.
In this episode of The Writing Life podcast, Head of Programmes and Creative Engagement Holly speaks with novelist Hannah Vincent about point of view and different types of narration.
Hannah Vincent is a novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her first novel, Alarm Girl was published in 2014 and her second, The Weaning in 2018. Her 2020 short story collection, She-Clown and Other Stories was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize. Her stage plays have been produced by among others, The Royal Court Theatre and The Royal National Theatre Studio and her radio play Come to Grief won a BBC Audio award.
Together, they discuss the specifics of different perspectives that writers can inhabit, and the effects perspectives and voices can have on readers. They also touch on why a writer’s choice of perspective is fundamental to the way a story is told, and whether any narrative voice can truly be reliable.
Hannah explores this topic in a free, self-paced course for NCW Academy entitled How to Write Unreliable Narrators. Find out more on our website!
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW CEO Peggy Hughes speaks to four dazzling voices in contemporary poetry.
On Wednesday 22 November, Jay Bernard, Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Gail McConnell and Joelle Taylor gathered to celebrate the launch of exciting new poetry archive collection, ‘Towards a Centre for Contemporary Poetry in the Archive'. This project, delivered by the British Archive for Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, is supported by the Mellon Foundation with partners the National Centre for Writing and Norfolk County Council Library and Information Service.
The project aims to promote and preserve the archives of contemporary poets of colour, LGBTQ+ poets and writers from other historically underrepresented backgrounds and practises in the UK and Ireland.
Together, they talk about the archival project, their individual contributions and creative processes. They discuss their understanding of their own work, and how poetry and spoken word can be archived. Visiting Poetry Fellow, Will Harris, joins them to explore the project.
In this episode of The Writing Life podcast, writer and theatre director Jen Dewsbury speaks with writer, performer and NCW Academy tutor Molly Naylor about the craft of scriptwriting.
Molly Naylor is the co-creator and writer of Sky One comedy After Hours. Her plays have been toured nationally and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. She wrote and performed the acclaimed solo spoken-word shows Stop Trying To Be Fantastic, Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think Of You and My Robot Heart.
Jen Dewsbury is an actress, theatre director, and voice and acting coach. She recently completed an MA in Writing for Script and Screen with Falmouth University.
Together, they discuss the process of developing a script, and their experiences teaching and studying on the NCW Academy online tutored scriptwriting course. They also discuss tools and techniques for developing an initial story idea into the first full draft of a script, and the benefits of investing time and energy into the planning stages, delving into phases such as the premise, steps outline and treatment.
In this episode of The Writing Life podcast, former NCW CEO Chris Gribble spoke to bestselling crime writer Ian Rankin about his new standalone short thriller The Rise.
Ian Rankin was born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960 and graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982. He is the internationally bestselling author of the Inspector Rebus and Detective Malcolm Fox novels, as well as a string of standalone thrillers. His books have been translated into thirty-six languages and are bestsellers on several continents.
Together, they discuss Ian’s much-loved series character Inspector Rebus and his return to the page in a new phase of life, in Ian’s new Amazon Original Story The Rise. Ian shares the challenges he experienced while writing the short story and considers how writers always find a way to tell the stories they need to tell. They chat about Ian’s thoughts on the upcoming TV adaptation Rebus, and the differences between novel writing and screenwriting.
In this episode of The Writing Life podcast, former NCW CEO Chris Gribble caught up with author Fiona Mason to discuss her memoir 36 Hours and the craft of life writing.
Originally from the Midlands, Fiona Mason now lives between the salt marshes of the east of England, and the Ariege Pyrenees in southwest France where she's renovating a house with her partner. She holds MAs in Philosophy and Creative and Life Writing, and combines her work as a writer with roles as a coach, mentor and creative writing tutor.
Together, they discuss how she was compelled to write her incredibly personal memoir. She explores her journey into writing, the stigma around talking and writing about death and how she makes a living from her writing.
Fiona also mentions that she received a Developing Your Creative Practice grant from Arts Council England, which helped her to dedicate time and energy to writing this memoir. You can find out more about Arts Council funding on their website here.
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Programme Officer Vicki Maitland caught up with writer and NCW Academy tutor Yan Ge to discuss the process of writing short stories.
Yan is a fiction writer, writing in both Chinese and English, and is the author of thirteen books in Chinese, including five novels. She has received numerous awards and was named by People’s Literature magazine as one of twenty future literature masters in China.
Together, they discuss Yan's experience writing her English language debut short story collection Elsewhere, and the unique challenges and opportunities that writing short stories can present to writers. Yan also provides personal insights on editing short form pieces of writing.
This episode of The Writing Life features musician and writer Kalaf Epalanga and writer, editor and translator Daniel Hahn on the process of writing and translating Kalaf’s exhilarating debut novel, Whites Can Dance Too. They were interviewed by NCW Programme Manager Rebecca DeWald.
Kalaf Epalanga is a musician and writer. Best known internationally for fronting the Lisbon-based dance collective Buraka Som Sistema, he is a celebrated columnist in Angola and Portugal.
Daniel Hahn is a writer, editor and translator with over one hundred books to his name. He has translated fiction and non-fiction for adults and children, from Europe, Africa and the Americas.
Rebecca chatted with Kalaf and Daniel about many aspects of writing and translating Whites Can Dance Too, including the structure of the book and whether it can be called non-fiction. They also discuss the process of translating music and different forms of Portuguese, from Portugal, Angola and Brazil.
In this episode we’re bringing you a conversation with debut novelist and creative writing teacher Priscilla Morris. Priscilla’s first novel Black Butterflies is the author’s personal response to the war that devastated her mother’s hometown of Sarajevo, Bosnia, in the former Yugoslavia, from 1992-1996.
Priscilla spoke to NCW Communications Assistant Molly-Rose Medhurst about her approach to researching and writing sensitively about the Siege and the atrocities of war, drawing from memory and from the recollections of family and friends. She also talks about her desire to centre the importance of community in the book and her narrative approach to time.
Priscilla and Molly’s conversation contains references to sexual assault, death, violence and the horrors of war linked to the Siege of Sarajevo. Please take care when listening.
In this episode of The Writing Life, we are joined by author, screenwriter and lecturer Tom Benn to discuss his latest novel, Oxblood. Set in 1980s South Manchester, Benn's blazing novel of female solidarity and the legacy of male violence centres on three generations of women at the heart of an underworld family. It won the 2022 Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award and was longlisted for the Gold Dagger 2023 and Gordon Burn Prize 2022.
Tom chats to NCW CEO Chris Gribble about the genesis of Oxblood and why it took six years for him to write. He talks about choosing to write a crime novel in a ‘different way’ from a female perspective; and his aim to re-sensitise the reader through dark or violent stories. He and Chris also discuss how publishers may react to a book like Oxblood, which sits within the crime genre but also interweaves elements of other genres.
For the introduction, Steph is joined by NCW Development Manager Dan Scales to talk about a new fundraising campaign launched this month for Escalator, our long-running talent development programme for underrepresented writers. You can support the campaign here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/support-us/donate/escalator-campaign/
Applications for Escalator 2023-24 close at 10am BST on Tuesday 19 September 2023. Find out more and apply here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/get-involved/writers/escalator/
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Programme Officer Vicki Maitland speaks with writer, editor and workshop leader Katy Massey about the process of writing real people in memoir.
Katy was a journalist for many years before studying for an MA and PhD in Creative Writing. Her memoir, Are We Home Yet? was published in 2020 and praised by Bernardine Evaristo as ‘a gem’. It was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Portico Prize. In addition, her work has been widely anthologised, including Common People edited by Kit de Waal, The Place for Me, and speculative collection Glimpse. Her first novel All Us Sinners, an unusual take on the crime genre, is due to be published by Sphere in January 2024.
Together, they discuss how her new self-paced course for NCW, How to Write Real People in Memoir, provides the tools you need to think of yourself as the main character in your story: from creating distinct voices in your narrative to discovering the difference between memory, truth and perspective.
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Chief Executive Chris Gribble caught up with Claire McGowan to discuss how she got started as a writer, her route(s) into publishing and how she’s maintained and developed a career in writing across a range of genres and over a lengthy period of time.
Claire McGowan published her first novel in 2012, and has followed it up with many others in the crime fiction genre and also in women’s fiction (writing as Eva Woods). She has had four radio plays broadcast on the BBC, and her thrillers What You Did and The Other Wife were both number-one bestsellers. She ran the UK’s first MA in crime writing for five years, and regularly teaches and talks about writing. Her first non-fiction project, the true-crime book The Vanishing Triangle, was released in 2021. She also writes scripts and has several projects in development for TV.
Together, they discuss how Claire's teaching work has developed across her writing career and how her new course for NCW distils a lot of what she’s learned about the many different ways and means of creating suspense in your writing: from character to landscape, to plot to style.
Claire's self-paced online course 'How to Create Suspense in Fiction' will launch on the NCW website on Monday 7 August.
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Chief Executive Chris Gribble speaks with writer Patrick Barkham about the process of writing his new book The Swimmer, and how he found ways to ‘hear’ the voice of an author whose work he knew well, but who he never met.
Patrick Barkham is an award-winning author and natural history writer for the Guardian. His books include The Butterfly Isles, Badgerlands, Islander and Wild Child. He is President of Norfolk Wildlife Trust and lives in Norfolk with his family.
His new book The Swimmer is a creative biography of the late writer, filmmaker and environmentalist Roger Deakin. The book is told primarily in the words of the subject himself, with support from a chorus of friends, family, colleagues, lovers and neighbours.
Together, they touch on the impact and legacy of Roger, as one of the forerunners of the new nature writing movement, the ethics of biography, and the hard graft of reconstructing a life from the myriad of physical and emotional traces a writer has left behind.
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Chief Executive Chris Gribble speaks with writer, poet and educator Raymond Antrobus in an interview which was recorded ahead of his performance at the City of Literature weekend 2023. City of Literature takes place in May each year and is a National Centre for Writing and Norfolk & Norwich Festival partnership, programmed by National Centre for Writing.
Raymond was born in London, Hackney to an English mother and Jamaican father. He is the author of Shapes & Disfigurements (Burning Eye, 2012), To Sweeten Bitter (Out-Spoken Press, 2017), The Perseverance (Penned In The Margins / Tin House, 2018) and All The Names Given (Picador / Tin House, 2021). In 2019 he became the first ever poet to be awarded the Rathbone Folio Prize for best work of literature in any genre.
Raymond chats to Chris about his development and life as a poet and educator: from finding a community in the London spoken word scene to winning the Folio Prize for The Perseverance through to his most recent collection All The Names Given. He discusses the challenges and joys of working in the poetry ‘business’ as well as the poetry community.
In this episode of The Writing Life, National Centre for Writing’s Head of Programmes & Creative Engagement Holly Ainley caught up with Victoria Mackenzie after her event in Norwich to discuss her debut novel For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain, the joys and pitfalls of researching historical periods, and how you communicate this to contemporary readers.
