Camilla Balshaw has written for the Guardian and the Observer. She holds an MA in Creative & Life Writing from Goldsmiths (Distinction) and is an Honorary Research Fellow in Name Studies at the University of Nottingham. Her memoir Named won the Biography & Memoir category winner in the East Anglian Book Awards 2025.

She sat down with NCW’s Holly Ainley for a candid conversation about the origins of her memoir, which intertwines an exploration of names, global naming conventions and identity politics within a moving, personal narrative about the finding of family and self. They also touch on her approach to writing about real people, the impact of names on our sense of self, and the vulnerability involved in sharing personal stories with readers.

Anna Trench is an illustrator, cartoonist, writer and teacher based in London. Florrie is her first book. It won the 2025 East Anglian Book of the Year Award and was previously shortlisted for the First Graphic Novel Award and the LDComics Award.

She sat down with NCW’s Peggy Hughes to reflect on the inspiration and research behind the graphic novel, which explores self-discovery and queer love, alongside huge (and little known) historical moments for women’s football. They also touch on her analogue approach to graphic storytelling, her relationship with Norfolk, and her love for the women’s game.

Jenni Fagan won the Gordon Burn Prize for her memoir, Ootlin, which was also longlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction. Her debut novel, The Panopticon, saw her selected as a Granta Best Young British Novelist, and her second novel, The Sunlight Pilgrims, gained her Scottish Author of the Year. Jenni has been listed for the Encore Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes, the Desmond Elliott Prize, the Sunday Times Short Story Award, and the Pushcart Prize. She is a Doctor of Philosophy, a member of Liberty, and a Royal Society of Literature Fellow.

She sat down with NCW’s Peggy Hughes to reflect on the novel’s complex themes, including death and the afterlife, delusion and self-confrontation, and the enduring importance of connection, love, and humanity. They also touch on the ‘absolute freedom’ of writing fiction, experimenting with different styles and genres, and how an initial idea can evolve into a vivid, fully realised story.

Grace Murray was born in 2003 and grew up in Norwich. She has recently graduated from Edinburgh University, where she read English Literature and found time to write between her studies and two part-time jobs. Her short fiction has been published in The London Magazine. Blank Canvas was written over the course of a year as part of WriteNow, Penguin Random House’s flagship mentorship scheme for emerging talent. Grace Murray won one of nine places on the scheme on the exceptional strength of her writing, selected from a pool of over 1,300 applicants.

She sat down with National Literacy Trust’s Victoria Tynemouth to reflect on her path from early creative mentorships to publishing Blank Canvas. In their conversation, she also discusses writing about the female body, her approach to crafting unreliable and unlikeable narrators, and the process of developing her own voice and identity as a writer.

Help us to support more young writers like Grace by donating to our Big Give Arts for Impact campaign. For one week only (17–24 March 2026), every £1 you give becomes £2. Whatever you can donate, big or small, makes a difference. Find out more on our website!

Sam Meekings is a British novelist and poet. He is the author of Under Fishbone Clouds (called 'a poetic evocation of the country and its people' by the New York Times) and The Afterlives of Doctor Gachet. He currently works as an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Northwestern University in Qatar, and has spent the last few years living and working in China and the Middle East. He balances his time between teaching, research, raising two kids as a single father, and drinking copious cups of tea.

Sam sat down with Steph for a candid and insightful discussion about writing as therapy, the importance of intention and of setting boundaries, the role of vulnerability, and of embracing the unknown when undertaking a writing project which draws upon lived, painful experiences. There is also lots of room for wonder, magic and play!

Celeste has been a lawyer since 2001 but she has been telling stories all her life. A native of Trinidad and Tobago, in 2016, she graduated from Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, with an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction). Her debut novel Pleasantview won the 2022 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. Ahead of its publication in the Caribbean and the UK, a story from her current novel-in-stories Ever Since We Small was shortlisted for the 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

She sat down with her friend and fellow Trinidadian writer Ayanna Lloyd Banwo to discuss Ever Since We Small, a powerful novel-in-stories in which survival, resilience and self-discovery are passed down through generations of an Indo-Trinidadian family. Together, they explore her use of the short story form to create an intricately woven tapestry of stories, Caribbean folklore, and the book's themes of belonging, resistance, and legacy.

Matt is a novelist and essayist. His first novel, Ostrich, published in 2013, won a Betty Trask Award and was a Daily Telegraph book of the year. His memoir, Jew(ish) was published in 2020. His latest novel, The Definitions, was published in October 2025. He lives in London with his partner and two sons.

The Definitions is an elegant and haunting dystopian novel about a group of individuals gathered to relearn how to navigate the world after a mysterious illness strips them of their memories. 

He sat down with NCW’s Steph McKenna to discuss the genesis of the novel, which began as a philosophical experiment, and how working within the dystopian genre allowed him to explore how language shapes identity. They also touch on his approach to writing characters who lack memory or a sense of self, and how their gradual understanding of the world was conveyed through a playful, vivid use of simile and metaphor.

Choo Yi Feng is an intertidal explorer, climate activist, ecologist and fiction writer. The Waiting Room is his debut short story collection. Elsewhere, his short stories have previously been published in Foglifter Journal, Anathema: Spec from the Margins, Queer Southeast Asia and Alluvium, the journal of Literary Shanghai. He was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2022. His residency in the Dragon Hall Cottage was supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore.

He sat down with writer and mentor Simon K Jones to discuss world building in speculative fiction, and how his work blends elements of science-fiction, horror, mythology, and more. Together, they touch on his month-long residency in Norwich UNESCO City of Literature, his method for developing mysterious, compelling characters, and how his interest in the sea and sea animals translates in his stories.

John Osborne is a poet, scriptwriter, broadcaster and theatre-maker. He began writing whilst studying at the University of East Anglia and has never stopped, producing an eclectic mix of poetry, storytelling theatre shows, non-fictional explorations of everything from radio to the charms of the seaside and even a Sky One sitcom, After Hours. His latest collection of poems To Make People Happy was published in June 2025, and looks at happiness.

Lewis Buxton is a writer and theatre maker. His work has appeared in The Independent, Poetry Review, The Rialto, Ambit and Magma amongst others. He has won the Winchester Poetry Prize, received the UEA Literary Festival Bursary and is the Co-Director of TOAST. His first collection Boy in Various Poses was published by Nine Arches Press in 2021. His second collection Mate Arias was published in July 2025, and is a unique celebration of the tenderness and love that can be communicated by men.

Together, they discuss their poetry collections To Make People Happy and Mate Arias, and their themes of happiness, connection, and communication. Touching on everything from Norwich’s influence on their writing to how their performances subvert and expand expectations of what poetry is, this is an open conversation about finding inspiration, writing the absurd and surreal, and experimenting with form, rhythm, and structure.

Julia is the author of ten internationally published crime novels, including Cuckoo, Tarnished, The Long Fall, and Her Husband’s Lover. Unable to find a sub-genre of crime writing that neatly described her work, she came up with the term Domestic Noir, which is now widely accepted as the label for one of the most popular crime genres today.

Julia has been a Visiting Fellow on the UEA MA Creative Writing Crime Fiction and teaches online for Faber Academy and the National Centre for Writing. She co-runs the Brighton Crime Wave, a bi-monthly crime fiction night.

She sat down with NCW’s Holly Ainley to discuss the different ways to be a writer, and to share her advice for getting started and staying motivated. Together, they discuss the benefits of cultivating a daily writing habit, finding inspiration in unexpected places, and being kind to yourself in the pursuit of your goals.

Get a head start on your writing goals with NCW Academy, the home for creative writers. You can find out more about our workshops, courses, free resources, and more at nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/academy.

Nicola Upson’s debut, An Expert in Murder, was the first in a series of crime novels to feature Josephine Tey — one of Britain’s finest Golden Age crime writers – and was dramatised for BBC Radio 4. Several of Nicola’s novels have been listed for the CWA Gold and Historical Daggers, and Sorry for the Dead was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month. Praised as a ‘perfect Christmas crime story’ by Elly Griffiths, her latest novel The Christmas Clue was published in September 2025.

She sat down with NCW’s Caitlin Evans to discuss The Christmas Clue, and how she tackled balancing festive cheer with page-turning twists and deceptive characters. Together, they touch on writing fiction inspired by real people, what drew her to writing a Christmas crime novel, and how to develop the ideal festive setting for a murder mystery.

Clara Chow works across genres of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Her strange experiments under Hermit Press include obscure prose chapbooks such as The Melancholy of Broken Bollards. She has been a resident at the University of Iowa, Toji Cultural Center, Asean Literary Festival and Shanghai Writers’ Programme. Her residency in the Dragon Hall Cottage was supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore.

She sits down with writer and mentor Megan Bradbury to discuss how she defines ‘experimental fiction’, and the importance of prioritising fun with your creative writing. Together, they touch on her month-long residency in Norwich UNESCO City of Literature, writing as a collaborative project, and the role bilingualism plays in her creative work.

