The Writing Life (National Centre for Writing)

The Norfolk & Norwich Festival is upon us! Simon, Steph and Peggy get over-excited about our line-up for the City of Literature weekend and the festival programme as a whole. If you're looking for tips on which events to go to (spoiler: all of them) give this a listen ASAP. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Book your tickets for the festival: https://nnfestival.org.uk Find out more about the National Centre for Writing: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples: https://sonicfruit.co.uk/

It's a bumper episode this week, featuring an in-depth conversation between Sarah Bower and Belgian writer Kathleen Vereecken in which they discuss writing historical novels, the relationship between facts and storytelling and finding time to write in and around your assumed or imposed responsibilities. Kathleen was in Norwich on a residency, staying in the writer's cottage here on the Dragon Hall campus. You can find out more about residencies here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/residencies/ Meanwhile, Steph and Simon are joined by Communications Director Alice Kent to introduce our upcoming book Walking Norwich: The Real and Imagined City. Released 21 May 2019 the book features award-winning writers sharing their experiences of the city and revealing their favourite hidden walks. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about the National Centre for Writing: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples: https://sonicfruit.co.uk/

Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott, writer of the Women's Prize for Fiction longlisted book Swan Song, joins us on the podcast to discuss her debut novel and it's 10-year road to publication. Also on the pod today: We talk about the Nottwich gathering of delegates from the UNESCO Cities of Literature network, which took place earlier this week, and this weekend's exciting Norfolk & Norwich Festival literature extravaganza. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, with guest Flo Reynolds. Find out more about the National Centre for Writing:https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Norfolk & Norwich Festival: http://nnfestival.org.uk More info on Nottwich: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/nottwich-begins/ About UEA Live: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/uea-live/ Music by Bennet Maples: https://sonicfruit.co.uk/

In March this year, we were joined by Indonesian writer Reda Gaudiamo. Her residency was in partnership with the British Council as part of the Indonesia Market Focus at The London Book Fair 2019. In today's podcast Kate Griffin sits down for a chat. Reda is also a nationally renowned singer, of well-loved Indonesian poems turned into songs. All we're saying is that you must make sure you listen all the way to the end of this episode... Hosted by Simon Jones. Find out more about the National Centre for Writing: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples: https://sonicfruit.co.uk/

Today we've got an interview with the lovely Carl Gorham about his 2017 book The Owl at the Window: A Memoir of Loss and Hope. In it Carl writes about the loss of his wife and his attempts to rebuild his life with their six year old daughter. You have probably encountered Carl's work on TV, such as with the animated series Stressed Eric and the CITV adaptation of Meg and Mog. On the other end of the interview today is Hannah Garrard, our Learning & Participation Programme Manager. It's a really wonderful interview about Carl's approach to bereavement, and how the book emerged out of his own need to write through his grief. Meanwhile, Steph and Simon take a look back at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival, the Nottwich UNESCO conference, the Walking Norwich book and the next big festival event: the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival. Find out more about what we do at http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples: http://sonicfruit.co.uk

Today we've got an interview with Bulgarian writer Ivanka Mogilska, who stayed with us back in 2018. In the interview she discusses the writing of a new short story, 'The Miracle of St Peter Mancroft', which we're excited to also include in this very episode courtesy of a special reading from Peggy Hughes. We also talk about the monthly Dragon Hall Salons, our big writerly social get-togethers. If you haven't been along to one yet make sure you put July 16 in your diary! Find out more about what we do at nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples: http://sonicfruit.co.uk

Author of The Essex Serpent and Melmoth, Sarah Perry, delivered this year's Harriet Martineau Lecture at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival. Sarah explores the notion of the 'Essex girl', invoking unexpected moments from history and popular culture. This year's lecture was made possible thanks to the support of The Martineau Society. Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones from the National Centre for Writing at Dragon Hall in Norwich. Find out more at http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples: http://sonicfruit.co.uk