Victoria is a fiction writer and poet. She is the winner of the Scottish Book Trust New Writer Award and the inaugural Emerging Writer Award from Moniack Mhor. She was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, as well as being awarded prestigious writing residencies in Scotland, Finland and Australia.
This insightful discussion covers the blurry lines between fact and fiction; the moral responsibility of authors when writing about real historical figures; and what the term historical fiction actually encompasses – how it is used by the publishing industry and what it really means to authors.
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Programme Manager Rebecca DeWald had the pleasure of talking with Katherine Gregor and Caroline Lamarche about the process of writing and translating The Memory of the Air, a novella by Caroline which explores a universal experience of gender and sexual violence and challenges common notions of victimhood. The book was translated into English by Katherine and published by Héloïse Press in 2022.
Together with Rebecca, they discuss how Katherine first discovered Caroline’s book and the experience of it being rediscovered and translated in a post-#MeToo era. Caroline talks about the process of drawing on personal experiences to write this book, and about finding her voice.
Please note that this conversation contains references to domestic violence and sexual assault, so listener discretion is advised.
On this episode of The Writing Life, we are delighted to welcome Max Porter back to Norwich! Max was here in April for an event hosted by The Book Hive to celebrate the publication of his latest novel, Shy.
NCW Executive Director Peggy Hughes settled in for a cosy chat with Max upstairs in The Book Hive. Their expansive conversation covers the special power of bookshops, questions of masculinity and vulnerability portrayed through Shy’s protagonist, the musicality of Max’s language, and much more.
Max’s first novel Grief Is the Thing with Feathers won the Sunday Times/Peter, Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year, the International Dylan Thomas Prize, the Europese Literatuurprijs and the BAMB Readers’ Award and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Goldsmiths Prize. His second novel, Lanny, was a Sunday Times bestseller and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. The Death of Francis Bacon was praised as a ‘miniature masterpiece’ and his new book, Shy, has been called a ‘miracle of language’.
Editing by Omni Mix
On this episode of The Writing Life, we speak to news journalist turned non-fiction writer and biographer Richard Balls about interviewing difficult subjects.
Richard is the author of three books: A Furious Devotion: The Life of Shane MacGowan; Be Stiff: The Stiff Records Story, and Sex & Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll: The Life of Ian Dury. In this conversation with Steph McKenna, he talks about using the experience and techniques acquired through a 20-year journalism career to inform the way he approaches, interviews, and writes about high-profile figures such as Shane MacGowan, whose life story is as much fiction as fact!
How do you secure an interview with a reluctant subject? What do you do when an interview isn’t going to plan? And what ethics or responsibilities are involved when writing about someone’s complex, contradictory, or unacceptable behaviour? Richard covers all this and more on the podcast.
A conversation from the archive! National Centre for Writing’s Kate Griffin talks to writer, translator and editor Rabi Thapa. Kate is our Associate Head of Programmes and Rabi stayed in the Dragon Hall cottage as part of our Visible Communities programme in June 2021.
Rabi is a British-born Nepali writer and translator. He is also the Editor of La.Lit, the literary magazine from Nepal, and the author of Nothing to Declare and Thamel, Dark Star of Kathmandu. From 2010 to 2011, he was the Editor of the weekly paper, Nepali Times.
Kate and Rabi discuss a number of topics including his background - spending the first six years of his life in Plymouth - his relationship to the UK and Nepal, the Katmaundu literary scene, bridge languages and the 123 languages used in Nepal.
As part of the annual Norfolk and Norwich Festival we run a series of events called City of Literature. A central part of our programme is the Harriett Martineau Lecture which celebrates the legacy of a remarkable, world-changing woman by inviting globally-renowned radical speakers to respond to her life and work.
In 2022, we were excited to welcome bestselling novelist, memoirist and literary activist Kit de Waal - presenting the lecture in the beautiful environs of the Spiegeltent. Kit gave a thought-provoking lecture covering a range of topics, including human rights, equality, hunger and, as she calls it, ‘compassion without judgement’.
Kit is a fantastic writer and speaker, and, in the course of the lecture, talks about social mobility and what it really takes; how smartphones are essential for some of the most marginalised people in society; as well as quoting Terry Pratchett as she explains what keeps the poorest in our society poor.
This episode is that lecture - recorded at the event back in May - more relevant now than ever with inflation rampant, the cost of living impacting everyone in society, and the energy crisis hitting those with the least worst of all.
We speak to writer and teacher Okechukwu Nzelu. Why? To discuss that greatest pillar of creative writing - character.
Gill and Okechukwu discuss many aspects of character development, including those in his latest novel Here Again Now. Based in Manchecter, Okechukwu Nzelu was the recipient of a Northern Writers' Award from New Writing North in 2015. His debut novel, The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney won a Betty Trask Award. It was also shortlisted for our very own Desmond Elliott Prize among others. In 2021, it was selected for the Kingston University Big Read.
His second novel, Here Again Now was published by Dialogue Books in March 2022. He is also a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Lancaster University so he is perfectly positioned to help us understand how we can write compelling characters.
Earlier in the year, our very own Ellie Reeves spoke to local writer James Kinsley. James’s first novella, Playtime’s Over, was published by Propolis in 2021 - a love letter to his native Norwich.
James Kinsley’s new book, Greyskin, will be published by Deixis Press on 27th April. Greyskin is a stylish collection of interconnected fantasy stories, inspired by the cinematic mythology of the Old West. On its first day of pre-order, the book topped the Amazon chart for Western Science Fiction.
Ellie sat down with James following the publication of Playtime's Over. They discuss his journey from self-publishing to traditional publishing, and offers an insight into the challenges of drawing personal experiences into fiction. They also discuss genre, mental health, and the ability of writing to move beyond the writer's intentions.
Norwich-based poet and writer Shannon Clinton-Copeland speaks to our virtual residents Akshita Nanda, Crispin Rodrigues and Daryl Qilin Yam about writing and literary life in Singapore. Their residencies are supported by Singapore’s National Arts Council.
Akshita, Crispin and Daryl touch on everything from the relationship between writing and culture, to writing as a method for finding common experiences. They also discuss understanding across social, cultural and linguistic borders.
Virtual residencies for writers and translators can bring national and international voices and ideas to places like Norwich. Through commissions, online events and podcasts like this one, those voices can also reach a global audience.
You can find out more about our virtual and in-person residences on our website: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk.
We speak to Caimh McDonnell about humour. Caimh is a comedian and writer. He’s written for TV shows such as Mock The Week and Have I Got News for You. He was also a professional stand-up comedian and has written a dozen books under the names Caimh and CK McDonnell.
Being funny in fiction is hard, so we wanted to ask the Manchester-based Irishman how to do it - or at least, how he does it. The cover of The Stranger Times says: What if the weird news was the real news? An apt way to describe the premise.
The book is the first in a series of novels set in Manchester in which the weird phenomena of the Fortean Times is alive and well - from mythical beasts to UFOs. We get to explore this weird world through the staff of the namessake newspaper and the result is a Pratchett-esque treatment of the supernatural thriller/mystery genre. And it is funny.
Some things are easier to teach than others. You might argue that being funny is the hardest thing of all. Nonetheless, the conversation will hopefully give you some insights into how to bring humour to your writing. The conversation covers characters, dialogue, conflict, genre and the inversion of expectation.
Find out more about Caimh at whitehairedirishman.shop
For this episode, we speak to the wonderful Kirsty Logan. Kirsty is completely devoted to books: she is the award-winning author of several novels, including The Gloaming and The Gracekeepers, and short story collections including A Portable Shelter and The Rental Heart & Other Fairytales. She recently wrote the Audible Original The Sound at the End, an Arctic ghost story. She’s also a book reviewer, editor and mentor.
Kirsty’s new novel, Now She is Witch, came out this month. It is a medieval witch revenge story unlike any other. We discuss the book as well as aspects of craft, including character, theme, structure, research, routine and inspiration.
We talk about how to build complex characters within fairy tales, the difference between historical fiction and Medievalism and how witch stories reflect our feelings of being under threat in our world.
We talk about identity, revenge and research beyond the internet. Kirsty also starts our conversation with a reading - a poem she wrote during a writing residency.
National Centre for Writing’s Rebecca DeWald talks to translator Clare Richards. Rebecca is our Emerging Translator Mentorships Programme Manager and Clare is a previous mentee, who was mentored by Anton Hur.
Clare is a translator of Korean, but has a passion for the more challenging scripts such as Japanese, as she explains in their conversation. As a neurodivergent person, Clare is perfectly placed to reflect on our ablist workplaces and the male-skewed view of autism - and she also describes how learning new languages can help change the way we think and communicate.
Clare really found her calling in literary translation allowing her to build a way of working that suits her skills and preferences. She has also set up a Discord channel for D-deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people and you can find her on Twitter @clarehannahmary
Clare is just one of our Emerging Translator mentees. The scheme itself matches experienced translators with emerging translators for a six-month period. During this time they work on practical translation projects together and learn about the ins and outs of professionalizing as a literary translator. You can find out more about the scheme on our website.
In this episode, we speak to novelist and NCW tutor Megan Bradbury, who gives us a wealth of great advice to help you build your writing routine. We cover a lot of ground in this discussion, the focus of which is removing mental, physical and even temporal blocks to get you writing - from tackling your own avoidance excuses to noise-cancelling headphones.
Many of you will already know Megan from the podcast, and it was a pleasure to welcome her back. Megan is a long-time friend of the writing centre having won a place on Escalator - our talent development programme. Megan also won a ‘Grant for the Arts’ to help fund the completion of her first novel, Everyone is Watching.
Megan is also one of our online course tutors. What online courses, I hear you say? Well, the National Centre for Writing has a variety of online learning activities from courses to mentorship sessions. Head to our website to browse free short courses, in-person classes and workshops, and our much-loved 12 and 18-week tutored online courses. These courses have been designed specifically to get you writing.
https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/support-for-writers/
This episode is a Writing Life special, featuring an hour of new writing read by the writers on this year’s National Centre for Writing Escalator programme - recorded earlier this year at the showcase event, here at Dragon Hall.
Escalator is our talent development programme. And each year, we look for ambitious, challenging, unconventional and affecting new voices in fiction writing from the East of England. The region is made up of a diverse society of people, and supporting writers who are under-represented on UK bookshelves has become a core objective of the project.
The programme has been running since 2004 and includes eight months of mentoring, training, guidance and networking for participants. To date we’ve supported more than 130 writers, many of whom have gone on to sign with agents, publish and win awards and critical recognition for their novels and short stories.
We had a fantastic group of writers in 2022 and we hosted them here for the annual Escalator Showcase event where they all read from their work. This is the audio from that event.
https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator/
In this episode: How to grip your readers, with crime and noir writer Julia Crouch.
Julia is a crime and noir novelist so she really knows how to grip readers, and this episode has dozens of great tips for writers of all genres.
Julia explains how characters and their development can grip readers; she explains how we can build narrative tension; and how conflict is a key driver of a reader’s attention.
We also discuss the role of dead bodies, how to create and use twists as well as lots of great technical tips on how to sow seeds of intrigue.