Heather Parry is a Glasgow-based writer and editor, originally from South Yorkshire. Her debut novel, Orpheus Builds a Girl, was shortlisted for the Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year Award and longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. She is also the author of a short story collection, This Is My Body, Given For You, and her first nonfiction book, Electric Dreams: On Sex Robots and the Failed Promises of Capitalism, was released in 2024 as part of 404 Ink’s Inklings series.

Lisabelle Tay is the author of Pilgrim (The Emma Press, 2021). She writes poetry, fiction, and screenplays. Her work appears in Bad Lilies, Sine Theta Magazine, and elsewhere, and she was part of the 2023 Black List Feature Lab.

They sit down with Yan Ge, author of Strange Beasts of China, to explore how the body and the bodily serve as powerful lenses for examining trauma, grief, and the experience of inhabiting perspectives and bodies beyond our own.

This event, supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore, was recorded in May 2025 for The Global Page. The Global Page is a unique series of online global conversations featuring internationally acclaimed and emerging writers and translators. You can find more conversations like this on our website at nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk

Sarah reflects on the novel’s dual structure, which follows Edith both as a young girl and as an older woman, and explores how dance, movement, and the body shape the story’s emotional core. She also talks about her fascination with flawed characters and considers what it means (or doesn’t mean!) to be a ‘political’ writer.

Sarah Moss has written several novels including the Sunday Times top ten bestseller Summerwater (being adapted for television by Channel 4) and Ghost Wall, which was longlisted for the Women’s Prize. She has also written two works of memoir, Names for the Sea, an account of her year living in Iceland, and My Good Bright Wolf which will also be published in Spring 2025. Sarah Moss was born in Glasgow and grew up in the north of England. After moving between Oxford, Canterbury, Reykjavik, west Cornwall and the Midlands, she now lives in Dublin.

Erica Hesketh is a poet and editor, originally from Japan and Denmark, now based in London. Her poetry has been commissioned by the Royal Festival Hall, Spread the Word and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. From 2016 to 2024 she was Director of the Poetry Translation Centre. Her debut collection, In the Lily Room, is published by Nine Arches Press and explores early motherhood. Her poem ‘Night feed’ was highly commended in the 2025 Forward Prizes.

Jenny Pagdin wrote The Snow Globe (Nine Arches 2024) and Caldbeck (Eyewear, 2017), about postpartum psychosis. The Snow Globe won the East Anglian Book Awards poetry category in 2024, and her work has been shortlisted for the Mslexia pamphlet competition, highly commended and shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, and longlisted for the Rebecca Swift Foundation's 2018 Women's Poetry Prize.

Together, they reflect on how their experiences of motherhood have shaped their poetry and the creation of their debut collections. Touching on everything from how poetry fits into their lives as working mothers to the power of connecting with others by giving voice to experiences of illness and mental health, this is an honest and insightful conversation about recovery, language, and craft.

Based in Quebec City of Literature, Vanessa Bell is co-director of CONTOURS and director of the poetry collection at Éditions du Quartz. Her debut collection of poetry, De rivières, was published by La Peuplade in 2019. She co-edited Anthology of contemporary poetry by women in Quebec 2000-2020 (Anthologie de la poésie actuelle des femmes au Québec 2000-2020) and MONUMENTS and won the 2021 Félix-Antoine-Savard Prize. She was selected as a 2022 Writers’ Trust Rising Star by Nicole Brossard.

She sits down with NCW’s Chief Executive Peggy Hughes to discuss how her travels have transformed her as a writer and as a person. Together, they touch on her work in Quebec, the many ways a project can evolve and change over time, and how professional mentoring has uplifted her work.

Hayley Wells is an Essex-based illustrator with an MA in Children’s Book Illustration from Cambridge School of Art. Their work has been shortlisted for the World Illustration Awards, featured on television, and published worldwide.

They sit down with NCW’s Ellie Reeves to discuss The Spectacular Suit, a picture book which celebrates individuality, identity and self-expression. Together they touch on the relationship between writer and illustrator, their advice for people wanting to develop ideas for a children’s book, and the value of representing yourself and your experiences in your art.

In this episode of The Writing Life, bestselling author Pat Barker shares insights about the art of retellings, and the craftsmanship and research needed to write reimaginings of classic literature.

Pat Barker was born in Yorkshire and began her literary career in her late thirties, when she took a short writing course taught by Angela Carter. She has published sixteen novels, including her masterful Regeneration Trilogy which includes the Booker Prize-winning The Ghost Road. The Silence of the Girls was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and won an Independent Bookshop Award 2019. The Women of Troy was a number one Sunday Times bestseller. The Voyage Home continues the series.

She sits down with NCW’s Holly Ainley to discuss her Regeneration Trilogy, and how retellings can bring stories to new audiences. They touch on offering fresh perspectives to Greek mythology, finding inspiration in unexpected places, and how reimaginings can make stories accessible to readers through contemporary language and references.

One of the UK’s most accomplished and respected novelists, Val McDermid has sold over 19 million books to date across the globe and is translated into more than 40 languages. She is perhaps best-known for her Wire in the Blood series, featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan, which was adapted for television starring Robson Green and Hermione Norris. She has written four other series: private detective Kate Brannigan, journalist Lindsay Gordon, cold case detective Karen Pirie, whose debut appearance in The Distant Echo is now a major ITV series. The second in the series, 1989 was published in paperback in February 2023. Val has also published several award-winning standalone novels, books of non-fiction, short story collections and a children’s picture book, My Granny is a Pirate. Val returns to Karen Pirie with her latest book, Past Lying.

She sits down with NCW's Chief Executive Peggy to discuss her writing career, and how her research process and routine have changed over time. Together, they discuss Val’s Harriet Martineau Lecture at Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2025, her journey into new genres and styles, and what readers can expect from the next book in her Inspector Karen Pirie series.

Wen-yi Lee likes writing about girls with bite, feral nature, and ghosts. She is the author of historical fantasy When They Burned the Butterfly and YA horror The Dark We Know, and has also published speculative fiction and essays in venues like Lightspeed, Uncanny, Strange Horizons, Reactor, and various anthologies. A University College London alum, she is currently based at home in Singapore. In February 2025, she completed a residency in our Dragon Hall Cottage.

She sits down with writer and mentor Kate Worsley to discuss her journey as a multi-genre writer, and the importance of representation in literature. Together, they touch on navigating queer storylines, finding a writing community online, and striking the balance between vulnerability and protection when exposing parts of yourself in your writing.

Michael Pedersen is a prize-winning poet and author of the memoir Boy Friends, which was a Sunday Times Critics Choice and shortlisted for the Saltire Scottish National Book Awards. He was awarded a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship and is the current Writer in Residence at the University of Edinburgh, and Edinburgh’s Makar (Poet Laureate). Muckle Flugga is his debut novel.

He sits down with NCW Chief Executive Peggy Hughes to discuss Muckle Flugga, a lyrical, windswept novel of a lighthouse keeper and his son, whose lives are turned upside down by a stranger’s arrival. Together, they discuss the beauty of fusing elements from different genres in one work of writing, his decision to heighten the fantastical elements of a real-world setting in his fiction, and the importance of being excited about what you are writing.

Julia Armfield's work has been published in Granta, The White Review and Best British Short Stories 2019 and 2021. In 2019, she was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award. She is the author of salt slow, a collection of short stories, which was longlisted for the Polari Prize 2020 and the Edge Hill Prize 2020. Her debut novel, Our Wives Under The Sea, won the Polari Prize 2023 and was shortlisted for the Foyles Fiction Book of the Year Award 2022. She lives and works in London.

She sits down with NCW’s Steph McKenna to discuss her second novel Private Rites, a stunning, unsettling novel following three sisters navigating queer love and faith at the end of the world. Together, they discuss her use of imagery in her fiction, the influence of horror cinema on her writing, and how she maintains a blanketing sense of dread throughout her novels.

Eleanor Anstruther is the author of A Perfect Explanation, and A Memoir In 65 Postcards & The Recovery Diaries. Her new novel, In Judgement of Others, is out now. You can find her on Substack at The Literary Obsessive.

Long time listeners of The Writing Life will remember Simon K Jones, as he used to host and produce the podcast when he worked with us at NCW. He writes science fiction and fantasy, much of it released in serialised form online. You can find him on Substack at Write More with Simon K Jones.

They sit down to discuss Eleanor’s latest witty satirical novel In Judgement of Others, which she released both in serialised form online and in paperback. They also take a deep dive into the benefits of Substack as a means to connect with a community of writers, and how the platform can be used to share work, live stream, and build a readership.

André is the New York Times bestselling author of Call Me By Your Name, Find Me, The Gentleman From Peru, Out of Egypt, Eight White Knights, False Papers, Alibis, Harvard Square, Enigma Variations, and the essay collection Homo Irrealis. He’s the editor of the Proust Project and teaches comparative literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. 

He joins NCW’s Steph McKenna from his home in Manhattan to talk about his latest novella Room on the Sea, a tender love story set in the sweltering heat of New York City. Together, they discuss his writing routines, the process of writing for an audio-first format, and his approach to dialogue, narration, and the art of leaving things between the lines.