"Books are the closest thing to magic." Chief Exec of the National Centre for Writing Chris Gribble is back on the podcast for episode #50, celebrating not only a year of the podcast but also the first full year of the Centre re-opening after the refurbishment of Dragon Hall in 2018. Inside this very podcast you will find out which two books changed Chris' life, his favourite books of the last year and who would win in a fight: Jane Austen or George Eliot. Also: the 10-year journey to bring the NCW to life, why we're based in Norwich, what the literature world can do to reduce its carbon footprint and why Dragon Hall is a bit like Marsten House in Salem's Lot (but not really). Find out more about the work we do on our website: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk

Indie game Outer Wilds has been rapturously received and we were very excited to talk with Kelsey Beachum, writer on the project. We discuss writing non-linear stories, how to handle player agency and interactions, mixing game mechanics with storytelling and how to inject characterful dialogue into exposition. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Fantasy writer Neon Yang joins us on the pod to discuss their Tensorate series of silkpunk novels. Neon was our writer in residence at Dragon Hall in June and it was the perfect opportunity to explore their approach to world building, the origins of the series and what is coming next. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about our work at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

"You have to be alive to the possibility that there is a story waiting to be told or discovered all around you." So says Mitch Johnson on today's episode, in which he talks with visiting Indonesian author Debby Lukito Goeyardi and Vicki Maitland about writing children's literature. Hosted by Simon Jones, who claims at the start that this is episode 52 despite it evidently being episode 53. It was going to happen eventually. Find out more about our projects and writing opportunities at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Henry Sutton, co-director of the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival, joins us on the pod to discuss this year's amazing festival line-up and dive into the themes being explored this September. Tickets for Noirwich are available now at https://noirwich.co.uk Hosted by Simon Jones. Find out more about our work at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Today we have NCW chief exec Chris Gribble talking with Jeremy Tiang, New York-based writer and translator who was the Inaugural Literary Translator of the Fair at London Book Fair earlier this year. Today's interview is timed to coincide with the release of issue 53 of In Other Words, the literary translation journal. You can find out more about it on our website. Chris interviewed Jeremy on a panel in the Literary Translation Centre at LBF. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more: Primadonna Festival - https://www.primadonnafestival.com/ Noirwich - https://noirwich.co.uk/ Val McDermid's International Literature Showcase - https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ils/ In Other Words - https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ncw-publications/in-other-words/ Creative Writing Online - https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/online-courses/ Jeremy Tiang photo by Edward Hill. Music by Bennet Maples.

90 years ago, Virginia Woolf published her ground-breaking essay 'A Room of One's Own', which posited that to be a writer, a woman needed money and a room of her own. We joined forces with the Royal Society of Literature to offer a week-long residency at Dragon Hall to address this: giving a female-identifying writer the time, space and support to write whatever they wanted. Alicia Morgan was selected from many amazing submissions. She is a poet, playwright, performer and culture maker now based here in Norwich. She talks with Steph about being an active part of the underground New York punk scene in the 80s and 90s, working as a journalist and her move into fiction. Follow her on Instagram @alicia13morgan Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out about writer opportunities at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

"I think words change the world, reader by reader." Val McDermid joins us on this very special episode, talking with Guardian Books Online editor Sian Cain about her newly revealed International Literature Showcase selection of UK-based LGBTQI+ writers. The International Literature Showcase is produced in partnership with the British Council. Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ils/ Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Music by Bennet Maples.

Earlier this month our intrepid explorers Steph McKenna and Roisin Batty ventured up to Edinburgh for the festival. While there they had the opportunity to visit two independent bookshops and speak to the people who work there: Julia Danskin of The Golden Hare and Mairi Oliver from Lighthouse Books. Apologies for some of the audio quality in the first interview: due to being on location we didn't have access to our usual equipment! Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Golden Hare Books: https://goldenharebooks.com/ Lighthouse Books: https://www.lighthousebookshop.com/ The International Literature Showcase: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ils Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples

Claire McGowan is the prolific writer of crime fiction including the Paula MacGuire series and the recently release What You Did. Ahead of her workshop during the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival we got her on the pod to discuss techniques for crafting characters for crime fiction. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about Noirwich: https://noirwich.co.uk Book onto Claire's workshop: https://noirwich.co.uk/the-line-up/#event-200-details Claire's website: https://www.ink-stains.co.uk/ Primadonna Festival: https://www.primadonnafestival.com/ Noirwich is a partnership project between the National Centre for Writing and the University of East Anglia. Music by Bennet Maples.