Julia Crouch - the queen of domestic noir - has written seven novels, including Cuckoo, The Long Fall, her new novel The Daughters, and Tarnished.
Julia is also the tutor for our Start Writing Crime Fiction course, which starts in January. So, if you want to kickstart your crime novel, why not head to the website to explore the course modules?
In this episode, Isabelle King speaks to our recent writer-in-residence, Els Beerten. Els is an award-winning Belgian writer, and, in this wide-reaching conversation, she discusses how she develops characters as well as uses the senses to bring places and people to life.
Els is part of our residency programme in which writers and translators from around the world stay in our cottage, here at Dragon Hall - or work remotely on a virtual residence.
Isabelle King writes historical fiction and works in museums in Norfolk. Her work focuses on helping communities to tell their stories inspired by local history.
This month, we explore the short story: what makes a great short story and how the format differs from longer forms such as the novel. Lots of writers and teachers extol the virtues of short stories as a training ground for novels, and while this might be true, short stories are a great medium in their own right - doing many things that novels can’t.
To help us delve into this topic, we spoke to writer and teacher Jenn Ashworth. Jenn is probably best known for her novels, which include A Kind Of Intimacy, Cold Light and Notes Made While Falling - and her most recent novel, Ghosted. But, as you will hear, Jenn is also a writer and lover of short stories - including Misummer Eve, which we discuss in this episode.
Incidentally, if you’d like to read Midsummer Eve you will find it in the collection of the same name, published by Black Shuck Books. Head to blackshuckbooks.co.uk/midsummer-eve and you can buy the paperback for £12 or an ebook for £2.
How to write about love in its various forms with Maddie Mortimer.
Maddie is the author of Maps Of Our Spectacular Bodies which won her a 2022 Desmond Elliott Prize.
The first part of our conversation was about her Desmond Elliott Prize win, but we soon started talking about the novel, writing craft and writing love. This episode features the section of the conversation about writing love, from the intimate and tender to the physical and visceral, from the romantic to the familial.
As part of the Early Career Awards, we regularly publish our free EC Packs - bundles of advice, interviews, audio and video to help writers tackle particular areas of writing. We have packs on Editing, Beginnings, Structure, Plot, World Building and lots more. Access them for free on our website. This podcast forms a part of our new Early Career Pack - on the subject of love. It includes exercises, articles and indeed, this episode of the Writing Life.
This episode is a Writing Life special to celebrate Noirwich, the 2022 Norwich Crime Writing Festival here in our fine city. The festival featured Ukrainian-born American and French artist and writer, Yelena Moskovich.
Yelena has written for Vogue, The Times Literary Supplement, Paris Review and many more. She has also just released her third novel, A Door Behind a Door, an exploration of the post-Soviet diaspora.
We invited our friend, creative writing tutor and the godmother of domestic noir, Julia Crouch whose 7th novel The Daughters came out earlier this year, to interview Yelena. Strap in for a lively discussion about routes to becoming a writer, identity as a writer, ownership of your art, reading, what is crime writing, ideas of Hell and much much more.
Image copyright Beth Moseley
This month, we discuss revision. To help us understand how, when and why writers should revise, rewrite and redraft our work, we speak to writer and NCW course tutor, Lynne Bryan. We discuss the importance of revising one’s work, how revision is different for different types writer, when to do what kind of revision, and the role of third-party feedback.
This is a great discussion for anyone doing creative writing.
Lynne received her MA in Creative Writing in 1985. Her first book - Envy At The Cheese Handout - was a collection of short stories back in 1995. Two novels, Gorgeous and Like Rabbits followed in 1999 and 2002. She’s co-edited six anthologies of short prose, her work has been broadcast on Radio 4 and her story – ‘A Regular Thing’ – was made into an award-winning short film in Denmark. Needless to say, Lynne knows her stuff, so this is an invaluable discussion for anyone who writes.
We talk to international bestselling writer Mohsin Hamid about his new book, The Last White Man.
The conversation covers the key themes of his new novel: race, transformation, freedom, loss - as well as his journey into writing fiction, and, how a story is only ever half-told, until it finds a reader…
Many will know his Booker shortlisted novels The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Exit West. And some may also know his other novels Moth Smoke and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia - and a non-fiction book, Discontent and its Civilizations. He writes regularly for The New York Times, the Guardian and the New York Review of Books. Born and mostly raised in Lahore, Pakistan, he has since lived between Lahore, London and New York.
In this episode, we speak to novelist, teacher and doctor of letters, Ashley Hickson-Lovence to explore story and plot. Ashley is the author of The 392 and the prize-nominated novel Your Show (which he talks a little about in our chat). We also discuss the difference between story and plot, key plot devices and how you can ensure your story has a plot that keeps people turning pages.
Ashley is also the tutor for our Start Writing Fiction course. We also have courses on fiction, crime, memoir, historical fiction creative non-fiction and poetry. You can read more about the modules and see which course would help you in your writing.
Novelist and creative writing lecturer Ian Nettleton explains how to structure a novel - the devices and structural elements that can keep readers engaged, and how to ensure your story becomes a page-turner.
The episode covers characters’ wants and needs, conflict, obstacles, narrative tension and building a compelling story scene by scene, chapter by chapter. We also discuss quests, commitments, reversals and resolutions.
Ian has been shortlisted for a number of prestigious awards including those for his novels The Last Migration and Out of Nowhere. He is also an associate lecturer in creative writing courses at the Open University and works with the National Centre For Writing on a number of our own creative writing courses.
This is a special episode to celebrate our City of Literature programme at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival. As part of the festival, we organised, curated and hosted a series of events at the legendary spiegeltent as well as talks and our publishing fair, here at Dragon Hall.
Called Wandering Words, we commissioned five poets and five sound designers to create an interactive digital experience. This episode hosts the poems and the soundscapes.
What is translation and how is it experienced? In this episode, three translators explore their experiences of inhabiting multiple languages in a portrayal of life in translation, of translation as a part of everyday life, of translation as survival, and of people as translated beings.
Interviews with Kavita Bhanot, Yovanka Paquete Perdigão and Nariman Youssef. Made by Gitanjali Patel and Miia Laine as part of the Visible Communities residency at the National Centre for Writing.
Novelist Megan Bradbury and Sam Ruddock from Story Machine Productions discuss the role of research in writing.
Megan describes how she went to New York to research the geniuses who lived there, to bring her novel to life. She also talks about working with Professor Pete Wilde on NCW’s Translating Science project.
Megan explains how different types of research can become a regular part of your writing routine as well as helping to inspire stories and characters, while making worlds feel rich and authentic. She describes some of the more immersive and unusual methods that help her get inspired, build characters and develop the creative process.
Browse our online creative writing courses.
Khairani Barokka is an Indonesian writer and artist living in London. She is the co-editor of Stairs and Whispers: D/deaf and Disabled Poets Write Back, the author-illustrator of Indigenous Species, and author of debut poetry collection Rope. She was Modern Poetry in Translation’s Inaugural Poet-In-Residence, National Centre for Writing’s Associate Artist in 2020 and she has been a Researcher-in-Residence at UAL’s Decolonising the Arts Institute.
Rishi Dastidar's debut collection Ticker-tape is published by Nine Arches Press, and his work has been published by Financial Times, New Scientist and the BBC amongst many others.
Okka and Rishi are poets and stable mates of independent poetry publisher Nine Arches Press. Join them for a deep dive into the unconscious process of writing poetry and what they both call 'the daze' of writing, as well as the environmental elements of Okka's writing.
Check out our upcoming creative writing online courses, designed in partnership with the University of East Anglia. On sale now
Mattho Mandersloot is a literary translator working from Korean into English and Dutch. He holds a degree in Classics from King’s College London and one in Translation from the School of Oriental and African Studies. He has won the Korea Times’ 51st Modern Korean Literature Translation Award, the World Literature Today Translation Prize and the Oxford Korean Poetry Translation Prize.
In July 2021, we welcomed Mattho to Norwich for a month-long residency with support from the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. During his residency he worked on Choi Jeongrye’s final collection of poetry, Net of Light, alongside award-winning poet and translator George Szirtes.
In this conversation between Matthow and George, they discuss the intricacies of language, the power of K-pop, the rise in popularity of Korean studies, and how Mattho's love of taekwondo led him to a career in literary translation.
Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Hosted by Steph McKenna.
Music by Bennet Maples.
Translator and editor Anam Zafar and poet, novelist and translator Meena Kandasamy discuss translation as activism and helping under-represented communities to tell their own stories. Anam was mentored by Meena on NCW's Emerging Translator Mentorship programme, supported by Visible Communities.
We have a discount for Writing Life listeners, courtesy of our friends at Bloomsbury! Until 1 March 2022 anyone in the UK can get 25% off the workbook as long as you buy through the Bloomsbury website. The code is AWJW25 and can be used here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writers-journal-workbook-9781472987365/
Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Hosted by Steph McKenna.
Music by Bennet Maples.
Lucy van Smit is an award-winning author, a screenwriter, and artist. She has worked internationally for NBC News, has made documentaries for Canadian TV on writers like John Le Carre and Ian McEwan and in 2018 her debut novel The Hurting won the inaugural Bath Children’s Novel Award. She's now put together A Writer's Journal Workbook, for Writers & Artists, which is jam packed with bite-sized exercises and tips for dismantling writer's block, improving observational skills, developing characters and much more. It's designed to help new writers get started, find their voice and improve their skills.
Simon talked to Lucy about her own struggles with writer's block, which she experienced after publishing her first novel, and how creating The Writer's Journal helped her as much as anyone who might read it.
We have a discount for Writing Life listeners, courtesy of our friends at Bloomsbury! Until 1 March 2022 anyone in the UK can get 25% off the workbook as long as you buy through the Bloomsbury website. The code is AWJW25 and can be used here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writers-journal-workbook-9781472987365/
Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Hosted by Simon Jones.
Music by Bennet Maples.
We have a great translation double-bill today, with a conversation between Archana Madhavan and Sawad Hussain. Sawad was a virtual translator in residence in 2021 during our Visible Communities project, and this interview was arranged as part of that residency. https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/translation/visible-communities/
Sawad Hussain is an Arabic translator with a focus on bringing narratives from the African continent to wider audiences. She has contributed to journals such as ArabLit and Asymptote, she was co-editor of the Arabic-English portion of the Oxford Arabic Dictionary and recent translations include Passage to the Plaza by Sahar Khalifeh and A Bed for the King’s Daughter by Shahla Ujayli.
Archana Madhavan is an Indian-American translator from Korean into English. She started teaching herself Korean ten years ago and has now worked on many projects including The Man Who Became A Flamingo by Oh Han Ki, contract work with Lezhin Entertainment on genre webtoons and Glory Hole by Kim Hyun (co-translated with Suhyun J. Ahn), which is coming from Seagull Books in May 2022. She has contributed to chogwa and is a staff translator for The Hanok Review.
chogwa: https://www.chogwa.com/
Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Hosted by Simon Jones.
Music by Bennet Maples.