Eimear McBride is the award-winning author of four novels: A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, The Lesser Bohemians, Strange Hotel and The City Changes Its Face. Her debut novel A Girl is a Half-formed Thing won the inaugural Goldsmiths Prize, Irish Novel of the Year, the Bailey's Prize for Women's Fiction, The Desmond Elliott Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Award. The City Changes Its Face is a continuation of this novel, and follows an intense story of passion, jealousy and family.

She sits down with NCW's former Chief Executive and lover of books Chris Gribble to discuss the recently published The City Changes its Face, a continuation of her debut novel A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing. Together, they discuss the process of returning to characters and storylines previously written, her experience adapting her novel into a screenplay, and the machine of writing and publishing; going from the solitary task of writing to the hustle and bustle of book tours and literary events.

Joanna Miller studied English at Exeter College, Oxford and later returned to the University to train as a teacher. After ten years in education, she set up an award-winning poetry gift business. She is an alum of our Escalator New Writing Fellowships, which helped her to transform her debut novel, The Eights, from a first draft to its final form. The Eights tells the story of Oxford University’s first admitted female students, and the unlikely, life-affirming friendship they form in their time there.

Joanna sits down with NCW Learning & Participation Producer Katie to discuss her debut novel, and the importance of exploring women's voices and experiences in historical fiction. They also touch on her research process, writing about friendship and found family, and the inspiration behind the characters and plot in The Eights.

What is it about these stories that captivate readers? And what makes romantasy such a rewarding genre to write? To help answer these questions, we’re thrilled to welcome novelist Sangu Mandanna to the podcast.

Sangu is the author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom, and several other enchanting novels filled with magic, monsters, and myth. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is a heartwarming and uplifting fantasy about an isolated witch who finds the chance to build a new family — and maybe even a new love. Her upcoming romantasy novel, A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping, will be published in July 2025.

Alex Allison is a writer from London. He is the author of two novels, published by Dialogue. His second novel, Greatest of All Time, was released on 30th January 2025. With humour, heart and a touch of rebellion, Greatest of All Time explores queer love and the trials of growing up in the hyper-masculine world of sport.

George Harrison is a writer based in Norwich. His debut novel, Season, is published by Eye Books. Set on the terraces of a fictionalised football club and old through thirty-eight chapters – one for each game of the Premier League campaign – Season is a lyrical, hypnotic and gently uplifting study of loneliness and modern masculinity. He wrote Season while participating in our Escalator New Writing Fellowships.

Ashley Hickson-Lovence is a novelist, poet, literary critic and Lecturer of Creative Writing. His second novel Your Show, published by Faber in 2022, was shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Awards. Your Show is the thrilling story of one man’s pioneering efforts to make it, against the odds, to the very top of his profession as a football referee and beyond.

Together, they discuss their novels Greatest of All Time and Season, and how they capture the unifying role of football. They also touch on the framework of their novels, the importance of writing a novel that you would want to read, and the challenge of balancing modern masculinity with intimacy and vulnerability in their writing.

Julia Bird is a highly experienced poetry programmer who has worked for organisations including the Poetry School and The Poetry Society. As a freelancer, she’s worked for literary development agencies, festivals, publishers and magazines, and in arts, university and healthcare settings. Through her company Jaybird Live Literature she has produced eight Arts Council England-funded touring poetry shows; and she is the author or co-author of six poetry collections.

She sits down with NCW Programme Officer Ellie to discuss practical advice for those looking to pursue a creative career. Together, they explore how structured mentoring can help writers to develop their practice, guidance for bringing out the vibrancy of your ideas in funding applications, and the barriers writers and creatives may face along the way.

If you're interested in learning more from Julia, go to nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/mentoring/ to book a mentoring session with her now.

Chloe Dalton is a foreign policy specialist and writer. She spent over a decade working in the UK Parliament and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as a special adviser and speechwriter. She now works as a consultant on international political and humanitarian issues. Raising Hare is her debut book.

She sits down with NCW Head of Programmes & Creative Engagement Holly to discuss her debut nature book Raising Hare, which tells the story of the unusual experience of raising a leveret to adulthood and beyond. Together, they explore the importance of nature writing and its ability to educate and entertain readers, the art of observation and noticing, and the power of research when writing about nature, wildlife and the environment.

Abiola Bello is a Nigerian-British, prize-winning children’s/YA author who was born and raised in London. She is an advocate for diversity in books for young people. Her debut YA, 'Love in Winter Wonderland', was published in winter 2022. It was an Amazon Number 1 bestseller, The Bookseller One To Watch, Amazon Editor's Choice for Black History Month 2022, featured in The Guardian Children's & Teens Best New Novels and was on an Amazon Billboard for Black History Month in Leicester Square. Her latest book 'Only For the Holidays' was published autumn 2023.

She sits down with NCW Communications Assistant Caitlin to discuss her festive YA books 'Love in Winter Wonderland' and 'Only for the Holidays'. Together, they explore Abiola's advice for creating the perfect festive setting, her decision to write dual perspective books, and the importance of diversity in media set at Christmas.

Aniefiok ‘Neef’ Ekpoudom is a writer and storyteller from South London whose work documents community and culture in contemporary Britain. His debut book Where We Come From: Rap Home and Hope in Modern Britain is a social history of British Rap. It was released via Faber & Faber in January 2024.

Together, Josh and Aniefiok discuss Neef's route into journalism, and why he decided to write about music in his debut book. They also touch on writing national and landmark stories, how to turn real life events into fully immersive and colourful storytelling, and the process of interviewing and reporting for narrative non-fiction.

Peter James is a UK No.1 bestselling author, best known for his Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, now a hit ITV drama starring John Simm as the troubled Brighton copper. 

Much loved by crime and thriller fans for his fast-paced page-turners full of unexpected plot twists, sinister characters, and accurate portrayal of modern day policing, he has won over 40 awards for his work including the WHSmith Best Crime Author of All Time Award and Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger.

Together, Peter and Peggy discuss the practical implications of his research for his thriller novels. They also touch on the start of his writing career, his advice for keeping readers glued to the page, and his process for writing and developing the characters for his crime thriller series.

S G Bell is a writer working from his rural home in Norfolk. The Epilogue Event is the first instalment in the AI Aftermath series. In his fiction, he explores ideas intercepted at the boundaries of his professional and academic experience – most specifically, speculations about the vulnerability of social groups, and the existential challenges emerging from the internet and artificial intelligence.

Together, Simon and Ruby discuss his debut novel The Epilogue Event, and the circumstances that led to him becoming a novelist. They also touch on the benefits of uniting with a community of emerging writers, the idea of ‘failing forward’, and the benefits of continued learning.

Simon is a graduate of our Develop Your Fiction course. If you’re considering signing up for an online tutored course, go to our website and click NCW Academy now to find out more about our course programme, read more success stories like Simon’s, and discover why you should learn with us.

Ferdia Lennon was born and raised in Dublin. He holds a BA in History and Classics from University College Dublin and an MA in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia. His short stories have appeared in publications such as The Irish Times and The Stinging Fly. In 2019 and 2021, he received Literature Bursary Awards from the Arts Council of Ireland. Glorious Exploits is his first novel. A Sunday Times bestseller, it was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as a Book at Bedtime and was the winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024.

Together, Holly and Ferdia discuss his debut novel Glorious Exploits, and his decision to represent contemporary Dublin-Irish dialect through his writing. They also touch on writing a story within a story, how language and dialect can make historical fiction more accessible, and the important decision of whose voice and delivery should lead the story.

Rebecca Goss is a poet, tutor and mentor, living in Suffolk. Her poems have appeared in many literary journals, anthologies and have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Arts online. Her third full-length collection, Girl, was published with Carcanet/Northern House in 2019 and was shortlisted in the East Anglian Book Awards 2019. Her fourth full-length collection, Latch, was published in 2023.

Heidi Williamson’s first collection Electric Shadow was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry Prize. Heidi works with poets worldwide by Skype as a Poetry Surgeon for The Poetry Society, teaches for The Poetry School, and mentors writers through the National Centre for Writing.

In this podcast, Rebecca and Heidi discuss the moments they knew they were ready to write about their past experiences, and the power that comes from giving yourself permission to feel the happiness alongside the pain when writing about difficult moments in their lives. They also explore the importance of drawing from memories of landscape and place, the power of quietness in poetry, and how researching for writing may initially feel inauthentic but is actually a powerful tool for building depth. 

Nick Acheson is an author, conservationist and environmentalist living in North Norfolk. He has written for BBC Wildlife, British Birds, British Wildlife, The Guardian, The Big Issue, BTO News, The Countryman and numerous other publications. His book The Meaning of Geese was published in February 2023, and was awarded the East Anglian Book of the Year 2023

Together, Ellie and Nick discuss his book The Meaning of Geese, and why he decided to build the book with journal entries. They also touch on writing about climate change, the editing process for non-fiction books, and how to interest readers with a topic that they may not have previously considered.