How do you start a new bookshop in 2019? Leanne Fridd from Bookbugs & Dragon Tales tells us about her new children's bookshop and why she left a comfortable job to start a new business. Meanwhile, Steph and Simon catch up about the first Primadonna Festival, which took place last weekend in Suffolk. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Sign up to our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ https://bookbugsanddragontales.com/ https://primadonnafestival.com Music by Bennet Maples.

Jeremy Tiang returns to the pod, this time accompanied by fellow translator Anton Hur and Kate Griffin. In this wide-ranging chat they take in their inaugural Dragon Hall translator residencies, the BCLT summer school, how mentorships can help people getting into translation, the work of Tilted Axis, the history of Singapore and queer Korean literature. The residencies were supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore and the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about our work at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Get your Noirwich tickets: https://noirwich.co.uk http://www.jeremytiang.com/ https://antonhur.com/ http://www.bclt.org.uk/summer-school https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/emerging-translator-mentorships/ https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/erasing-histories/ https://www.tiltedaxispress.com/ https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article/june-2019-korean-queer-korean-litearture-is-stepping-outanton-hur http://www.cedilla.company/ https://smokingtigers.com/ https://literarytranslators.wordpress.com/2019/02/07/focus-on-literary-translation-collectives-an-interview-with-the-smoking-tigers/ Music by Bennet Maples.

Today we have something particularly special on the pod, in the form of George Alagiah's 2019 Noirwich Lecture. George is of course best known for his journalistic work with the BBC, in particular as presenter of BBC News at Six. He's just released his first work of fiction, The Burning Land, and in his lecture he talks about the power of fiction to better illuminate facts, and how the book complements the factual work he's done as a journalist throughout his career. Hosted by Simon Jones. Find out more about Noirwich: https://noirwich.co.uk What we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk UEA: https://www.uea.ac.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples.

The King of Helsinki Crime and the 'funniest writer in Europe' Antti Tuomainen joins us on the pod to talk about his books including The Man Who Died and Little Siberia, plus how the crime fiction genre is the perfect engine for telling stories. Many thanks to the Finnish Literature Exchange (FILI) for supporting Antti's visit to the UK. Meanwhile, Steph and Simon introduce the Early Career Awards, launched TODAY, including the news that we are now running the Desmond Elliott Prize. We also share the writing prompt from our first drop-in writing session; "Out of the ashes rose..." Fill in the rest by sending us your microfiction responses on Twitter @writerscentre! Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Early Career Awards: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/ Noirwich: noirwich.co.uk

Richard Lambert's debut novel The Wolf Road is set for release in February 2020. The book is finished, edited, proofed. What's it like to be in the in-between stage between completion and publication? We talk to Richard about how he got to this stage in his writing, and where he's going next. Also on the pod today: we're very excited about the third and final International Literature Showcase of 2019, with Jackie Kay curating a list of 10 amazing BAME writers working in the UK today. Join us on Saturday 5th October at 12.45 for the live stream reveal. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. All about us: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk ILS live stream: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ils/showcase-3-live/ Early Career Awards: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/ Richard's website: https://richardlambert.org/ The Escalator scheme for writers: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator/ Music by Bennet Maples

"I had no examples of people like me in the page." Writer Sara Collins joins us on the pod to talk about representation in literature - both behind-the-scenes and within stories. Sara was in town to discuss her debut novel The Confessions of Frannie Langton at the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival. Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ More about Noirwich: https://noirwich.co.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

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.