Andy Hamilton is a comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor and you have probably seen and/or heard him on Have I Got News For You, The News Quiz, QI or I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue. He's written for television shows including Drop the Dead Donkey and Outnumbered and is currently working on Kate & Koji for ITV with regular writing partner Guy Jenkin.
Simon talks to Andy about his novels, specifically his latest Longhand, which is an especially unique book in that the entire thing is handwritten, perfectly reproducing Andy's original longhand manuscript. The story is of Malcolm George Galbraith, a Scotsman who is writing a letter to his wife - hence the longhand - to explain why he has to leave and never return. The explanation involves a vast, surprising, moving and funny dive into mythology.
Simon chats with Andy about finding a publisher who was willing to reproduce his handwriting, how the unusual form supports and enhances the story being told and why it's probably a one-off.
Find out more about everything we do on our website: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Join our Discord: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Today's episode mixes self-publishing and traditional publishing as we're talking with Nicola May, author of the Cockleberry Bay novels and the Ferry Lane Market series. After many years of highly successful self-publishing, in 2021 Nicola chose to sign with Hodder & Stoughton for her new trilogy. We find out why, and explore how she found success with her self-publishing business.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Music by Bennet Maples.
On the show today we have Jarred McGinnis, talking about his debut 2021 novel ‘The Coward’. It's a fictional story with a protagonist also called Jarred, and in talking with Peggy Hughes on this podcast they unpick the curious boundary between fact and fiction in the book.
Jarred is the co-founder of The Special Relationship, which was chosen for the International Literature Showcase in 2016. He was the creative director for ‘Moby-Dick Unabridged‘, a four-day immersive multimedia reading of Herman Melville’s ‘Moby-Dick’ at the Southbank Centre, involving hundreds of participants. His short fiction has been commissioned for BBC Radio 4 and appeared in respected journals in the UK, Canada, USA and Ireland. He is or has been an Associate Writer for Spread the Word, a mentor for the Word Factory, a fellow of the London Library’s T S Eliot Emerging Writer Programme and a Writer-in-Residence for First Story.
Hosted by Simon Jones.
Watch the East Anglian Book Awards 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpzaScW1Ad4
Creative Writing Online courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/
Join our Discord community: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/
Make a donation: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/support-us/
Title music by Bennet Maples.
In June 2021 we were joined by Derek Barretto, who was the translator in residence at Dragon Hall. Encouraged by a succession of brilliant language teachers, Derek thrives on a literary reading diet of English, Lusophone and occasionally Francophone fiction and non-fiction. He is an aficionado of classical and contemporary literature and a voracious reader of ancient and modern poetry and practising poet. A would-be literary translator looking to specialize in translation of Lusophone fiction and poetry, he has a keen interest in conveying the richness and variety of Portuguese literature to Anglophone readers.
During his residency, Derek worked on a translation of ‘Madrugada Fria’ by Laura DaSilva, a contemporary Portuguese poet. On the podcast today he is talking with Rebecca DeWald.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
The Visible Communities residency programme was supported by Arts Council England.
Check out our online courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/
Put a reminder in for the East Anglian Book Awards: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/east-anglian-book-awards/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Jennifer Anne Champion is on the podcast this week talking to Rosy Carrick about her mix of poetry and embroidery. Jennifer is a poet, writer and educator and is cat-positive and was one of our Singapore writers in residence earlier in the year.
Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/residencies/former-residents/
Nuraliah's pod: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/writing-fantasy-nuraliah-norasid/
Nazry's pod: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/nazry-bahrawi-in-conversation-with-vineet-lal/
Watch the Stitching Stories event: https://youtu.be/Tv6V1RcD8f4
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Music by Bennet Maples.
Writer, performer, theatre maker and workshop leader Adam Z Robinson is on the podcast this week to discuss his work, how he's using Patreon and being forced to adapt to Covid-19 over the last 18 months.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Find out more about what Adam's up to: https://adamzrobinson.com/
More on the East Anglian Book Awards announcement: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/eaba-category-winners-21/
Join our Discord: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Editor, translator and co-founder of Kurumuru Books, Ella Micheler, joins us on the podcast to discuss the editing process, why books in translation for young readers are still so rare in the English language, and how writers can get the most out of their editors.
Our early career resource packs are made possible by support from Arts Council England.
Hosted by Simon Jones.
Get more free resources: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/free-resources/
Join our Discord: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/
Find out more about our Early Career Awards: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Nuraliah Norasid is on the podcast this week, talking with Sally-Anne Lomas. Nuraliah is a writer, researcher and educator with a PhD in English Literature and Creative Writing from Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Her debut novel, The Gatekeeper, won the Epigram Books Fiction Prize in 2016 and the Best Fiction Title for the Singapore Book Awards in 2018. Sally-Anne is a writer, artist and filmmaker whose first novel, Live Like Your Head's On Fire, came out earlier this year.
They talk about Nuraliah growing up in Singapore, the inspiration behind her early stories, how gaming has influenced her writing and how The Gatekeeper examines real world issues within its fantasy context.
Hosted by Simon Jones.
Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Join our Discord: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/
Music by Bennet Maples.
AE Warren's science fiction books Subject Twenty One and The Hidden Base were released earlier this year by Del Rey but began life in self-published form several years earlier. On the podcast today, Amy traces her journey from new writer to self-publisher and now traditional publishing. Regardless of which form of publishing interests you, you'll find useful tips in Amy's detailed conversation with Simon.
Meanwhile, Flo Reynolds joins us on the pod to introduce the brand new Book Club Book: The House of One Hundred Clocks by AM Howell. Find out more here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/the-ncw-book-club/
Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.
Join our Discord community: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/
Get our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/newsletters/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Jenn Ashworth is on the podcast this week to discuss her writing across fiction and non-fiction, taking in projects Ghosted: A Love Story and Notes Made While Falling. It's a detailed, honest conversation about Jenn's writing life. Flo Reynolds is asking the questions.
Hosted by Simon Jones, Steph McKenna and Roisin Batty - who introduce the episodes by taking a look at their latest reads and how the pandemic is affecting fiction across books and TV.
Check out our event with Sarah Hall AND Sarah Perry, celebrating the launch of Burntcoat - https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/hall-perry/
Join our Discord: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/
Join our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/newsletters/
Title music by Bennet Maples.
In June 2021, we welcomed three writers and translators from Singapore in virtual residence in Norwich, with the support of the National Arts Council of Singapore. Nazry Bahrawi was one of them - a literary translator, critic and academic at Singapore University of Technology and Design. Vineet Lal is our fourth Visible Communities virtual translator in residence. Vineet is a literary translator from French to English, based in Scotland. In 2010 he was awarded one of the first-ever Mentorships in Literary Translation by the British Centre for Literary Translation. We're excited to have Vineet and Nazry on the podcast today discussing some of the biggest debates in translation.
Don't miss this article by Vineet: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/emerging-translator-mentorships-ten-years-on/
Translation as a Creative Act featuring Nazry: https://youtu.be/z-J4maoKkYo
Our first podcast with Sarah Ardizzone: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/creating-trust-between-a-translator-and-writer/
Sarah's pod on how to become a literary translator: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/how-to-become-a-literary-translator/
Join our Discord: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/
We're a non-profit. You can donate to us here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/support-us/
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Music by Bennet Maples.
W.G. Sebald wrote books including The Emigrants, Austerlitz and The Rings of Saturn, and mixed fiction, history, autobiography and photography . Carole Angier has now published the first biography of Sebald, Speak, Silence: In Search of W.G. Sebald, and is on the podcast today talking to Alice Kent. They go into fine detail about Carole's research, her methods for structuring a biography and the on-going ethical debates around writing about someone's life.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Join our Discord community: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/
Sign up to our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Fresh from the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival comes Megan Abbott's astonishing lecture about the power of crime fiction and true crime to influence and reflect society, and the ethics and responsibilities of being a crime writer. Why has so much crime writing focused on the perpetrator, not the victim? How can representation in the genre improve, and why does it matter?
Megan is the award-winning author of nine crime novels, including the just published The Turnout, and the bestselling You Will Know Me and Dare Me. Her work has won or been nominated for the CWA Steel Dagger, the International Thriller Writers Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and five Edgar awards. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, Paris Review and the Wall Street Journal. She is also the author of The Street Was Mine, a study of hardboiled fiction, and film noir. She received her Ph.D. in American literature from New York University. A writer on HBO’s highly acclaimed The Deuce, she recently served as co-showrunner and co-creator of Dare Me, which completed its first season on the USA Network and Netflix internationally.
Introduced by Henry Sutton, co-director of Noirwich and professor of creative writing at the University of East Anglia.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Watch the extended video version of the lecture, including a Q&A between Megan and Henry: https://youtu.be/X2J4pBgPyTY
More about Noirwich: https://noirwich.co.uk/
Sign up to our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
More about Steph's Stephen King Zine, Outsider: https://outsiderzine.bigcartel.com/product/outsider-vol-1
Music by Bennet Maples.
We have a new Early Career Writers' Resource Pack, and it's all about STRUCTURE. On the podcast we're thrilled to have journalist Chitra Ramaswamy interviewing Rebecca Watson about her stunning debut Little Scratch, which was shortlisted earlier this year for the Desmond Elliott Prize. Rebecca details the book's unique design and how the story and its structure are inseparable. Find more resources on 'Structure' here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/pack-7-structure/
Our resouce packs are available for free thanks to support from Arts Council England.
Meanwhile, Simon and Steph celebrate the launch of the 2021 Noirwich Crime Writing Festival, which you can attend virtually here: https://noirwich.co.uk/
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Music by Bennet Maples.
The inimitable Kate Mosse joins the podcast to talk about her work on The Women's Prize for Fiction and her career as an author of fiction and non-fiction. Talking with Sarah Bower, Kate discusses the Discoveries writer development programme (opening for applications this month!), how the context of the Women's Prize has changed over the years, why some people still expect the prize to justify its own existence, how she goes about the research for her historical fiction and the writing of her memoir An Extra Pair of Hands.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Join our Discord: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/
Noirwich Crime Writing Festival: https://noirwich.co.uk/
Creating Writing Online courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/
The Women's Prize for Fiction & Discoveries: https://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/
Simon is joined on the pod today by Tom Whyman, author of Infinitely Full of Hope: Fatherhood and the Future in an Age of Crisis and Disaster. Part philosophical theory and part memoir, Tom wrote the book while awaiting the birth of his child and deals with the challenge of maintaining hope in increasingly desperate times.
Meanwhile, Steph and Simon take a look at our Creative Writing Online courses, get over-excited about the books they're currently reading (Daisy Jones and the Six! Lumberjanes!) and Simon finds a way to shoehorn discussion of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power into the show.