Maarja Pärtna is an Estonian writer, translator, and editor who focuses on socio-ecological themes in her work. She has published five poetry collections. Pärtna has worked as an editor of both a literary magazine and a cultural newspaper, and edited several poetry collections. Her poems have been translated into more than ten languages.

Penny Boxall is a poet and children’s writer who has worked in various UK museums. She won the 2016 Edwin Morgan Poetry Award with her debut collection, Ship of the Line. Her fourth poetry book, The Curiosities, about the materiality of memory, was published in June 2024.

In this podcast, they discuss their experience collaborating together on the ‘Bring Your Own Utopia’ project with Prima Vista Literary Festival, and read some of their writing from the project. They also touch on the vulnerability of working collaboratively, how collaboration is a great opportunity to learn from other writers and artists, and their advice for other writers planning to collaborate across borders.

Benjamin Johncock is an award-winning novelist, short story writer and journalist. His debut novel, The Last Pilot, was published in the U.S. and U.K. to widespread critical acclaim. It won the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award, was shortlisted for the East Anglian Book of the Year, selected for Brave New Reads, and was one of The Observer’s Hidden Gems of 2016.

Megan Bradbury is a British writer, tutor, and mentor, and author of the critically acclaimed novel, Everyone is Watching. Described as a ‘beating heart of a novel’ by Ali Smith and ‘kaleidoscopic’ by Eimear McBride, the novel was longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, and was listed as one of the Guardian’s Best Books of 2016.

Benjamin and Megan will be teaching on our beginner and intermediate online tutored fiction courses, which begin on Monday 23 September. This podcast is a great first look into the practical advice and guidance they offer on their courses, and an excellent insight into their writing and teaching styles. If you listen to this podcast and would like the opportunity to learn more from Benjamin or Megan, you can go to nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/academy/tutored-courses/ to find out more.

In this podcast, Benjamin and Megan discuss the writing tools, programmes and learning opportunities available for emerging writers, and the benefits of continued learning. They also touch on the early influences in their writing, how their routines have changed over time, and the challenge of separating your creative life from your domestic life.

Melissa’s writing appears in several publications including The Lonely Crowd, International Literature Showcase, Bare Fiction, Wasafiri Online, and The Willowherb Review. In 2019, her debut poetry pamphlet was published by the Hedgehog Poetry Press. Her first novel, Peach Blossom Spring, was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick in the UK and a 2022 Indies Introduce title for the American Booksellers Association. It has also been nominated as 2022 Book of the Year by the Book of the Month Club.

Melissa will be teaching on our 12-week beginners’ online tutored course ‘How to Write Fiction’, which begins on Monday 23 September 2024. This podcast is an excellent sneak peek into the practical advice and guidance Melissa offers on this course, and a great introduction to her writing and teaching style. If you listen to this podcast and would like the opportunity to learn more from Melissa, you can go to nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/academy/tutored-courses/ to find out more.

Together, Vicki and Melissa discuss the writing process for the ‘difficult second novel’, and how writing her debut novel Peach Blossom Spring has differed from her experience working on her second book. They also touch on Melissa’s journey into writing, her daily writing routine, and the challenges she has faced since publication.

PJ Ellis is a journalist covering relationships, pop culture and LGBTQ+ issues. His writing has appeared in publications including GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller, Men’s Health and MTV. His short fiction has been longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Love & Other Scams was his first novel, and his second novel We Could Be Heroes was published in June 2024.

Together, they discuss his romantic comedy We Could Be Heroes, and its exploration of queer identities and closeted relationships. They also touch on writing different types of relationships, setting novels across multiple timelines, and how to keep your writing lighthearted and funny even when addressing difficult topics and situations.

Jon McGregor is an award-winning author and short story writer. He has been nominated for the Booker Prize for three of his novels, including his 2002 debut If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, which also went on to win the Betty Trask Prize and the Somerset Maugham Award. His third novel, Even the Dogs (2010) earned McGregor the International Dublin Literary Award in 2012, whilst his 2017 work Reservoir 13 scooped up the Costa Book Award. His latest book Learn Fall Stand was a Waterstones Fiction Book of the Month.

Together, they discuss his book Lean Fall Stand, which was inspired by his travels to Antarctica in 2004. They also touch on the challenge of writing complicated characters and storylines, how to turn real-world experience into fiction, and the importance of risk taking in writing.

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.

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.

Sarah P Corbett is an activist, author, speaker, and the founder of Craftivist Collective. She is known for developing the 'gentle protest' approach to activism, which is activism that is slow, attractive, kind, strategic and deeply engaging. She is the author of three books on craftivism and her new book, The Craftivist Collective Handbook, which was published on 2 May 2024.

Together, Peggy and Sarah discuss her new book, The Craftivism Collective Handbook, which features instructions for twenty craftivism projects, and delves into the methodology on gentle craftivism. They also touch on how craft can provoke people to think about social change, the links between craftivism and wellbeing, and how social media enabled her to build a strong community of craftivists.

Nicola and Georgia were central to the development of Suffolk-based theatre company HighTide’s touring show Ghost Stories by Candlelight, which we were lucky enough to host at Dragon Hall last autumn. Ghost Stories by Candlelight was a brand new commission that brought together stories, music and song to tell a set of chilling, contemporary ghost stories that celebrate the people, landscape and fragile natural world of East Anglia… And we are very excited to announce that HighTide will return to Dragon Hall as part of a new tour in autumn 2024.

Together, Holly, Nicola and Georgia discuss the process of writing collectively, and the particular characteristics of ghost stories. They also touch on the representation of different voices and identities in the performance world, and the importance of place in their writing.

Martin Figura was born in Liverpool and lives in Norwich. His collections include The Little Book of Harm (Firewater Press, 2000), Ahem (Eggbox, 2005) and Whistle (Arrowhead, 2010), which deals with the murder in 1966 of his mother, June, by his father Frank. His collection and show Whistle were shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award and won the 2013 Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Show. The Remaining Men is his latest full collection. 

Together, they discuss Martin’s latest poetry collection The Remaining Men, why he chose to write about those whose lives are too easily dismissed by society and government, and what inspired him to order the collection in the way he did. They also touch on the ethics around writing about your personal relationships and the lives of others, and what makes poetry such a powerful vehicle for exploring and articulating trauma and difficult topics.

Martin has also written a poem for the new addition of Wandering Words, a literary walking tour of Norwich UNESCO City of Literature. With a new look, two new locations, and two new poems, the new addition of Wandering Words map will be available to download from our website, or to pick up from the Norfolk & Norwich Box Office. To find out more, click here.

Stuart Hobday is the founder of the annual Harriet Martineau Lecture and the author of Encounters with Harriet Martineau. He is a former Director of Norwich Arts Centre and in 2016 produced the first Norwich Science Festival.

Gaby Weiner has been researching the life and achievements of Harriet Martineau since the 1980s and completed a PhD in 1991 entitled Controversies and Contradictions: Approaches to the Study of Harriet Martineau (1802-76). In 2017, she co-edited with Valerie Sanders a collection entitled Harriet Martineau and the Birth of the Disciplines, and has recently completed a book for Routledge with Stuart Hobday on Harriet Martineau as a foundational sociologist.

Together, they discuss the life and legacy of Harriet Martineau, the things that formed her desire for social progress, and how and why her reputation changed over time. They also touch on their experience co-authoring the book, their journeys finding and researching Harriet Martineau, and how the annual Harriet Martineau Lecture, hosted by NCW as part of Norfolk & Norwich Festival, honours her legacy.

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.

Naomi Wood is the award-winning author of three novels, including the bestselling Mrs. Hemingway. Her stories have been published in the Mid-American Review, Washington Square Review, Joyland and Stylist, and have been shortlisted for the Manchester Fiction Prize, the London Magazine Short Story Prize and longlisted for the Galley Beggar Press Story Prize. 'Comorbidities' won the 2023 BBC National Short Story Award.

In this episode, Molly and Naomi discuss Naomi's experience writing subversive, malicious women in her debut short story collection This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things. They also discuss themes of motherhood, family connections and perceptions of pregnant women, and how to craft a range of different voices in short story writing.

We were delighted to host them from June to December 2023, in a virtual residency generously supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore.

In this episode, they discuss the projects they were working on during their residencies with us, how they found inspiration when writing as though they were in Norwich UNESCO City of Literature, and their lives and careers as translators. They also touch on the blogs they wrote for our Writing Hub, which you can read here. 

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.

Polly Atkin is a multi-award-winning writer, essayist and poet. She is the author of the poetry collections Basic Nest Architecture, which won a Northern Writers' Award, and Much With Body, which was longlisted for the Laurel Prize, as well as Recovering Dorothy, the first biography to focus on Dorothy Wordsworth's later life and illness.

In this episode, Polly and Annie discuss writing and navigating the publishing industry as a chronically ill person. The pair discuss Polly’s memoir Some of Us Just Fall, released in summer 2023, and explore how Polly imagined time as a chronically ill person, how to advocate for yourself as a disabled writer, and hopes for embedded accessibility in the future of the publishing industry.