'Iceland's crime queen', Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, joins Kate Griffin on the pod to discuss her writing, how she balances being a bestselling author with having a day job - and why she wants to keep the day job - and shifting between crime, horror and children's literature. Yrsa was the inaugural UNESCO City of Literature Writer in Residence here at Dragon Hall in September, during the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about Noirwich: noirwich.co.uk Join our newsletter: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Denise Mina, the award-winning Scottish crime writer, playwright and comic book author, joins us on the pod for a fascinating discussion exploring genre, the notion of high and low art and the power of crime fiction to explore progressive politics. Steph McKenna is asking the questions. Hosted by Simon Jones, who is getting excited about NaNoWriMo. Noirwich is produced by the National Centre for Writing and the University of East Anglia. https://noirwich.co.uk https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Travel writers Agustinus Wibowo and Suzanne Joinson join us on the pod this week to discuss pitching and funding projects, leaving family behind, the perils of getting in taxis, near-kidnappings - and the joys of meeting new people around the world. Agustinus Wibowo was writer in residence at the National Centre for Writing in August 2019 and ran two travel writing workshops with Suzanne Joinson. His residency was generously supported by BEKRAF, the National Organising Committee for the Indonesia Market Focus at London Book Fair 2019, Virtuago and the British Council. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Interview by Kate Griffin. Blog by Agustinus: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/to-travel-is-to-share/ Blog by Suzanne: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/suzy-joinson-valletta-to-tromso/ More on our Dragon Hall residencies: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/residencies/ Music by Bennet Maples.

Today we have an interview with Mandy Stanley, a children's author and illustrator who has created a huge number of books over her career. Although she was traditionally published by the likes of HarperCollins, for her latest book in the Lettice series she decided to self-publish. We talked to her about why she took that route, and her top tips for anybody looking to self-publish their own children's picture books. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna from Dragon Hall in Norwich. Find out more about our work at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Mandy's website: http://mandystanley.com Music by Bennet Maples.

Ruthie Collins joins us on the pod to talk about her efforts to excite young children about writing, most recently during a writing residency in Great Yarmouth. We also talk to teacher at St Georges Primary and Nursery School and Clare Parker, Education Officer at the Time & Tide Museum. There are several instances of highly adorable children in this episode. Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones, with special guest Hannah Garrard. Find out more about Ruthie's work: https://www.ruthiecollins.co.uk/ Mystery Lunch event: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mystery-lunch-tickets-78956826995 More info about our own residencies: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/residencies/ Music by Bennet Maples. Additional music courtesy of the YouTube audio library.

On the pod today we have literary translator and non-fiction writer Ekaterina Petrova. Ekaterina is from Bulgaria, and was our visiting resident for 10 days thanks to support from the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation. A big part of the conversation is about the challenge of making a living from being a literary translator - which, as you can imagine, is even harder than making a living from being a writer. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about our work: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Read a translated extract by Ekaterina: http://www.eurolitnetwork.com/from-traveling-in-the-direction-of-the-shadow-by-iana-boukova-translated-by-ekaterina-petrova/ Don't miss Ekaterina's contribution to the Walking Norwich collection: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/walking-norwich/stranger-on-a-walk/ Music by Bennet Maples.

Ed Parnell is on the pod to talk about his first non-fiction book, Ghostland. He discusses his obsession with structure, how to pitch a non-fiction book and how he switched from fiction to non-fiction. Simon and Steph also dive into the pod archive to pick out their favourite episodes of the year: Outer Wilds with Kelsey Beachum: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/the-writing-challenges-of-outer-wilds/ Jon Ingold from Inkle Studios: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/how-to-write-interactive-narratives-for-games/ Elif Shafak & Bidisha: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/elif-shafak-talks-metoo-identity-politics-libraries-and-inequality/ Life of Bookseller with Joe Hedinger: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/life-of-a-bookseller/ Val McDermid & Sian Cain: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/val-mcdermid-sian-cain-on-the-publishing-landscape-for-lgbtqi-writers/ Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Find out about our work: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples.

Special guest Katri Skala joins us on the pod to talk about her work mentoring writers, and how mentoring can help writers identify their goals. Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Find out about our work at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk About our mentoring services: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/mentoring/ Katri's website: https://katherineskala.co.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples.