Check out our tutored online courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/
Join our Discord: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/
Everything we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Lewis Buxton returns! Steph talks to Lewis about his new poetry collection Boy in Various Poses, which explores masculinity, mental health and sport. We're also very pleased to have The Writing Life's first references to Lizzo and The Meg. Lewis' poems have appeared in The Rialto, Ambit Magazine, Magma, Oxford Poetry and Ink, Sweat and Tears. In 2020 he won the Winchester Poetry Prize and has previously come third in the Magma Poetry Prize and been shortlisted for the Oxford Brookes International Poetry Prize and the York Literature Festival Prize. In 2018-19 he was selected as one of the Poetry School & Nine Arches Press Primers Volume 4 poets and was the recipient of the Literary Festival Bursary from the University of East Anglia. He is Director of TOAST, a live poetry event and workshops project. Working with the best poets in the UK, TOAST produces monthly events at The Norwich Arts Centre, is supported by the Arts Council England and has won a Norfolk Arts Award for supporting new writing.
Check out out previous episode with Lewis: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/poetry-in-lockdown-with-lewis-buxton/
Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Music by Bennet Maples.
Literary translators Shash Trevett and Geetha Sukumaran talk about their collaboration on the work of Tamil poet Nillanthan and Shash's involvement with our Visible Communities translator in residence programme.
Geetha Sukumaran is a poet and a bilingual translator. She has published two books in Tamil: Tharkolaikku parakkum panithuli (a Tamil translation of Sylvia Plath’s poems, 2013), and her own poems, Otrai pakadaiyil enchum nampikkai in 2014. Her English translation of Ahilan’s poetry, Then There Were No Witnesses, was published by Mawenzi House, Toronto (2018). She is the recipient of the SPARROW R Thyagarajan award for her poetry in Tamil. She is a doctoral student in the Humanities at York University, Toronto.
Shash Trevett is a poet and a translator of Tamil poetry into English. She is a winner of a Northern Writers’ Award and her pamphlet From a Borrowed Land is published by Smith|Doorstop (2021). She is currently co-editing (with Vidyan Ravinthiran and Seni Seneviratne) an anthology of Tamil, English and Sinhala poetry from Sri Lanka and its diaspora communities. She is a 2021 Ledbury Critic and a Board Member of Modern Poetry in Translation.
Workshop details: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/workshop-nillanthan/
Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Music by Bennet Maples.
On the podcast this week is Olivia Hellewell, a translator from Slovene to English of literary fiction, children's fiction, and non-fiction. Olivia is talking to Rebecca DeWald, our Emerging Translator Mentorships Programme Manager. They discuss Olivia's route into literary translation, the challenges of making a living from translation, and the importance of translating cultural references. This is a treasure trove for anyone interested in translation and also contains a surprising amount of discussion about Wotsits. Olivia was BCLT's translator in residence earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, Flo Reynolds is back on the pod to introduce the new NCW Book Club book - Sudden Traveller by Sarah Hall! Find out more and join up here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/the-ncw-book-club/
Here's the Meet the World video mentioned during the conversation: https://youtu.be/U_7niLTXT0g
And the Mythical English Reader video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8oFttUu2bI
Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
We'd love your support. Find out more and donate here; https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/support-us/
Music by Bennet Maples.
"Books are dead," so declares Elle Griffin, a journalist and debut writer who is preparing to serialise her first novel via a Substack newsletter. Not sure what Substack is, or why you'd publish a book via a newsletter? Disagree (or agree!) about the fate of books? Curious about whether serialised storytelling and publishing might be for you? Simon chats with Elle about emerging new (and returning!) forms and how they relate to traditional and self-publishing.
Meanwhile, Steph and Simon discuss the new Creative Writing Online courses and the revealed 2021 line-up for the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival.
Lots of useful links this week:
Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Noirwich Crime Writing Festival: https://noirwich.co.uk/
Creative Writing Online courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/
Check out Elle's newsletter: https://ellegriffin.substack.com/
Simon's newsletter: https://simonkjones.substack.com/
This is Buttondown: https://buttondown.email/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Tommy Sissons chats to Sam Ruddock on the podcast about his book A Small Man's England, a prose-polemic exploration of white, working class masculinity. Under discussion are the techniques Tommy uses to explore his argument as well as the core themes at the heart of the book.
Meanwhile Simon and Steph talk about the newly announced Escalator talent development scheme for emerging writers, now open for applications to under-represented writers in the East of England: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator/
Continue the conversation on Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Sign up to our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/newsletters/
Music by Bennet Maples.
This week we have a special episode for anyone considering or embarking on a career as a literary translator. Sarah Ardizzone, translator and mentor, guides us through a detailed, nuts-and-bolts exploration of what it takes to be a literary translator. Sarah is joined by Rosie Eyre, a recent mentee on our Emerging Translator Mentorships programme, and Jamie Lee Searle, who was a mentee ten years ago. Together they explore the challenges of the industry and share tips on how to break in.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who talk abut the upcoming Time To Write workshops for young writers. Find out more here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/working-with-schools/workshops-for-young-people/
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Tsitsi Dangarembga is a novelist, playwright and filmmaker who joins us on the pod today to discuss her groundbreaking work and its influence on readers. Tsitsi is the author of Nervous Conditions, which in 1988 was the first book to be published in English by a black woman from Zimbabwe and won the Commonwealth Writers Prize, and its sequels The Book of Not (2006) and This Mournable Body (2018). She was shortlisted in 2020 for the Booker Prize. Tsitsi lives in Harare and is the director of the Institute of Creatve Arts for Progress in Africa Trust.
Asking the questions is Molly-Rose Medhurst, student writer and activist who worked with us as an intern earlier in 2021. Take a look at an article she wrote: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/must-reads-for-lgbt-history-month/
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Music by Bennet Maples.
William Ryan is the author of historical crime fiction novels, including the Captain Korolev series. William joins us on the pod to talk about his latest project, the Writers' & Artists' Guide To How To Write. It's a nuts-and-bolts framework for writing a book, avoiding common mistakes and asking yourself the right questions up front.
Meanwhile we talk about the Early Career Awards winner announcements. Find out about the winners of the 2021 Desmond Elliott Prize, UEA New Forms Award and Laura Kinsella Fellowship here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Music by Bennet Maples.
Award-winning poet and short story writer Jen Campbell is on the pod to discuss her prolific work in children's fiction, non-fiction and poetry as well as how she built an online platform for her writing across YouTube, Patreon, a podcast and more. Jen's tips on being productive (and forgiving yourself when you're not) and how to make the internet work for you and invaluable.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who look back at the week's International Literature Showcase and get giddy with excitement for the reveal of the Early Career Awards winners next week!
Check out the ILS commissions and videos: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ils/
Early Career Awards: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/
Jen's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/jenvcampbell
Music by Bennet Maples.
Something of a minisode this week, as Steph and Simon pick their favourite podcast episodes since lockdown began in the UK in March 2020. They also dive into the International Literature Showcase, which next week reveals its new list of unmissable writers courtesy of Kei Miller! Let's do some links:
Discover 50 umissable writers at the International Literature Showcase: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/international-literature-showcase-2021/
Book for Joy Francis' keynote: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/recovery-reimagining-literature/
Book for Innovation & Enterprise in the Literature Sector: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/innovation-enterprise/
Book for Kei Miller presents... https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/kei-miller-presents/
And here are Steph and Simon's podcast picks:
J. Michael Straczynski on becoming a writer: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/j-michael-straczynski-on-becoming-a-writer-staying-a-writer/
Greg Kasavin on HADES: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/writing-hades-with-greg-kasavin/
Richard Lambert and Wolf Road: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/what-happens-when-covid-19-cancels-your-book-launch/
Sonia Faleiro's non-fiction: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/writing-creative-non-fiction-with-sonia-faleiro/
Crowdfunding with Tom Cox: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/crowdfunded-publishing-with-tom-cox/
A Delicate Sight with Max Porter and Sam Winston: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/podcast-reveal-a-delicate-sight/
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Joe Michael Straczynski is the creator of influential science fiction classic Babylon 5; he has worked extensively for Marvel and DC comics, was nominated for a BAFTA for his screenplay Changeling, directed by Clint Eastwood; co-created Sense8 with the Wachowskis for Netflix; worked on the screenplay for the first Thor movie, helping to shape what is now the Marvel Cinematic Universe; and in the 80s worked on Murder, She Wrote, The Twilight Zone and animated shows such as He-Man and the Master of the Universe and The Real Ghostbusters. His novel Together We Will Go is out in 2021. He has won the Inkpot Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ray Bradbury Award, the Eisner Award, the Hugo Award (twice), the Saturn Award and many more. His bio also mentions that he is a terrible singer, an abysmal dancer and that he sucks at poetry.
Joe is on the show this week to talk about Becoming A Writer, Staying A Writer: The Artistry, Joy and Career of Storytelling, his new book on writing which is out now. Simon is very, very excited.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Vicki Maitland.
Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Join our Discord writing community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Listen to our episode with Thomas McMullan talking about The Last Good Man: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/ambiguity-and-metaphor-with-thomas-mcmullan/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Jessie Greengrass is on the pod to discuss her latest novel The High House. Jessie is an award-winning writer and was selected by Elif Shafak for the 2019 International Literature Showcase. Asking the questions is Vicki Maitland.
Meanwhile, Simon and Steph look back at the City of Literature festival (which you can catch up on here: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/ ) and look forward to the upcoming Early Career Awards and 2021 International Literature Showcase featuring a new list of incredible writers selected by Kei Miller.
Book for the (free!) big reveal of Kei's new list: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/kei-miller-presents/
Find out more about the International Literature Showcase: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ils/
Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Music by Bennet Maples.
In the final episode of our Imagining the City series, author and artist Lynn Buckle joins us from Dublin to talk to Flo Reynolds about writing her first book, feeling like a fraud and how to write positively about the climate crisis. Lynn's first novel, The Groundsmen, was published in 2018 by époque press. Nominated for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, it was listed as Easons Best of Irish Literature and featured in a year-long book tour of Ireland and the UK. What Willow Says was published in May 2021 - find out more here: https://www.epoquepress.com/what-willow-says
Meanwhile, Simon and Steph talk about the Norfolk & Norwich Festival and having writers back in the building at Dragon Hall. Find out more here: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/
Join our Discord writing community! https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Music by Bennet Maples.
Three writers reflect on the atmospheric pressure of the year they’ve just had in Weather With You – a series of three written commissions and podcasts that address what it means to be a writer today, and why we write.
Abir Mukherjee is the Times bestselling author of the Sam Wyndham series of crime novels set in Raj era India. His debut, A Rising Man, won the CWA Endeavour Dagger for best historical crime novel of 2017 and was shortlisted for the MWA Edgar for best novel. His second novel, A Necessary Evil, won the Wilbur Smith Award for Adventure Writing and was a Zoe Ball Book Club pick. His third novel, Smoke and Ashes, was chosen by the Sunday Times as one of the 100 Best Crime & Thriller Novels since 1945. Abir grew up in Scotland and now lives in London with his wife and two sons.
Part of the City of Literature festival. Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/
More about Weather With You: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/open-doors/weather-with-you/
Three writers reflect on the atmospheric pressure of the year they’ve just had in Weather With You – a series of three written commissions and podcasts that address what it means to be a writer today, and why we write.