They also look ahead to their exciting joint writing project on Dorothy Wordsworth and Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, investigating their common identities and experiences.

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.

Margot Douaihy is the author of several noir titles including the mystery novel Scorched Grace, the inaugural title of Gillian Flynn Books. Douaihy is originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, and now lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, in the US where she teaches popular fiction and literature with Emerson College. Margot stayed with us on a writing residency in September in the Dragon Hall Cottage.

Together, Ellie and Margot explore growth and changes in the noir genre, and how crime novels are well-equipped for generating social commentary. They also touch on alienation and the representation of queer identities in crime writing.

Hannah Vincent is a novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her first novel, Alarm Girl was published in 2014 and her second, The Weaning in 2018. Her 2020 short story collection, She-Clown and Other Stories was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize. Her stage plays have been produced by among others, The Royal Court Theatre and The Royal National Theatre Studio and her radio play Come to Grief won a BBC Audio award.

Together, they discuss the specifics of different perspectives that writers can inhabit, and the effects perspectives and voices can have on readers. They also touch on why a writer’s choice of perspective is fundamental to the way a story is told, and whether any narrative voice can truly be reliable.

Hannah explores this topic in a free, self-paced course for NCW Academy entitled How to Write Unreliable Narrators. Find out more on our website!

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.

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.

Ian Rankin was born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960 and graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982. He is the internationally bestselling author of the Inspector Rebus and Detective Malcolm Fox novels, as well as a string of standalone thrillers. His books have been translated into thirty-six languages and are bestsellers on several continents.

Together, they discuss Ian’s much-loved series character Inspector Rebus and his return to the page in a new phase of life, in Ian’s new Amazon Original Story The Rise. Ian shares the challenges he experienced while writing the short story and considers how writers always find a way to tell the stories they need to tell. They chat about Ian’s thoughts on the upcoming TV adaptation Rebus, and the differences between novel writing and screenwriting.

Originally from the Midlands, Fiona Mason now lives between the salt marshes of the east of England, and the Ariege Pyrenees in southwest France where she's renovating a house with her partner. She holds MAs in Philosophy and Creative and Life Writing, and combines her work as a writer with roles as a coach, mentor and creative writing tutor.

Together, they discuss how she was compelled to write her incredibly personal memoir. She explores her journey into writing, the stigma around talking and writing about death and how she makes a living from her writing.

Fiona also mentions that she received a Developing Your Creative Practice grant from Arts Council England, which helped her to dedicate time and energy to writing this memoir. You can find out more about Arts Council funding on their website here.

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. 

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.

Priscilla spoke to NCW Communications Assistant Molly-Rose Medhurst about her approach to researching and writing sensitively about the Siege and the atrocities of war, drawing from memory and from the recollections of family and friends. She also talks about her desire to centre the importance of community in the book and her narrative approach to time.

Priscilla and Molly’s conversation contains references to sexual assault, death, violence and the horrors of war linked to the Siege of Sarajevo. Please take care when listening.

Tom chats to NCW CEO Chris Gribble about the genesis of Oxblood and why it took six years for him to write. He talks about choosing to write a crime novel in a ‘different way’ from a female perspective; and his aim to re-sensitise the reader through dark or violent stories. He and Chris also discuss how publishers may react to a book like Oxblood, which sits within the crime genre but also interweaves elements of other genres.

For the introduction, Steph is joined by NCW Development Manager Dan Scales to talk about a new fundraising campaign launched this month for Escalator, our long-running talent development programme for underrepresented writers. You can support the campaign here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/support-us/donate/escalator-campaign/

Applications for Escalator 2023-24 close at 10am BST on Tuesday 19 September 2023. Find out more and apply here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/get-involved/writers/escalator/

Katy was a journalist for many years before studying for an MA and PhD in Creative Writing. Her memoir, Are We Home Yet? was published in 2020 and praised by Bernardine Evaristo as ‘a gem’. It was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Portico Prize. In addition, her work has been widely anthologised, including Common People edited by Kit de Waal, The Place for Me, and speculative collection Glimpse. Her first novel All Us Sinners, an unusual take on the crime genre, is due to be published by Sphere in January 2024.

Together, they discuss how her new self-paced course for NCW, How to Write Real People in Memoir, provides the tools you need to think of yourself as the main character in your story: from creating distinct voices in your narrative to discovering the difference between memory, truth and perspective.

Claire McGowan published her first novel in 2012, and has followed it up with many others in the crime fiction genre and also in women’s fiction (writing as Eva Woods). She has had four radio plays broadcast on the BBC, and her thrillers What You Did and The Other Wife were both number-one bestsellers. She ran the UK’s first MA in crime writing for five years, and regularly teaches and talks about writing. Her first non-fiction project, the true-crime book The Vanishing Triangle, was released in 2021. She also writes scripts and has several projects in development for TV.

Together, they discuss how Claire's teaching work has developed across her writing career and how her new course for NCW distils a lot of what she’s learned about the many different ways and means of creating suspense in your writing: from character to landscape, to plot to style.

Claire's self-paced online course 'How to Create Suspense in Fiction' will launch on the NCW website on Monday 7 August.

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.

Raymond was born in London, Hackney to an English mother and Jamaican father. He is the author of Shapes & Disfigurements (Burning Eye, 2012), To Sweeten Bitter (Out-Spoken Press, 2017), The Perseverance (Penned In The Margins / Tin House, 2018) and All The Names Given (Picador / Tin House, 2021). In 2019 he became the first ever poet to be awarded the Rathbone Folio Prize for best work of literature in any genre. 

Raymond chats to Chris about his development and life as a poet and educator: from finding a community in the London spoken word scene to winning the Folio Prize for The Perseverance through to his most recent collection All The Names Given. He discusses the challenges and joys of working in the poetry ‘business’ as well as the poetry community.

Victoria is a fiction writer and poet. She is the winner of the Scottish Book Trust New Writer Award and the inaugural Emerging Writer Award from Moniack Mhor. She was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, as well as being awarded prestigious writing residencies in Scotland, Finland and Australia.

This insightful discussion covers the blurry lines between fact and fiction; the moral responsibility of authors when writing about real historical figures; and what the term historical fiction actually encompasses – how it is used by the publishing industry and what it really means to authors. 

Together with Rebecca, they discuss how Katherine first discovered Caroline’s book and the experience of it being rediscovered and translated in a post-#MeToo era. Caroline talks about the process of drawing on personal experiences to write this book, and about finding her voice.

Please note that this conversation contains references to domestic violence and sexual assault, so listener discretion is advised.

NCW Executive Director Peggy Hughes settled in for a cosy chat with Max upstairs in The Book Hive. Their expansive conversation covers the special power of bookshops, questions of masculinity and vulnerability portrayed through Shy’s protagonist, the musicality of Max’s language, and much more.

Max’s first novel Grief Is the Thing with Feathers won the Sunday Times/Peter, Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year, the International Dylan Thomas Prize, the Europese Literatuurprijs and the BAMB Readers’ Award and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Goldsmiths Prize. His second novel, Lanny, was a Sunday Times bestseller and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. The Death of Francis Bacon was praised as a ‘miniature masterpiece’ and his new book, Shy, has been called a ‘miracle of language’. 

Editing by Omni Mix

Richard is the author of three books: A Furious Devotion: The Life of Shane MacGowan; Be Stiff: The Stiff Records Story, and Sex & Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll: The Life of Ian Dury. In this conversation with Steph McKenna, he talks about using the experience and techniques acquired through a 20-year journalism career to inform the way he approaches, interviews, and writes about high-profile figures such as Shane MacGowan, whose life story is as much fiction as fact!

How do you secure an interview with a reluctant subject? What do you do when an interview isn’t going to plan? And what ethics or responsibilities are involved when writing about someone’s complex, contradictory, or unacceptable behaviour? Richard covers all this and more on the podcast.

Rabi is a British-born Nepali writer and translator. He is also the Editor of La.Lit, the literary magazine from Nepal, and the author of Nothing to Declare and Thamel, Dark Star of Kathmandu. From 2010 to 2011, he was the Editor of the weekly paper, Nepali Times.

Kate and Rabi discuss a number of topics including his background - spending the first six years of his life in Plymouth - his relationship to the UK and Nepal, the Katmaundu literary scene, bridge languages and the 123 languages used in Nepal.

In 2022, we were excited to welcome bestselling novelist, memoirist and literary activist Kit de Waal - presenting the lecture in the beautiful environs of the Spiegeltent. Kit gave a thought-provoking lecture covering a range of topics, including human rights, equality, hunger and, as she calls it, ‘compassion without judgement’.

Kit is a fantastic writer and speaker, and, in the course of the lecture, talks about social mobility and what it really takes; how smartphones are essential for some of the most marginalised people in society; as well as quoting Terry Pratchett as she explains what keeps the poorest in our society poor.