Julia Crouch is the Queen of Domestic Noir, writer of Her Husband's Lover and The Long Fall, designer of our Start Writing Crime Fiction course and regular attendee of the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival. In today's episode she joins us to discuss her twisty-turny career and how becoming a writer doesn't always happen in the most obvious of ways. It's a great listen for anybody starting out, or wondering how to take their next step. Today's episode is brought to you by the Early Career Awards, supported by Arts Council England. The Early Career Awards are a new form of literary prize run by the National Centre for Writing, accompanied by resources, professional development and industry advice for new writers. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find more early career writer resources: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/1-beginnings/ Noirwich: https://noirwich.co.uk More on what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Julia Crouch returns to the pod to share her six top tips for writing crime fiction. Most of this applies to ALL fiction, and as a concentrated burst of writing advice it's hard to beat. If you missed part 1, make sure you go back and listen to episode #75! Take a look at our Start Writing Crime Fiction course, led by Nicola Upson and originally created by Julia! https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/introduction-to-crime-fiction/ Eimear McBride launch event: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/eimear-mcbride-strange-hotel-launch/ Jenny Offil launch event: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/jenny-offill-weather/ More on the work we do with writers: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Find out more about our crime writing festival at https://noirwich.co.uk Julia's website: http://juliacrouch.co.uk/ Norfolk & Norwich Festival: https://nnfestival.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples.

Writer and editor Ashley Stokes joins us on the podcast to talk about the editing process, how it is essential to the writing process and the best way for writers to approach working with an editor. Meanwhile, Simon and Steph are joined by Lillie Coles, Programme Assistant, to discuss the upcoming Writer's Toolkit events and Japan Now. More about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk TLC: https://literaryconsultancy.co.uk/ Ashley's website: https://ashleystokes.net/ Imaginary Worlds podcast on Fantastical Food: https://www.imaginaryworldspodcast.org/fantastical-feasts.html Our interview with Moto from the archives: https://soundcloud.com/wcncast/moto Music by Bennet Maples.

Agent Ed Wilson joins the pod today to discuss what an agent does, why - and when - writers need them and also how to *become* an agent. If you're about to pitch to an agent, this is essential listening! Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about our work: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Johnson & Alcock Agency: http://www.johnsonandalcock.co.uk/ Ed on Twitter: https://twitter.com/literarywhore Music by Bennet Maples.

"Do not be limited by the things that surround you." That's the advice from Nuril Basri, who joins us on the podcast this week to talk about his journey from a rural village in Indonesia to leaving his job to become a writer. Nuril is talking with Kate Griffin. Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones, who also talk about the newly announced Early Career Awards judges and other exciting upcoming events. Nuril Basri was born in a village in West Java, Indonesia, and raised in a staunchly Islamic community. Nuril has worked in a variety of positions—cashier, tutor, accounts manager, waiter, etc.—the combined experience of which has served to enrich his characters and settings. Nuril is the author of six novels. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Poet Cat Woodward talks to Flo about taking her writing seriously and why she publishes with small presses. Plus a reading of one of the poems from her recent anthology 'Blood. Flower. Joy!' (apologies for audio quality at some points: every plane, truck and marching band decided to go past during the recording of this episode) Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna Cat's website: https://www.catwoodward.com/ Flo's website: https://floreynolds.com/ The Language of Food with Cara Marks: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/the-language-of-food-with-cara-marks/ What we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

"If you write, you're a writer." This week we talk to Ashley Hickson-Lovence about the creation of his debut novel The 392, and how he had to fit writing time in and around his job of being a teacher. Ashley shares his journey from poet to teacher to novelist and talks about his next project. Interview by Florence Reynolds. Meanwhile, Simon and Steph introduce the Norfolk & Norwich Festival's City of Literature strand which was announced last week. Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. More about our work: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ City of Literature events: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/city-of-literature-at-norfolk-norwich-festival/ NNF: https://nnfestival.org.uk/ 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

Prominent BookTuber Leena Norms joins us to talk about developing and maintaining an online profile, handling abuse and her parallel careers on YouTube and in the publishing industry. Also, she politely explains to Simon what BookTube actually means. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who are joined by special guest - and BookTube afficionado - Vicki Maitland. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Leena's website: https://www.leenanorms.com/ Leena on Twitter: https://twitter.com/leenanorms

Flo talks to Ayobami Adebayo about the writing of her debut novel Stay With Me, in particular focusing on the creation of the characters. Meanwhile, we introduce our new online courses! These can be found at https://courses.nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk and include lots of free courses packed full of practical writing tips. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

None other than Jenny Offill joins the podcast to talk about her new book Weather with Joe Dunthorne. Along the way they discuss catastrophising, doomers, coronavirus and seismic historical events. This conversation is in partnership with The Book Hive. Weather is available direct from them at a special discount for pod listeners and event ticket holders! Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Writing courses: https://courses.nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples.