Derek Owusu is a writer, poet and podcaster from north London. He discovered his passion for literature at the age of twenty-three while studying exercise science at university. Unable to afford a change of degree, Derek began reading voraciously and sneaking into English Literature lectures at the University of Manchester. Derek edited and contributed to Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space. That Reminds Me, his first solo work, won the Desmond Elliott Prize 2020.
Part of the City of Literature festival. Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/
More about Weather With You: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/open-doors/weather-with-you/
Image (c) Josima Senior.
Three writers reflect on the atmospheric pressure of the year they’ve just had in Weather With You – a series of three written commissions and podcasts that address what it means to be a writer today, and why we write.
Kerri ní Dochartaigh was born in 1983, in Derry-Londonderry at the border between the North and South of Ireland. She read English Literature and Classical Civilisation at Trinity College Dublin and trained as a Waldorf teacher in Edinburgh. She taught in Edinburgh and Bristol, before returning to Ireland in her early thirties. She writes about nature, literature and place for the Irish Times, Dublin Review of Books, Caught by the River and others. She now lives in a railway cottage in the very heart of Ireland. Thin Places is her first book.
Part of the City of Literature festival. Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/
More about Weather With You: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/open-doors/weather-with-you/
Image (c) Manus Kenny.
Icelandic writer Valur Gunnarsson joins Sarah Bower to discuss his work, with a focus on alternate histories. He is best known as a writer of creative historical fiction; his first novel was a Viking fantasy and his third an alternative history where the Germans invade Iceland in World War II. Meanwhile, his second novel was a piece of autofiction set in the aftermath of the economic collapse of 2008. His fourth book, Bjarmalönd, is set in the former Soviet Union. He also co-founded Grapevine magazine and has made three albums and a poetry book.
Valur was in town virtually as part of our Imagining the City residencies, which you can find out about here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/imagining-the-city/
Meanwhile, Simon and Steph get over-excited about recording the first podcast IN DRAGON HALL since March 2020. While some Covid-19 rules remain in place, this week marks the first public event held in the building since the start of lockdown. As such, the centre is a hive of activity - as you'll hear in the background of this episode.
We're also launching the City of Literature programme as part of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival this week. Find out all about it and book your (FREE!) tickets here: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Music by Bennet Maples.
In the third of our Imagining the City podcasts, New Zealand writer Liz Breslin talks to British academic and poet Tiffany Atkinson about writing communities and how writing can help you discover yourself. Liz also reads two of her poems, including one from her new collection, In Bed with the Feminists.
Flo Reynolds also jumps on the pod to introduce the next Book Club book, In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
BCLT Event with Jhumpa: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/sebald-lecture-jhumpa-lahiri/
Our City of Literature events: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/
Imagining the City resources: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/imagining-the-city/
Join the Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Music by Bennet Maples.
Our Imagining the City series continues with virtual writer in residence Marcin Wilk, at home in Krakow, talking to bookseller Joe Hedinger from Norwich's famous Book Hive bookshop. Marcin is a non-fiction writer and has written two biographies of famous Polish women and a history of Poland in the year before World War 2. They talk about writing in the pandemic, Polish culture and history, how to be organised when you're very busy, his love of Virginia Woolf and much more.
Audio quality is a little lower than usual due to irritating technical glitches - apologies
You can find out more about Imagining the City and read Marcin's articles here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/imagining-the-city/
Find out more about our City of Literature strand at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/
Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Music by Bennet Maples.
Writer Vahni Capildeo stayed with us in a virtual residency back in February and is joined in this week's episode by Jeremy Noel-Tod, editor, critic and Senior Lecturer in Literature at the University of East Anglia. Together they discuss Vahni's work, the inspiration found in places like Norwich and Edinburgh, the influence of Julian of Norwich and much more besides - all while enjoying an imaginary afternoon tea at the Maid's Head Hotel.
We recommend reading Lighthouse and Anchorage by Vahni before listening to this episode: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/lighthouse-and-anchorage-journal-entries/
Vahni stayed with us as part of the month-long Imagining the City event, which you can find out about here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/imagining-the-city/
Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones
Read Keeping A Writerly State of Mind: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/keeping-a-writerly-state-of-mind-two-reflections/
Read Five Everyday Writing Tips for any Writer: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/five-everyday-writing-tips-for-any-writer/
Did you know you can buy All Shall Be Well prints to help fund our work and remember Julian of Norwich? https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/buy-a-julian-of-norwich-screen-print/
Join our free Discord community and let us know your favourite biscuit: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Music by Bennet Maples.
Winner of the BBC Short Story Award in 2019, Jo Lloyd has now published her collection The Earth, Thy Great Exchequer, Ready Lies, and joins Chris Gribble on the pod to discuss her work, the challenges of going from one award-winning story to an entire collection, how the American short fiction market differs from the UK and why she prefers editing to writing.
Meanwhile, NCW programme director Peggy Hughes explores our hugely exciting City of Literature line-up for the 2021 Norfolk & Norwich Festival, most of which can be enjoyed online and entirely for free!
Main interview begins at 15:00.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Book your (free!) City of Literature events: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Music by Bennet Maples.
Writer and illustrator Neill Cameron is on the pod to talk about his debut novel Freddy Vs School, the long-running comic series MEGA ROBO BROS and contributing to fab weekly children's comic The Phoenix. Neill discusses how he got into comics and writing for younger readers, how he works complex themes into accessible stories, making the comics form easy for new readers and why fart jokes and punchy robots are every bit as important as the serious stuff. Meanwhile, Simon pretends that he gets The Phoenix for his son to read.
ALSO on the pod today is Flo Reynolds, making a return to intro the latest Book Club book in the form of Abir Mukherjee's A Rising Man. Find out more here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/the-ncw-book-club/
Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.
Join our Discord and say hello! https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Check out the amazing NNF City of Literature programme: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/
Find out more about what we do at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Listen to our earlier pod with Anni Domingo: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/anni-domingo-on-the-writing-of-breaking-the-maafa-chain/
Music by Bennet Maples.
What is The Last Good Man about? When Duncan Peck arrives at a remote village in Dartmoor, he immediately notices the wall towering over it and displaying messages written by the inhabitants. Simon read it as a metaphor for social media and online discourse, Thomas references anonymous, public writing in China, and the book remains resolutely ambiguous.
Thomas joins us on the pod to discuss the balance of information needed to keep a book ambiguous, with the discussion taking in everything from Gamergate, Twitter, the concept of 'lore', the differences between stage and page, the curious magic inherent to the act of reading and his use of third person present tense to create an unsettling atmosphere.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Find out more about what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Photo by Jonathan Rin.
BAFTA Award-winning writer and games designer Greg Kasavin joins the pod to talk about his work at Supergiant Games, focusing on the critically acclaimed smash hit HADES. The game won five BAFTA awards last week and we spoke to Greg about how he got into writing for games, his background in journalism and how Supergiant strive to merge narrative and gameplay mechanics. Essential listening for anyone interested in interactive fiction, games and narrative design.
Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.
Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Music by Bennet Maples.
Tom Cox is on the pod talking about his TWO new books out this year, Notebook (out now!) and Villager (out later!). Tom talks to Steph about the inspiration behind his books, including having his backpack stolen and finding himself stranded in Bristol, the importance of place in his writing (and life) and why he turned to Unbound to publish his most recent work. It's a funny, informative and honest look back at an unusual career. As Tom says, "I'm a bit hard to sum up."
Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones, who also introduce the judges for the 2021 UEA New Forms Award and Laura Kinsella Fellowship (you'll never guess), plus the brand new Writer's Toolkit Online courses for poets and fiction writers.
Here's some useful links:
Music by Bennet Maples.
Writer and actor Anni Domingo is on the pod to talk about her debut novel Breaking the Maafa Chain, the remarkable true story of Sara Forbes Bonetta. Anni discusses adapting historical research into a fictionalised retelling, how Covid-19 has disrupted her acting work and how being on our Escalator talent development scheme in 2019 helped develop her writing.
Meanwhile, Simon and Steph talk about our exciting online writing courses and get distracted by the presence of a millionaire shortbread from nearby cafe Smokey Barn. If you're ever in the vicinity of Dragon Hall in Norwich, do pay them a visit!
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Useful links:
Creative Writing Online courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/
Donate to Escalator: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/
Join our free Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Music by Bennet Maples.
Author and journalist Sonia Faleiro joins us to discuss The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing, her new narrative non-fiction book which examines the killing of two teenage girls in India in 2014. Sonia talks to Steph about her route into journalism and how she researches complex topics and then translates them into engaging narratives. It's a conversation packed full of practical advice for non-fiction writers and is also a fascinating discussion of the core themes of The Good Girls.
Content warning: Please do note that this podcast includes discussion of sexual violence throughout which listeners may find distressing.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Some useful links
Join our free Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Dragon Hall Debates events: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/dragon-hall-debates/
Our mentoring programme: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/mentoring/
Podcast episode featuring mentor Katri Scala: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/how-mentoring-can-help-your-writing/
Browse the Creative Writing Online catalogue: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Photo by Jonathan Ring.
Writer and broadcaster Horatio Clare is on the pod this week to talk to Peggy about his latest book, Heavy Light: A Journey Through Madness, Mania and Healing. It is the story of Horatio's own breakdown: a journey through mania, psychosis and treatment in a psychiatric hospital, and onwards to release, recovery and healing. On the podcast he discusses the writing of the book and how he approached translating his real experiences into book form.
Content note: This podcast discusses mental health and attitudes towards treatments. If you are affected by anything discussed on the podcast or want to know more we recommend seeking professional advice. These websites include good resources:
Mind: https://www.mind.org.uk/
Rethink: https://www.rethink.org/
And for lots of international links: https://checkpointorg.com/global/
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Peggy Hughes asking the questions.
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Book for our Editor Insights event: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/editor-insights-with-ella-micheler/
Music by Bennet Maples
Photo (c) Caroline Flinders
Translator William Gregory joins us on the pod to discuss translating for the stage, how he started his professional career and the challenges of working on translated material in the UK. William was a (virtual) translator in residence at BCLT from October 2020 to January 2021, and ran the theatre translation workshop during 2020’s BCLT Summer School. On the other side of the conversation is special guest interviewer Sue Healy, Literary Manager at the Finborough Theatre in London. It's a wide-ranging conversation full of practical tips for early career translators and fascinating insights for anyone who enjoys a diverse mix of entertainment.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who tease upcoming episodes, talk about their current reads and reminisce about people bringing cakes into the office.
Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
BCLT: http://www.bclt.org.uk/
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Music by Bennet Maples.
Thumbnail photo by Felix Mooneeram on Unsplash
We talk to author Stephen Michael Shearer and director John Hay about To Olivia, the film adaptation of Stephen's book An Unquiet Life. Focusing on the lives of Patricia Neal and Roald Dahl, the film stars Hugh Bonneville and Keeley Hawes and is available on Sky Cinema and Now TV from 19 February 2021. Stephen and John talk about the process of adapting the book and how the collaborative nature of filmmaking influences and changes the source material. Peggy Hughes is asking the questions.