This episode is that lecture - recorded at the event back in May - more relevant now than ever with inflation rampant, the cost of living impacting everyone in society, and the energy crisis hitting those with the least worst of all.

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.

James Kinsley’s new book, Greyskin, will be published by Deixis Press on 27th April. Greyskin is a stylish collection of interconnected fantasy stories, inspired by the cinematic mythology of the Old West. On its first day of pre-order, the book topped the Amazon chart for Western Science Fiction.

Ellie sat down with James following the publication of Playtime's Over. They discuss his journey from self-publishing to traditional publishing, and offers an insight into the challenges of drawing personal experiences into fiction. They also discuss genre, mental health, and the ability of writing to move beyond the writer's intentions.

Akshita, Crispin and Daryl touch on everything from the relationship between writing and culture, to writing as a method for finding common experiences. They also discuss understanding across social, cultural and linguistic borders. 

Virtual residencies for writers and translators can bring national and international voices and ideas to places like Norwich. Through commissions, online events and podcasts like this one, those voices can also reach a global audience. 

You can find out more about our virtual and in-person residences on our website: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk.

Being funny in fiction is hard, so we wanted to ask the Manchester-based Irishman how to do it - or at least, how he does it. The cover of The Stranger Times says: What if the weird news was the real news? An apt way to describe the premise. 

The book is the first in a series of novels set in Manchester in which the weird phenomena of the Fortean Times is alive and well - from mythical beasts to UFOs. We get to explore this weird world through the staff of the namessake newspaper and the result is a Pratchett-esque treatment of the supernatural thriller/mystery genre. And it is funny.

Some things are easier to teach than others. You might argue that being funny is the hardest thing of all. Nonetheless, the conversation will hopefully give you some insights into how to bring humour to your writing. The conversation covers characters, dialogue, conflict, genre and the inversion of expectation.

Find out more about Caimh at whitehairedirishman.shop

Kirsty’s new novel, Now She is Witch, came out this month. It is a medieval witch revenge story unlike any other. We discuss the book as well as aspects of craft, including character, theme, structure, research, routine and inspiration.

We talk about how to build complex characters within fairy tales, the difference between historical fiction and Medievalism and how witch stories reflect our feelings of being under threat in our world.

We talk about identity, revenge and research beyond the internet. Kirsty also starts our conversation with a reading - a poem she wrote during a writing residency.

Clare is a translator of Korean, but has a passion for the more challenging scripts such as Japanese, as she explains in their conversation. As a neurodivergent person, Clare is perfectly placed to reflect on our ablist workplaces and the male-skewed view of autism - and she also describes how learning new languages can help change the way we think and communicate.

Clare really found her calling in literary translation allowing her to build a way of working that suits her skills and preferences. She has also set up a Discord channel for D-deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people and you can find her on Twitter @clarehannahmary

Clare is just one of our Emerging Translator mentees. The scheme itself matches experienced translators with emerging translators for a six-month period. During this time they work on practical translation projects together and learn about the ins and outs of professionalizing as a literary translator. You can find out more about the scheme on our website.

Many of you will already know Megan from the podcast, and it was a pleasure to welcome her back. Megan is a long-time friend of the writing centre having won a place on Escalator - our talent development programme. Megan also won a ‘Grant for the Arts’ to help fund the completion of her first novel, Everyone is Watching.

Megan is also one of our online course tutors. What online courses, I hear you say? Well, the National Centre for Writing has a variety of online learning activities from courses to mentorship sessions. Head to our website to browse free short courses, in-person classes and workshops, and our much-loved 12 and 18-week tutored online courses. These courses have been designed specifically to get you writing.

https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/support-for-writers/

• 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/

Julia is a crime and noir novelist so she really knows how to grip readers, and this episode has dozens of great tips for writers of all genres. 

Julia explains how characters and their development can grip readers; she explains how we can build narrative tension; and how conflict is a key driver of a reader’s attention. 

We also discuss the role of dead bodies, how to create and use twists as well as lots of great technical tips on how to sow seeds of intrigue.

Julia Crouch - the queen of domestic noir - has written seven novels, including Cuckoo, The Long Fall, her new novel The Daughters, and Tarnished.

Julia is also the tutor for our Start Writing Crime Fiction course, which starts in January. So, if you want to kickstart your crime novel, why not head to the website to explore the course modules?

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.

To help us delve into this topic, we spoke to writer and teacher Jenn Ashworth. Jenn is probably best known for her novels, which include A Kind Of Intimacy, Cold Light and Notes Made While Falling - and her most recent novel, Ghosted. But, as you will hear, Jenn is also a writer and lover of short stories - including Misummer Eve, which we discuss in this episode.

Incidentally, if you’d like to read Midsummer Eve you will find it in the collection of the same name, published by Black Shuck Books. Head to blackshuckbooks.co.uk/midsummer-eve and you can buy the paperback for £12 or an ebook for £2.

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.

Yelena has written for Vogue, The Times Literary Supplement, Paris Review and many more. She has also just released her third novel, A Door Behind a Door, an exploration of the post-Soviet diaspora.

We invited our friend, creative writing tutor and the godmother of domestic noir, Julia Crouch whose 7th novel The Daughters came out earlier this year, to interview Yelena. Strap in for a lively discussion about routes to becoming a writer, identity as a writer, ownership of your art, reading, what is crime writing, ideas of Hell and much much more.

Image copyright Beth Moseley

This 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.

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.

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.

The episode covers characters’ wants and needs, conflict, obstacles, narrative tension and building a compelling story scene by scene, chapter by chapter. We also discuss quests, commitments, reversals and resolutions.

Ian has been shortlisted for a number of prestigious awards including those for his novels The Last Migration and Out of Nowhere. He is also an associate lecturer in creative writing courses at the Open University and works with the National Centre For Writing on a number of our own creative writing courses.

Called Wandering Words, we commissioned five poets and five sound designers to create an interactive digital experience. This episode hosts the poems and the soundscapes.

Interviews with Kavita Bhanot, Yovanka Paquete Perdigão and Nariman Youssef. Made by Gitanjali Patel and Miia Laine as part of the Visible Communities residency at the National Centre for Writing.

Megan describes how she went to New York to research the geniuses who lived there, to bring her novel to life. She also talks about working with Professor Pete Wilde on NCW’s Translating Science project. 

Megan explains how different types of research can become a regular part of your writing routine as well as helping to inspire stories and characters, while making worlds feel rich and authentic. She describes some of the more immersive and unusual methods that help her get inspired, build characters and develop the creative process.

Browse our online creative writing courses. 

Rishi Dastidar's debut collection Ticker-tape is published by Nine Arches Press, and his work has been published by Financial Times, New Scientist and the BBC amongst many others.

Okka and Rishi are poets and stable mates of independent poetry publisher Nine Arches Press. Join them for a deep dive into the unconscious process of writing poetry and what they both call 'the daze' of writing, as well as the environmental elements of Okka's writing.

Check out our upcoming creative writing online courses, designed in partnership with the University of East Anglia. On sale now

In July 2021, we welcomed Mattho to Norwich for a month-long residency with support from the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. During his residency he worked on Choi Jeongrye’s final collection of poetry, Net of Light, alongside award-winning poet and translator George Szirtes.

In this conversation between Matthow and George, they discuss the intricacies of language, the power of K-pop, the rise in popularity of Korean studies, and how Mattho's love of taekwondo led him to a career in literary translation.

Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Hosted by Steph McKenna.

Music by Bennet Maples.

We have a discount for Writing Life listeners, courtesy of our friends at Bloomsbury! Until 1 March 2022 anyone in the UK can get 25% off the workbook as long as you buy through the Bloomsbury website. The code is AWJW25 and can be used here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writers-journal-workbook-9781472987365/ 

Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Hosted by Steph McKenna.

Music by Bennet Maples.

Simon talked to Lucy about her own struggles with writer's block, which she experienced after publishing her first novel, and how creating The Writer's Journal helped her as much as anyone who might read it.

We have a discount for Writing Life listeners, courtesy of our friends at Bloomsbury! Until 1 March 2022 anyone in the UK can get 25% off the workbook as long as you buy through the Bloomsbury website. The code is AWJW25 and can be used here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writers-journal-workbook-9781472987365/ 

Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Hosted by Simon Jones.

Music by Bennet Maples.

Sawad Hussain is an Arabic translator with a focus on bringing narratives from the African continent to wider audiences. She has contributed to journals such as ArabLit and Asymptote, she was co-editor of the Arabic-English portion of the Oxford Arabic Dictionary and recent translations include Passage to the Plaza by Sahar Khalifeh and A Bed for the King’s Daughter by Shahla Ujayli.

Archana Madhavan is an Indian-American translator from Korean into English. She started teaching herself Korean ten years ago and has now worked on many projects including The Man Who Became A Flamingo by Oh Han Ki, contract work with Lezhin Entertainment on genre webtoons and Glory Hole by Kim Hyun (co-translated with Suhyun J. Ahn), which is coming from Seagull Books in May 2022. She has contributed to chogwa and is a staff translator for The Hanok Review.

chogwa: https://www.chogwa.com/

Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 

Hosted by Simon Jones.