It's a bumper edition of the pod today, with TWO special guests: Bregje Hofstede and Motoyuki Shibata. As part of our new Early Career Writers' Resource pack they are talking all about their METHOD: from the writer's perspective and the translator's. Simon also shares his favourite digital tools for writers! Check out the full METHOD resource pack: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/2-method/ Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Writer and presenter Mark Stay, co-creator of The Bestseller Experiment and author of Robot Overlords and The End of Magic, returns for this week's episode to discuss his publishing experiments and why 'finding a new normal' is something we all do multiple times in our lives. If you're struggling to be productive while under isolation, listen to this right now. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Mark's website: https://markstaywrites.com/ Listen to the Bestseller Experiment: https://bestsellerexperiment.com/ Music by Bennet Maples.

Former Dragon Hall resident Vahur Afanasjev joins the pod to talk to Lewis Buxton about his books, how coronavirus has affected his writing and why he writes a lot about fish. Vahur is an Estonian author and creator of the award-winning Serafima and Bogdan, a bloody, funny and surreal family saga about the Russian Old Believer minority in Estonia. ALSO on this week's episode is guest-host Peggy Hughes, joining Steph and Simon to talk about Bibliotherapy and recommend some great books for us all to read while stuck in isolation. Hosted by Steph McKenna & Simon Jones. Music by Bennet Maples.

Stephanie Scott's debut What's Left Of Me Is Yours releases on April 21st - that's Tuesday, for fast listeners - and Laura Stimson sat down to discuss the creation of the book and its true crime inspiration. There's great tips from Stephanie about conducting research, finding agents and working through a large project. Meanwhile, Simon and Steph talk about the on-going weirdness of working from home during Covid-19 and highlight some of the exciting opportunities and writer resources we're putting out every week. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Poets Kendel Hippolyte and Flo Reynolds talk on the pod about Kendel's career, taking in his work on page and stage, sharing tips and techniques for poets and considering the responsibilities - and obligations of artists to society. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Moto Shibata returns to the podcast for an in-depth conversation about how he became a translator, balancing the academic and more accessible styles of translation and his new serialised adaptation of Gulliver's Travels. Asking the questions: Peggy Hughes! Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who talk excitedly about our new Time To Write workshops for younger writers (https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/working-with-schools/young-workshops/), the transformed INN CROWD (remote) residencies (https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/apply-to-be-a-remote-writer-in-residence/) and why you should sign up to our excellent newsletter (https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/newsletters/). Enjoy and hear you next week! More about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples.

We have something of a mini-episode this week as NCW Programme Officer Flo Reynolds joins Simon and Steph to introduce our new Book Club. Starting today, the Book Club is reading A Line Made By Walking by Sara Baume - we hope you'll join us on the read! There are many ways to get involved - all of them free, of course. Read along, chat with us on Twitter and join our scheduled Zoom chats to share your opinions. We're also launching a new online community on Discord, which is open now and you can find an invite for podcast listeners below. We can't wait to discuss the book with you all! Follow this link to join the new NCW community on Discord (limited places available): https://discord.gg/ERQhsGj Book your place on the free Zoom chats: Thursday 21 May: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/ncw-book-club-a-line-made-by-walking/ or Tuesday 26 May: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/virtual-book-club-2-a-line-made-by-walking/ Full details on the Book Club can be found here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/join-the-ncw-virtual-book-club/ Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Michael Donkor, author of HOLD, graduate of our Escalator talent programme and a Desmond Elliot Prize nominee, guests on the pod to talk about creating and developing characters. It's a chat full of amazing tips for any writer - and you can find even more with our Early Career Writers' Resources Pack this month, as it's all about CHARACTER and is packed full of insight from Sarah Perry, Joe Dunthorne and more. Check out the full pack: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/pack-3-character/ Join the Discord community with this limited-time invite: https://discord.gg/ERQhsGj Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Music by Bennet Maples.

