Starting an indie bookshop + Primadonna Festival

#47 Writing about grief and hope with Carl Gorham: 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 pr... by The Writing Life

40 min listen

#38 Celebrating Granta At 40 with Ros Porter: This month we're celebrating the 40th anniversary of Granta Magazine and on the podcast today we've got our programme director Peggy Hughes chatting with Ros Porter, Deputy Editor of the magazine. They discuss the history and origins of the magazine and ... by The Writing Life

31 min listen

#35 Elif Shafak's 10 Exciting Women Writers in the UK: Elif Shafak reveals her selection of 10 exciting women writers in the UK, for the first International Literature Showcase of 2019, a collaboration between the National Centre for Writing and British Council. Elif is in conversation with Bidisha, the jou... by The Writing Life

55 min listen

#41 Life of a Bookseller: Joe Hedinger: Joe Hedinger is one of the nominees for Individual Bookseller of the Year at the British Book Awards. He also happens to be found in The Book Hive, a unique indie bookshop found here in Norwich. We sent the one and only Peggy Hughes to find out how Joe e... by The Writing Life

36 min listen

#45 The 10 year road to publication with Kelleigh Greenberg Jephcott: 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 deleg... by The Writing Life

38 min listen

#43 Literature at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival: 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... by The Writing Life

21 min listen

#36 What it's like to be shortlisted for an award with Caroline Goldsworthy: We talk with Caroline Goldsworthy, independent author of Tangent, about being shortlisted for The Selfies award. We also talk about London Book Fair and what it has to offer for self-published writers. Hosted by Simon Jones, writer and Digital Marketing... by The Writing Life

13 min listen

Representation in fiction With Sara Collins: "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 Lang... by The Writing Life

21 min listen

Join our Book Club!: 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! ... by The Writing Life

10 min listen

#44 Walking Norwich and Kathleen Vereecken: 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 an... by The Writing Life

63 min listen

Jeremy Tiang, Writer And Translator: 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 relea... by The Writing Life

27 min listen

Henry Sutton On Noirwich 2019: 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.u... by The Writing Life

20 min listen

#50 Chris Gribble on year one of the National Centre for Writing: "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 refurbi... by The Writing Life

43 min listen

#49 Sarah Perry gives the Harriet Martineau Lecture: 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 ye... by The Writing Life

56 min listen

#46 Reda Gaudiamo In Conversation: 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. Re... by The Writing Life

27 min listen

#48 Ivanka Mogilska on finding time to write as a new parent: 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 epi... by The Writing Life

28 min listen

#37 Elif Shafak talks to Bernardine Evaristo, Lucy Caldwell & Sara Maitland: Elif Shafak hosted a conversation with three of her selected writers for the International Literature Showcase at London Book Fair earlier this month. Bernardine Evaristo, Lucy Caldwell and Sara Maitland contribute to a wide ranging discussion involving ... by The Writing Life

38 min listen

Writing crime fiction protagonists with Claire McGowan: 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 ch... by The Writing Life

37 min listen

#39 Charlotte Higgins In Conversation: Today we're chatting with Charlotte Higgins, who is one of our selected authors for the International Literature Showcase. The showcase curator Elif Shafak describes Charlotte as “an author with magic in her pen. From ancient subjects she conjures livin... by The Writing Life

26 min listen

How to self-publish children's picture books with Mandy Stanley: 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 s... by The Writing Life

33 min listen

Starting an indie bookshop + Primadonna Festival: 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 Fest... by The Writing Life

27 min listen

Fantasy world building with Neon Yang: 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 ... by The Writing Life

50 min listen

Writing non-linear narratives with Outer Wilds' Kelsey Beachum by The Writing Life

59 min listen

How To Pitch To An Agent - Ed Wilson: 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 ou... by The Writing Life

32 min listen

Method And Digital Tools - Bregje Hofstede & Moto Shibata: 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. Sim... by The Writing Life

29 min listen

Translators Jeremy Tiang & Anton Hur by The Writing Life

44 min listen

Alicia Morgan in a Room of Her Own: 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... by The Writing Life

33 min listen

Changing direction with Antti Tuomainen: 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 th... by The Writing Life

28 min listen

Making a living as a literary translator with Ekaterina Petrova: 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... by The Writing Life

39 min listen

Progressive politics in crime fiction with Denise Mina: 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... by The Writing Life

27 min listen

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Starting an indie bookshop + Primadonna Festival

Starting an indie bookshop + Primadonna Festival

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