Music by Bennet Maples.

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.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Music by Bennet Maples.

Jarred is the co-founder of The Special Relationship, which was chosen for the International Literature Showcase in 2016. He was the creative director for ‘Moby-Dick Unabridged‘, a four-day immersive multimedia reading of Herman Melville’s ‘Moby-Dick’ at the Southbank Centre, involving hundreds of participants. His short fiction has been commissioned for BBC Radio 4 and appeared in respected journals in the UK, Canada, USA and Ireland. He is or has been an Associate Writer for Spread the Word, a mentor for the Word Factory, a fellow of the London Library’s T S Eliot Emerging Writer Programme and a Writer-in-Residence for First Story.

Hosted by Simon Jones.

Watch the East Anglian Book Awards 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpzaScW1Ad4

Creative Writing Online courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/ 

Join our Discord community: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/

Make a donation: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/support-us/

Title music by Bennet Maples.

During his residency, Derek worked on a translation of ‘Madrugada Fria’ by Laura DaSilva, a contemporary Portuguese poet. On the podcast today he is talking with Rebecca DeWald.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

The Visible Communities residency programme was supported by Arts Council England.

Check out our online courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/

Put a reminder in for the East Anglian Book Awards: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/east-anglian-book-awards/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/residencies/former-residents/

Nuraliah's pod: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/writing-fantasy-nuraliah-norasid/

Nazry's pod: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/nazry-bahrawi-in-conversation-with-vineet-lal/

Watch the Stitching Stories event: https://youtu.be/Tv6V1RcD8f4

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Music by Bennet Maples.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Find out more about what Adam's up to: https://adamzrobinson.com/

More on the East Anglian Book Awards announcement: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/eaba-category-winners-21/ 

Join our Discord: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Our early career resource packs are made possible by support from Arts Council England.

Hosted by Simon Jones.

Get more free resources: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/free-resources/

Join our Discord: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/

Find out more about our Early Career Awards: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

They talk about Nuraliah growing up in Singapore, the inspiration behind her early stories, how gaming has influenced her writing and how The Gatekeeper examines real world issues within its fantasy context.

Hosted by Simon Jones.

Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 

Join our Discord: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Meanwhile, Flo Reynolds joins us on the pod to introduce the brand new Book Club Book: The House of One Hundred Clocks by AM Howell. Find out more here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/the-ncw-book-club/ 

Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.

Join our Discord community: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/

Get our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/newsletters/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Hosted by Simon Jones, Steph McKenna and Roisin Batty - who introduce the episodes by taking a look at their latest reads and how the pandemic is affecting fiction across books and TV.

Check out our event with Sarah Hall AND Sarah Perry, celebrating the launch of Burntcoat - https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/hall-perry/

Join our Discord: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/

Join our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/newsletters/ 

Title music by Bennet Maples.

Don't miss this article by Vineet: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/emerging-translator-mentorships-ten-years-on/

Translation as a Creative Act featuring Nazry: https://youtu.be/z-J4maoKkYo 

Our first podcast with Sarah Ardizzone: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/creating-trust-between-a-translator-and-writer/

Sarah's pod on how to become a literary translator: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/how-to-become-a-literary-translator/

Join our Discord: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/

We're a non-profit. You can donate to us here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/support-us/ 

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Music by Bennet Maples.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Join our Discord community: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/ 

Sign up to our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Megan is the award-winning author of nine crime novels, including the just published The Turnout, and the bestselling You Will Know Me and Dare Me. Her work has won or been nominated for the CWA Steel Dagger, the International Thriller Writers Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and five Edgar awards. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, Paris Review and the Wall Street Journal. She is also the author of The Street Was Mine, a study of hardboiled fiction, and film noir. She received her Ph.D. in American literature from New York University. A writer on HBO’s highly acclaimed The Deuce, she recently served as co-showrunner and co-creator of Dare Me, which completed its first season on the USA Network and Netflix internationally.

Introduced by Henry Sutton, co-director of Noirwich and professor of creative writing at the University of East Anglia.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Watch the extended video version of the lecture, including a Q&A between Megan and Henry: https://youtu.be/X2J4pBgPyTY

More about Noirwich: https://noirwich.co.uk/

Sign up to our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

More about Steph's Stephen King Zine, Outsider: https://outsiderzine.bigcartel.com/product/outsider-vol-1 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Our resouce packs are available for free thanks to support from Arts Council England.

Meanwhile, Simon and Steph celebrate the launch of the 2021 Noirwich Crime Writing Festival, which you can attend virtually here: https://noirwich.co.uk/ 

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Music by Bennet Maples.

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/ 

Meanwhile, Steph and Simon take a look at our Creative Writing Online courses, get over-excited about the books they're currently reading (Daisy Jones and the Six! Lumberjanes!) and Simon finds a way to shoehorn discussion of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power into the show.

Check out our tutored online courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/ 

Join our Discord: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/join-our-discord-community/

Everything we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

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.

Geetha Sukumaran is a poet and a bilingual translator. She has published two books in Tamil: Tharkolaikku parakkum panithuli (a Tamil translation of Sylvia Plath’s poems, 2013), and her own poems, Otrai pakadaiyil enchum nampikkai in 2014. Her English translation of Ahilan’s poetry, Then There Were No Witnesses, was published by Mawenzi House, Toronto (2018). She is the recipient of the SPARROW R Thyagarajan award for her poetry in Tamil. She is a doctoral student in the Humanities at York University, Toronto.

Shash Trevett is a poet and a translator of Tamil poetry into English. She is a winner of a Northern Writers’ Award and her pamphlet From a Borrowed Land is published by Smith|Doorstop (2021). She is currently co-editing (with Vidyan Ravinthiran and Seni Seneviratne) an anthology of Tamil, English and Sinhala poetry from Sri Lanka and its diaspora communities. She is a 2021 Ledbury Critic and a Board Member of Modern Poetry in Translation.

Workshop details: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/workshop-nillanthan/ 

Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Music by Bennet Maples.

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.

Meanwhile, Steph and Simon discuss the new Creative Writing Online courses and the revealed 2021 line-up for the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival.

Lots of useful links this week:

Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW 

Noirwich Crime Writing Festival: https://noirwich.co.uk/ 

Creative Writing Online courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/ 

Check out Elle's newsletter: https://ellegriffin.substack.com/

Simon's newsletter: https://simonkjones.substack.com/ 

This is Buttondown: https://buttondown.email/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Meanwhile Simon and Steph talk about the newly announced Escalator talent development scheme for emerging writers, now open for applications to under-represented writers in the East of England: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator/

Continue the conversation on Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Sign up to our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/newsletters/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who talk abut the upcoming Time To Write workshops for young writers. Find out more here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/working-with-schools/workshops-for-young-people/

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Asking the questions is Molly-Rose Medhurst, student writer and activist who worked with us as an intern earlier in 2021. Take a look at an article she wrote: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/must-reads-for-lgbt-history-month/

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/3G39dRW 

Music by Bennet Maples.

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.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who look back at the week's International Literature Showcase and get giddy with excitement for the reveal of the Early Career Awards winners next week!

Check out the ILS commissions and videos: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ils/

Early Career Awards: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/

Jen's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/jenvcampbell 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Discover 50 umissable writers at the International Literature Showcase: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/international-literature-showcase-2021/

Book for Joy Francis' keynote: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/recovery-reimagining-literature/

Book for Innovation & Enterprise in the Literature Sector: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/innovation-enterprise/

Book for Kei Miller presents... https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/kei-miller-presents/

And here are Steph and Simon's podcast picks:

J. Michael Straczynski on becoming a writer: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/j-michael-straczynski-on-becoming-a-writer-staying-a-writer/

Greg Kasavin on HADES: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/writing-hades-with-greg-kasavin/

Richard Lambert and Wolf Road: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/what-happens-when-covid-19-cancels-your-book-launch/

Sonia Faleiro's non-fiction: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/writing-creative-non-fiction-with-sonia-faleiro/

Crowdfunding with Tom Cox: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/crowdfunded-publishing-with-tom-cox/

A Delicate Sight with Max Porter and Sam Winston: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/podcast-reveal-a-delicate-sight/ 

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Music by Bennet Maples.

Joe is on the show this week to talk about Becoming A Writer, Staying A Writer: The Artistry, Joy and Career of Storytelling, his new book on writing which is out now. Simon is very, very excited.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Vicki Maitland.

Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Join our Discord writing community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW 

Listen to our episode with Thomas McMullan talking about The Last Good Man: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/ambiguity-and-metaphor-with-thomas-mcmullan/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Meanwhile, Simon and Steph look back at the City of Literature festival (which you can catch up on here: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/ ) and look forward to the upcoming Early Career Awards and 2021 International Literature Showcase featuring a new list of incredible writers selected by Kei Miller.

Book for the (free!) big reveal of Kei's new list: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/kei-miller-presents/

Find out more about the International Literature Showcase: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ils/ 

Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW 

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Music by Bennet Maples.