City of Literature 2020 begins! Today's special episode features Max Porter and Sam Winston, talking about the collaborative exhibition A Delicate Sight. Originally intended to be part of this year's Norfolk & Norwich Festival, we're now taking the event online so that you can experience it at home. Place darkness at the centre of your perception and explore how your senses, thoughts and emotions are heightened with this free creative resource. A number of the UK’s leading writers – including Bernardine Evaristo, Max Porter, Raymond Antrobus and Don Paterson – were commissioned to spend time in a dark room installation as part of artist and producer Sam Winston’s interactive exhibition A Delicate Sight. Now it’s your turn! Find out more and get involved: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/city-of-literature/ Thanks to Arts Council England. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Join the Discord community: https://discord.gg/ERQhsGj Music by Bennet Maples.

Our City of Literature festival continues with today's podcast: A fascinating glimpse into the daily process of making and writing from Sara Baume (Spill Simmer Falter Wither) and Elizabeth Macneal (The Doll Factory), chaired by Jen McDerra. Through writing, sculpture and ceramics, they will offer reflections on isolation, motivation, nature and beauty. This episode is presented by the National Centre for Writing and the Norfolk & Norwich Festival. Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/ERQhsGj More City of Literature free events: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/city-of-literature/ Music by Bennet Maples.

Owen Sheers, author, poet and playwright and Professor in Creativity at Swansea University, reveals his selection of ten inspiring writers asking the questions that will shape our future, as part of the International Literature Showcase. In this conversation with award-winning jouranlist Chitra Ramaswamy you'll discover the details of Owen’s list, including his introduction to each writer and the reasons why he finds their work to be so important – spanning topics including the environment, structural inequality and the role of a writer at times of transition and change. What role can writers play in shaping a more just world, and how do we ensure that we don’t go back to ‘business as usual’ after such a catastrophic event? The ILS is a partnership project between the National Centre for Writing and British Council, supported by Arts Council England and Creative Scotland. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about the International Literature Showcase: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ils Check out everything we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Bregje Hofstede returns to the podcast with this full length version of her conversation with our Programme Director Peggy Hughes. Bregje stayed with us back in October as a writer in residence at Dragon Hall, back when such a thing was still possible. Bregje came to work on her new novel – working title De oplossing van Hadewych (The Hadewych Solution). Dragon Hall was the ideal location, as the Middle Ages feature large in the novel while Norwich is the most complete medieval English town to have survived and has more medieval churches than any other European city north of the Alps. The wide-ranging discussion takes in how your writing changes when you're away from your normal situation (something we're all at least vaguely familiar with by now...), as well as what happens to spirituality in a secular society. There are no clear answers anymore: is that a good thing? Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW Find out about everything we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples.

The time to reveal the Desmond Elliott Prize shortlist has finally arrived! NCW Programme Assistant and almost absurdly well-organised person Lillie Coles joins us on the pod to introduce the shortlisted titles and provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the running of the prize. The Desmond Elliott Prize is part of the National Centre for Writing's Early Career Awards. Find out more about them here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/ Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW More about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples.

Time for a burst of optimism and inspiration, courtesy of poet, producer and tutor Lewis Buxton. If lockdown is getting to you, have a listen to this week's pod and hopefully you'll feel a little brighter about the future. Lewis talks about TOAST, his regular live literature events, his own route into poetry and how coronavirus has affected his work. Then he treats us to readings of a couple of his own poems plus material from selected TOAST headliners. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW Get in touch with TOAST: https://toastpoetry.com/ Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples.

This week Eimear McBride shares her writing method with advice on characters, how to finish a book and what makes someone a writer. Interview originally broadcast on YouTube in March as part of the Early Career Writers' Resources. More info here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/2-method/ Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples.