Meanwhile Steph and Simon take another look at the new Early Career Writer's Resource Pack, 'Dialogue' and, inevitably, complain about the weather.
Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Find out more about what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Check out the free Dialogue pack: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/pack-6-dialogue/
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Produced and edited by Simon Jones.
Music by Bennet Maples.
To Olivia, a Sky Original film, available on Sky Cinema and Now TV from 19th February.
Author Chris Beckett joins us this week to explore styles of dialogue in literature and how Chris uses it in his novel Two Tribes. Covering topics as wide-ranging as conversation-as-animal-grooming to Brexit, Chris shares his tips and insight into how humans interact and different ways of capturing that on the page. Asking the questions is Sam Ruddock of Gatehouse Press and Story Machines Productions.
This episode is part of our Early Career Writer's Resource Pack focusing on dialogue in prose fiction, scriptwriting and comics. Find more from Hannah Berry, Femi Kayode, Carys Davies and Taylor Beidler at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/pack-6-dialogue/
Made possible by support from Arts Council England.
Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.
Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
More on our Early Career Awards: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Debut author Jon Ransom shares his tips for avoiding writer's block, the importance of deadlines, why he avoids using word counts to judge progress, securing an agent during Covid-19 lockdown and how the Escalator talent development programme helped him complete his first novel The Whale Tattoo, which is due to be published by Muswell Press in 2022. If you'd like to support new voices you can donate to this year's Escalator here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/
MEANWHILE! Simon and Steph are joined by Flo Reynolds to introduce the new Book Club book. Listen to find out what we're reading and then join in the chatter on Discord at https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Also under discussion are the daily writing prompts we're publishing through February, courtesy of our amazing UNESCO writers in residence. Find out more and get involved here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/imagining-the-city/
Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.
Music by Bennet Maples.
We're very pleased to finally have Kate Worsley guest on the pod, author of She Rises, discussing her route to publication, her time on our Escalator talent development scheme, how she has benefited from mentoring and the impact of Covid-19 on her work.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Donate to the 2021 Escalator scheme: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/
Join our Discord community chat: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
More about what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Music by Bennet Maples.
"The world of the imagination is being diminished by the day, with theatres dark, cinemas closed, and actors and musicians encouraged to retrain in more ‘viable’ professions, so books are more vital than ever, bringing us together safely at a time when we have never felt more isolated." The wonderful Nicola Upson returns to the podcast to talk about her early career, finding her confidence and how the Escalator talent development scheme helped to demystify the publishing industry.
We're currently fundraising for Escalator so that we can help as many new writers as possible. To find out more and donate head over here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/
Find out more about our Start Writing Crime Fiction course and join the waiting list: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/introduction-to-crime-fiction/
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Music by Bennet Maples.
Escalator needs your help! Our talent development scheme has helped 10 writers every year since 2004 but austerity and funding challenges means we can only fund 6 places in 2021. If you'd like to donate to help us help more writers, visit https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/
On the podcast is previous Escalator participant Owen Nicholls, whose debut novel was published in 2019. Owen talks about shifting from screenwriting to novels, how he completed his first book and how Escalator helped him on the road to creating Love, Unscripted. Simon also talks to Owen about surreptitiously enjoying the film Garden State.
Meanwhile, Steph and Simon are joined by the inimitable Vicki Maitland to talk about Chrysalis, a fantastic mini-festival created by the Lit from the Inside group of young arts professionals. Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/chrysalis/
More on what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe!
Music by Bennet Maples.
Happy New Year! We begin 2021 with a conversation with Desmond Elliott Prize shortlisted Abi Daré, whose debut The Girl With The Louding Voice caught everyone's attention last year. Abi talks about her approach to world building and how she used the narrative voice in the book to explore its setting. Asking the questions is novelist Sarah Bower.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who start the episode by celebrating that it's not 2020 anymore.
If you like this episode don't forget to subscribe!
Get more free resources on world building: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/5-world-building/
Find out about our Early Career Awards, including the Desmond Elliott Prize: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/
Check out our online courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/
More on what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Made possible with support from Arts Council England.
Music by Bennet Maples.
We're joined on the pod by Dutch writer Thomas Heerma van Voss, who is talking about his new chapbook, Thank You For Being With Us. We're also very pleased to have editor, writer and lecturer Andrew McDonnell asking the questions. They discuss the translation of Thomas' work, how lockdown has affected his writing in 2020 and how he crafted his short stories.
Thomas' residency was made possible by support from the Dutch Foundation for Literature and New Dutch Writing.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Find out more at https://nationalcentrefowriting.org.uk
More info on our residency programmes: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/residencies/
Music by Bennet Maples.
We talk to producer Tamsin Flower about Black Writers on Democracy, a project conceived following the Black Lives Matters protests in 2020. Funded rapidly via crowdfunding, a commissioning call was sent out to find writers from around the world to address the theme. The five written pieces have now been published and on the podcast today we talk to Olu Alakija, Nike Igbaroola, Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto and Tamsin about how it was put together.
Read and watch the pieces on the StreamLyric website: https://streamlyric.co.uk/digital/
Our previous episode talking to Tamsin in 2018: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/the-importance-of-arts-funding/
Hosted by Simon Jones.
Find out more about we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Join our free Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Music by Bennet Maples & library sources.
Award-winning poet Will Harris, creator of RENDANG (Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection and a Guardian best poetry book of 2020), is our guest this week. Will discusses how he perceives his writing career and explores form and feeling with Flo Reynolds.
Meanwhile Simon and Steph talk about our fundraising campaign for the Escalator talent development scheme, our lovely 'All Shall Be Well' prints to cheer everyone up in this tail end of 2020 and whether it's OK to have your Christmas tree up already.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Donate to the Escalator campaign: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/
Get your 'All Shall Be Well' print: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/buy-a-julian-of-norwich-screen-print/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Think you know everything there is to know about Charles Dickens? Professor John Mullan is back with his new book The Artful Dickens to show us Dickens and his work in a completely new light, exploring the famous author's often overlooked experimental and ground-breaking techniques. John came on the show to talk everything Dickens, from the original serialisation of his novels (which gets Simon very excited) to his surviving manuscripts and why he was often dismissed in his time.
Whether you're a fan of Dickens or not, this episode (and John's book!) will make you think again about one of Britain's best-loved authors. And, yes, we do discuss Muppet's Christmas Carol.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Find out more about our Creative Writing Courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/
More info on why we're asking for donations to Escalator: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Stuart Turton discusses the research, editing and planning process behind The Devil and the Dark Water, as well as his route into publishing his first novel, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Stuart's talking to Vicki Maitland and their conversation is packed full of practical tips, fascinating insights and historical stories you will feel compelled to immediately Google.
Meanwhile, Simon talks to Peggy Hughes about Open Doors, the new fund of exciting commissions from the National Centre for Writing.
Hosted by Simon Jones.
Join our free Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Full details about the Open Doors commissions: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/open-doors/
And to save you the need to manually search, a link to the astonishing true story of the Batavia shipwreck: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batavia_(1628_ship)
Check out what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Debut author Sally-Anne Lomas shares her route to being published, which resulted in Gatehouse Press picking up her book Live like Your Head’s on Fire. Sally-Anne talks about her experiences on our Escalator talent development scheme and the process of reaching publication. We're also joined by Sam Ruddock of Gatehouse who talks about assessing manuscripts and why small presses are essential to the literary ecology and early career writers. Asking the questions is Sarah Bower.
For more information on the Escalator talent development scheme: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator/
Can you donate to Escalator? http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/
Listen to Michael Donkor on the pod: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/creating-characters-with-michael-donkor/
Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Sign up to our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Hosted by Simon Jones and Vicki 'Rock DJ' Maitland.
Music by Bennet Maples.
Lockdown didn't stop us from putting on the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival this year in partnership with our friends at the University of East Anglia. One of the many highlights was this conversation between Oyinkan Braithwaite and Femi Kayode, discussing Oyinkan's My Sister, The Serial Killer. If you missed it during the festival, now's your chance to listen on the pod!
Meanwhile, Steph and Simon are joined by Flo to introduce the latest NCW Book Club book: Our Place by Mark Cocker. Find out more here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/the-ncw-book-club/
You can watch the video version of Oyinkan's event here: https://youtu.be/aQx3AcmpW6Q
Catch up on Noirwich 2020 here: https://noirwich.co.uk/
Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Music by Bennet Maples.
Oyinkan photo by Amaal Said.
We spoke to Richard Lambert on the podcast in October 2019 about his debut novel The Wolf Road, which was to be published in early 2020. It never came out: instead, Covid-19 triggered global lockdowns, which forced bookshops and libraries to close, distributors shut down and Richard's dream of publication became another casualty of 2020.
Fast forward to October 2020 and not only is Richard back on the pod to talk about the challenges and difficulties of the year, but The Wolf Road has, at last, been released into the wild. We talk about why the book had to be delayed, what Richard's publisher did about it and how he coped with the turbulent year.
You can listen to the 2019 podcast with Richard here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/preparing-for-publication/
Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.
Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Information on the Escalator Talent Development programme: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Kate Summerscale, the award-winning author of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, joins the pod to talk to Chris about her new book, The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story. They discuss the origins of the book, Kate's approach to research and how she had to track down the facts, and how the book sets poltergeists and the increased interest in the supernatural in the 1930s with the rise of Hitler and looming war.
Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.
Find out more about what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Join the Book Club: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/the-ncw-book-club/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Emma Shercliff of Laxfield Literary Associates talks to us about being an agent outside of London and her efforts to better represent both regional writers and authors from Africa and the Middle East. Following a globe-trotting career with Macmillan, Hodder and Cassava Republic Press, encountering the Common People report prompted Emma to set up Laxfield Literary Associates with the aim of making agenting more transparent and representative of the population.
We discuss the challenges of representation, the lack of childcare support for writers, how and when to contact an agent and lots more - including the two prizes being run by Laxfield Literary Associates which you can find out about on their website: https://laxfieldliterary.com/
Hosted by Simon Jones & Steph McKenna.
Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Check out our workshops and Agent Insights sessions: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/courses/
Join our (free!) Discord community and say hi: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Music by Bennet Maples.
Want to be a more organised writer? On the pod this week we have Antony Johnston, prolific and bestselling creator of comics, novels, podcasts and more. He created the graphic novel that was turned into the movie Atomic Blonde, has worked extensively on his own comics as well as Marvel books, video games including Dead Space and Shadow of Mordor and numerous crime thrillers. His latest book is The Organised Writer, a manual for professional writers based on Antony's own experiences and techniques. If you've struggled to stick to deadlines and carve out time for your writing, Antony is someone you need to pay attention to.
The Organised Writer is published by Bloomsbury and is available from all good bookshops!
Meanwhile Vicki jumps on the pod to discuss the challenges of our school work in Covid-19 times and our continuing efforts to keep delivering workshops to young people.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Vicki Maitland.