We're 100 episodes old! To celebrate, Simon and Steph indulgently look back on The Writing Life show and pick out their favourite episodes, which turns out to be an almost impossible task. You're not going to find a podcast anywhere else that combines Val McDermid, Jenny Offill, Joe Dunthorne, Jon Ingold, Kelsey Beachum, Ed Parnell, Ian Nettleton, Sian Cain and Joe Hedinger. Thanks for listening! Find out more about what we do at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Photo by Floris Andréa on Unsplash Music by Bennet Maples.

Join us for our summer Book Club! We're reading Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke, a crime thriller set in Texas. Flo Reynolds joins us on the pod today to excitedly introduce the book! Meanwhile, Steph and Simon are similarly excited about the Desmond Elliott Prize's winner announcement which happens this evening at 6.30pm UK time - tune in live here: https://youtu.be/UOUtj5xAecc Get involved with the book club: Join the Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW Find us on Twitter and Instagram @writerscentre https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Music by Bennet Maples.

Eva Meijer, writer and philosopher, joins Kate Griffin on the pod to discuss her work. Topics range from understanding animal languages to writing routines and redrafting. Meanwhile, Steph has been back to Dragon Hall as lockdown restrictions are eased in the UK, and everyone is getting excited about The Book Club. If you'd like to read Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke with the rest of us, you can find out more here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/book-club-bluebird-bluebird-by-attica-locke/ To join the Discord discussions click here: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Also check out this interview with Eva in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/13/of-course-animals-speak-eva-meijer-on-how-to-communicate-with-our-fellow-beasts Eva Meijer is an author, artist, singer, songwriter and philosopher. Her non-fiction study on animal communication, Animal Languages, was translated to English in 2019. Bird Cottage was her first novel to appear in English, translated by Antoinette Fawcett and published by Pushkin Press. It has been nominated for the BNG and Libris prizes in the Netherlands and is being translated into several languages. Music by Bennet Maples.

Sarah Ardizzone is a translator from the French with forty-something titles to her name. This week she joins us on the pod to discuss her career as a translator, the importance of forging a bond with writers and how translation techniques differ between mediums. Asking the questions is Sarah Bower. Meanwhile, Steph and Simon talk about the upcoming drop-in writing sessions and Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke, this month's Book Club selection. Join our Discord community of writers and readers here: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW Sarah's work spans picture books, graphic novels and travel memoirs as well as children’s, young adult and literary fiction. Notable authors include Alexandre Dumas (a fresh version of The Nutcracker), Faïza Guène, the outspoken young French-Algerian voice from the banlieue, and former ‘dunce’ Daniel Pennac, whose autobiographical polemics about education are illustrated by Quentin Blake. Twice recipient of the Marsh award, she has won the Scott-Moncrieff prize and a New York Times notable book accolade. What we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Drop-in Writing info: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/drop-in-writing-time-8/ Book Club info: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/book-club-bluebird-bluebird-by-attica-locke/ Music by Bennet Maples.

Crime writer Nicola Upson returns to the pod to talk about designing a good plot. Nicola tells us how her process has adjusted over time and discusses the unique requirements of the crime genre. Nicola's latest book is Sorry for the Dead, continuing her hugely successful Josephine Tey series. This episode is part of our latest Early Career Writers' Resource pack, which is all about PLOT. Check out the website for more amazing free stuff from Okechukwu Nzelu and Inua Ellams. https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/4-plot/ Supported by Arts Council England. Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. More about us: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

We are very excited to have Sarah Perry back on the podcast! Sarah talks to Chris Gribble about crafting characters and what it means when an author talks about their creations 'coming to life'. This conversation was part of our Early Career Writers' Resource pack back in May, so do check out the other contributions from Michael Donkor and Joe Dunthorne - https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/pack-3-character/ The pack was made possible by support from Arts Council England. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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, 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.

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.

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, 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

 

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.

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.

 

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/ 

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.  

• Melody Bowles
• Bang Wang
• Ben Cartwright
• Shirley Day
• Isabelle Higgins
• Adam Leeder
• Joanna Miller
• Carrie Patten
• Rick Roydes
• Mark Stocker

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/

 

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.

 

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.

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.

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.