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
FREE course: Supercharge your productivity: https://courses.nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/p/supercharge-your-productivity
How to write more and stay happy: https://courses.nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/p/how-to-write-more
Find out more about what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Check out Antony's website: https://antonyjohnston.com/
Watch Antony's film debut Crossover Point: https://bit.ly/crossoverpoint
Music by Bennet Maples.
Multi-award-winning comics writer Kieron Gillen joins us on the pod today to discuss his methods for world building. Kieron is perhaps best known for The Wicked + The Divine, the hugely ambitious collaboration with artist Jamie McKelvie which presents a pantheon of gods who happen to also be pop stars, as well as UBER, Phonogram, DIE, Once & Future and Ludocrats. Beyond his own books he's also worked extensively with Marvel on X-Men, Thor, Iron Man and with LucasFilm on Darth Vader and Star Wars books. In the interview we explore the different challenges and opportunities of writing for established franchises compared to your own work, and how he approaches research and making things feel 'real' in fantasy stories. We spoke to Kieron just as he had been revealed as the writer on The Eternals, the return of a long-running series from Marvel.
This episode is part of our Early Career Writers' Resource Pack on World Building, which also features insight and tips from Abi Daré, Farhana Shaikh and Ian Nettleton. These packs are made possible by support from Arts Council England. See the rest of the pack here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/5-world-building/
Hosted by Stephanie McKenna and Simon Jones, who is barely able to contain his excitement.
More info on the Desmond Elliot Prize: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/desmond-elliott-prize/
Find out about what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Kieron on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kierongillen
Music by Bennet Maples.
It's a very special episode this week award-winning US author and screenwriter Attica Locke joins us to deliver the annual Noirwich Lecture, in which she explores the ways that crime writing can challenge the distribution of power and authority at a structural and individual level, addressing how power, property and privilege intersect.
Attica’s most recent novel, Heaven, My Home, is an expertly-crafted thriller mystery, but also a sharp examination of ‘Trump-era’ America and issues of race, power, prejudice and white supremacy which still exist today. Her recent work as a television writer and producer includes When They See Us (Netflix); a portrayal of the 1990 wrongful conviction of five teenage boys from Harlem for a brutal attack in Central Park; and Little Fires Everywhere (Amazon Prime).
You can watch the live Q&A that followed Attica's lecture over on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/bA2R3FRTBR8
Meanwhile, Steph and Simon talk about free resources to help you keep writing through the latest Covid-19 lockdown rules and regs, what they're currently reading and the upcoming 'World Building' resource pack!
Noirwich is a co-production from the National Centre for Writing and the University of East Anglia. Find out more here: http://noirwich.co.uk/
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Sign up to our newsletter and find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Lewis Buxton on poetry in lockdown: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/poetry-in-lockdown-with-lewis-buxton/
Jenny Offill and Joe Dunthorne about catastrophising: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/jenny-offill-talks-to-joe-dunthorne/
Mark Stay on finding your new normal: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/finding-your-new-normal/
Ben Johncock's free productivity course: https://courses.nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/p/supercharge-your-productivity
End music by Bennet Maples.
Intro music from YouTube audio library.
Portrait by Jenny Walters.
RENDANG by Will Harris has been revealed as our new Book Club book! Flo Reynolds returns to the pod to introduce the book and why it's been selected for the book club. They also give some great tips for beginners on how to read poetry, so if you're more used to fiction and non-fiction don't feel like you need to sit this one out.
We'll be doing live Zoom sessions to discuss the book in October and you can jump into the book club area on our Discord community right away by clicking here: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
If you missed our previous Book Club book, Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke, you can still catch up on the website where you'll find links to Flo's additional resources: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/book-club-bluebird-bluebird-by-attica-locke/
You can also rewind and catch up on all the Noirwich 2020 events over on the website: http://noirwich.co.uk/
Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.
Music by Bennet Maples.
Is Hercule Poirot the world's greatest detective? Dr Mark Aldridge certainly think so, as he explores in his latest book Poirot: The Greatest Detective In The World. Mark is joined on the podcast for the Noirwich 2020 finale by crime writer Sophie Hannah, author of the Poirot continuation novels including the new The Killings at Kingfisher Hill. Their conversation takes in everything a Poirot fan could want, from discussing his best - and most unusual - cases, and why Agatha Christie's detective continues to be popular a century after his introduction.
If you missed any of the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival 2020, or want to rewatch or relisten, do head over to http://noirwich.co.uk/ where you can find links to all of this year's amazing free events.
Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Event chaired by NCW Chief Exec Chris Gribble.
Music by Bennet Maples.
The Noirwich Crime Writing Festival continues with Anita Terpstra joining us on the pod from Leeuwarden in the Netherlands to discuss her crime writing. Talking with Flo Reynolds, Anita reveals her path to becoming published and how keeping the faith and continuing to write are essential. It's an inspiring and positive conversation.
Check out yesterday's pod with Paddy Richardson if you missed it and keep an eye on your podcast feed for our Hercule Poirot special this Sunday, featuring Sophie Hannah and Dr Mark Aldridge. Noirwich 2020 is packed full of amazing live videos, including appearances from Attica Locke, Oyinkan Braithwaite and Olivier Norek. Full details at over at https://noirwich.co.uk.
You can find the short stories by Anita over on the Noirwich blog: https://noirwich.co.uk/news/
Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.
Join our Discord community and ask us questions: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Photo by Harry Cock.
Music by Bennet Maples.
Noirwich 2020 has begun! Our crime writing festival is online this year, which means all the author events can be accessed for free here on the podcast and over on our YouTube channel. We kick off with an interview with Paddy Richardson, one of our 'virtual' writers in residence. Paddy is talking from Dunedin in New Zealand to our programme director Peggy Hughes.
Paddy Richardson is the author of two collections of short stories and seven novels. Traces of Red and Cross Fingers were long-listed for the Ngaio Marsh Crime Fiction Award and Hunting Blind and Swimming in the Dark were shortlisted. Through the Lonesome Dark was shortlisted for the New Zealand Historical Novel Award and longlisted for The Dublin International Literature Award.
Paddy has been awarded Creative New Zealand Awards, the University of Otago Burns Fellowship, the Beatson Fellowship and the James Wallace Arts Trust Residency Award. She has been a guest at many writing festivals and was one of the New Zealand writer representatives at both the Leipzig and Frankfurt Book Fairs in 2012 when New Zealand was the guest of honour. In 2019, she was awarded the Randell Cottage residency in Wellington where she spent six months writing and researching her latest novel to be published in 2021.
Read an extract from Swimming in the Dark: https://noirwich.co.uk/swimming-in-the-dark/
Read A Soft Flowing Veil of Grey, an exclusive reflection from Paddy: https://noirwich.co.uk/a-soft-flowing-veil-of-grey/
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Join our Discord writer and reader community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
View the complete Noirwich programme: http://noirwich.co.uk/
Find out about everything we do and sign up to our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Poet Flo Reynolds joins us on the pod to share their tips on getting published as a poet. This episode is packed full of practical advice, including what NOT to do, guiding you along the process of building your writer CV through zines and competitions towards being ready for larger pamphlets, chapbooks and collections. Flo has been writing for over ten years and is also an essayist and editor. Their debut pamphlet, the other body, is forthcoming from Guillemot Press in 2021. Recent poems have appeared in The White Review, Stand, The Interpreter’s House, amberflora, Magma, Datableed and more.
When they're not writing, Flo is a literature programmer who works here at the National Centre for Writing. You can usually find them on our Discord community, where Flo runs the NCW Book Club and the Drop-in Writing Sessions. If you've been to any of our workshops or festivals over the years, there's a good chance you'll have benefited from their programming skills!
Check out Flo's what-to-do checklist on the blog here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/how-to-get-your-poetry-published/
You can join our Discord community to ask follow-up questions here: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Flo's website: http://floreynolds.com/
Noirwich Crime Writing Festival: http://noirwich.co.uk/
Drop-in Writing Sessions: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/drop-in-writing-time-0920/
Join the Book Club: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/book-club-bluebird-bluebird-by-attica-locke/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Okechukwu Nzelu joins us on the pod to talk about his debut The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney, writing in lockdown and balancing life as a full-time teacher and author. Okey was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliot Prize and Polari First Book Prize and won a 2020 Betty Trask Award. Turns out that award-winning debut author + experienced English teacher = a brilliant podcast full of tips and insight.
Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
All about our work: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Get Noirwich workshop tickets: http://noirwich.co.uk/
Photo of Okechukwu Nzelu (c) Martin Glacken
Music by Bennet Maples.
We're joined on the pod by Eliza Clark, the debut author of Boy Parts. Eliza talks to Steph about being published in her mid-20s, the inevitable comparisons with other authors and the series of unlikely events that led to publication. She also discusses how writing fan fiction in her teens helped hone her craft before embarking on her first book, as well as how Covid-19 has affected the book's launch.
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Early Career Writers' Resource Packs: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/free-resources/
Noirwich Crime Writing Festival: https://noirwich.co.uk/
Produced by the National Centre for Writing https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Image by Richard-Kenworthy
Music by Bennet Maples
Our CEO Chris Gribble joins us on the pod to discuss Arts Council England's new National Lottery Funding Grants. Available now to artists they offer much-needed support and relief during Covid-19. Applications are open, and Chris is on the show to provide starter tips and an introduction to the grants system: plus why arts funding is critical, especially at times like this.
It was very hot when recording this episode, so we're going to blame the heat for the slightly glitchy audio quality on Chris' end. Heat rises, so we can only assume that it stole away some of the soundwaves before they reached the mic. Apologies!
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Find out more about the ACE grants: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/projectgrants
Here's what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Music by Bennet Maples.
Long overdue, we finally have this wonderful recording from the BCLT Summer School 2019, featuring Swiss-Albanian writer Elvira Dones, her translator Clarissa Botsford and publisher Stefan Tobler. Chaired by Rosie Goldsmith, it's a wide-ranging discussion taking in themes of identity, linguistics, translation processes and the creation of Elvira's book Sworn Virgin.
This event took place in partnership with the British Centre for Literary Translation, with support from Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.
Meanwhile, Simon and Steph talk about lots of exciting NCW things, from the Book Club and drop-in Writing Sessions to the new Creative Writing Online courses and the exciting announcement of NOIRWICH 2020.
Some useful links:
Join the National Centre for Writing's Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
Check out the full Noirwich 2020 programme: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW
More info on all of our work to support writers: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.
Music by Bennet Maples.
Get a taste of what we do and meet hosts Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. We're a weekly podcast for anyone who writes - find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and all good podcast apps.
Produced by the National Centre for Writing in the UK.
Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk
Jackie Kay revealed her list of 10 black, Asian and ethnically diverse writers for the International Literature Showacse at the Cheltenham Literature Festival earlier this month. This recording of the event has Jackie in conversation with three of her selected writers: Eric Ngalle Charles, Zaffar Kunial and Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi. The International Literature Showcase is a partnership project presented by us and British Council, with support from Arts Council England and Creative Scotland. Apologies for the audio quality of this episode - hopefully the quality of the discussion more than makes up for it! Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Music by Bennet Maples.
En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.