Meanwhile, Simon and Steph talk about the Norfolk & Norwich Festival and having writers back in the building at Dragon Hall. Find out more here: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/ 

Join our Discord writing community! https://discord.gg/3G39dRW 

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Music by Bennet Maples.

Abir Mukherjee is the Times bestselling author of the Sam Wyndham series of crime novels set in Raj era India. His debut, A Rising Man, won the CWA Endeavour Dagger for best historical crime novel of 2017 and was shortlisted for the MWA Edgar for best novel. His second novel, A Necessary Evil, won the Wilbur Smith Award for Adventure Writing and was a Zoe Ball Book Club pick. His third novel, Smoke and Ashes, was chosen by the Sunday Times as one of the 100 Best Crime & Thriller Novels since 1945. Abir grew up in Scotland and now lives in London with his wife and two sons.

Part of the City of Literature festival. Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/

More about Weather With You: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/open-doors/weather-with-you/ 

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.

Kerri ní Dochartaigh was born in 1983, in Derry-Londonderry at the border between the North and South of Ireland. She read English Literature and Classical Civilisation at Trinity College Dublin and trained as a Waldorf teacher in Edinburgh. She taught in Edinburgh and Bristol, before returning to Ireland in her early thirties. She writes about nature, literature and place for the Irish Times, Dublin Review of Books, Caught by the River and others. She now lives in a railway cottage in the very heart of Ireland. Thin Places is her first book.

Part of the City of Literature festival. Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/

More about Weather With You: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/open-doors/weather-with-you/ 

Image (c) Manus Kenny.

Valur was in town virtually as part of our Imagining the City residencies, which you can find out about here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/imagining-the-city/

Meanwhile, Simon and Steph get over-excited about recording the first podcast IN DRAGON HALL since March 2020. While some Covid-19 rules remain in place, this week marks the first public event held in the building since the start of lockdown. As such, the centre is a hive of activity - as you'll hear in the background of this episode.

We're also launching the City of Literature programme as part of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival this week. Find out all about it and book your (FREE!) tickets here: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/ 

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Flo Reynolds also jumps on the pod to introduce the next Book Club book, In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

BCLT Event with Jhumpa: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/sebald-lecture-jhumpa-lahiri/

Our City of Literature events: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/

Imagining the City resources: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/imagining-the-city/ 

Join the Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Music by Bennet Maples.

Audio quality is a little lower than usual due to irritating technical glitches - apologies

You can find out more about Imagining the City and read Marcin's articles here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/imagining-the-city/

Find out more about our City of Literature strand at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/

Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW 

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Music by Bennet Maples.

We recommend reading Lighthouse and Anchorage by Vahni before listening to this episode: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/lighthouse-and-anchorage-journal-entries/ 

Vahni stayed with us as part of the month-long Imagining the City event, which you can find out about here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/imagining-the-city/

Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones

Read Keeping A Writerly State of Mind: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/keeping-a-writerly-state-of-mind-two-reflections/

Read Five Everyday Writing Tips for any Writer: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/five-everyday-writing-tips-for-any-writer/

Did you know you can buy All Shall Be Well prints to help fund our work and remember Julian of Norwich? https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/buy-a-julian-of-norwich-screen-print/

Join our free Discord community and let us know your favourite biscuit: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Music by Bennet Maples.

Meanwhile, NCW programme director Peggy Hughes explores our hugely exciting City of Literature line-up for the 2021 Norfolk & Norwich Festival, most of which can be enjoyed online and entirely for free!

Main interview begins at 15:00.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Book your (free!) City of Literature events: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW 

Music by Bennet Maples.

ALSO on the pod today is Flo Reynolds, making a return to intro the latest Book Club book in the form of Abir Mukherjee's A Rising Man. Find out more here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/the-ncw-book-club/ 

Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.

Join our Discord and say hello! https://discord.gg/3G39dRW 

Check out the amazing NNF City of Literature programme: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/cityoflit-21/ 

Find out more about what we do at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 

Listen to our earlier pod with Anni Domingo: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/anni-domingo-on-the-writing-of-breaking-the-maafa-chain/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Thomas joins us on the pod to discuss the balance of information needed to keep a book ambiguous, with the discussion taking in everything from Gamergate, Twitter, the concept of 'lore', the differences between stage and page, the curious magic inherent to the act of reading and his use of third person present tense to create an unsettling atmosphere.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Find out more about what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Photo by Jonathan Rin.

Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.

Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 

Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones, who also introduce the judges for the 2021 UEA New Forms Award and Laura Kinsella Fellowship (you'll never guess), plus the brand new Writer's Toolkit Online courses for poets and fiction writers.

Here's some useful links:

• UEA New Forms Award: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/uea-award/ 
• Laura Kinsella Fellowship: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/laura-kinsella-fellowship/ 
• All of our Writer's Toolkit Online courses (including the free ones!): https://courses.nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 
• Some places are still available on our premium Creative Writing Online courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/ 
• Tom's website: https://tom-cox.com/ 
• The Unbound crowdfunding page for Villager: https://unbound.com/books/villager/ 
• Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Meanwhile, Simon and Steph talk about our exciting online writing courses and get distracted by the presence of a millionaire shortbread from nearby cafe Smokey Barn. If you're ever in the vicinity of Dragon Hall in Norwich, do pay them a visit!

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Useful links:

Creative Writing Online courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/

Donate to Escalator: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/

Join our free Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Music by Bennet Maples.

Content warning: Please do note that this podcast includes discussion of sexual violence throughout which listeners may find distressing.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Some useful links

Join our free Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW 

Dragon Hall Debates events: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/dragon-hall-debates/ 

Our mentoring programme: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/mentoring/ 

Podcast episode featuring mentor Katri Scala: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/how-mentoring-can-help-your-writing/ 

Browse the Creative Writing Online catalogue: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Photo by Jonathan Ring.

Content note: This podcast discusses mental health and attitudes towards treatments. If you are affected by anything discussed on the podcast or want to know more we recommend seeking professional advice. These websites include good resources:

Mind: https://www.mind.org.uk/

Rethink: https://www.rethink.org/

And for lots of international links: https://checkpointorg.com/global/ 

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Peggy Hughes asking the questions.

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Book for our Editor Insights event: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/editor-insights-with-ella-micheler/ 

Music by Bennet Maples

Photo (c) Caroline Flinders

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who tease upcoming episodes, talk about their current reads and reminisce about people bringing cakes into the office.

Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

BCLT: http://www.bclt.org.uk/ 

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Thumbnail photo by Felix Mooneeram on Unsplash

Meanwhile Steph and Simon take another look at the new Early Career Writer's Resource Pack, 'Dialogue' and, inevitably, complain about the weather.

Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Find out more about what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Check out the free Dialogue pack: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/pack-6-dialogue/

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Produced and edited by Simon Jones.

Music by Bennet Maples.

To Olivia, a Sky Original film, available on Sky Cinema and Now TV from 19th February.

This episode is part of our Early Career Writer's Resource Pack focusing on dialogue in prose fiction, scriptwriting and comics. Find more from Hannah Berry, Femi Kayode, Carys Davies and Taylor Beidler at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/pack-6-dialogue/ 

Made possible by support from Arts Council England.

Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.

Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

More on our Early Career Awards: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/

Music by Bennet Maples.

MEANWHILE! Simon and Steph are joined by Flo Reynolds to introduce the new Book Club book. Listen to find out what we're reading and then join in the chatter on Discord at https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Also under discussion are the daily writing prompts we're publishing through February, courtesy of our amazing UNESCO writers in residence. Find out more and get involved here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/imagining-the-city/

Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.

Music by Bennet Maples.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Donate to the 2021 Escalator scheme: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/ 

Join our Discord community chat: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

More about what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

We're currently fundraising for Escalator so that we can help as many new writers as possible. To find out more and donate head over here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/

Find out more about our Start Writing Crime Fiction course and join the waiting list: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/introduction-to-crime-fiction/ 

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Music by Bennet Maples.

On the podcast is previous Escalator participant Owen Nicholls, whose debut novel was published in 2019. Owen talks about shifting from screenwriting to novels, how he completed his first book and how Escalator helped him on the road to creating Love, Unscripted. Simon also talks to Owen about surreptitiously enjoying the film Garden State.

Meanwhile, Steph and Simon are joined by the inimitable Vicki Maitland to talk about Chrysalis, a fantastic mini-festival created by the Lit from the Inside group of young arts professionals. Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/chrysalis/ 

More on what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 

Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe!

Music by Bennet Maples.

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.

Thomas' residency was made possible by support from the Dutch Foundation for Literature and New Dutch Writing.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Find out more at https://nationalcentrefowriting.org.uk

More info on our residency programmes: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/residencies/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

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.

Meanwhile Simon and Steph talk about our fundraising campaign for the Escalator talent development scheme, our lovely 'All Shall Be Well' prints to cheer everyone up in this tail end of 2020 and whether it's OK to have your Christmas tree up already.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Donate to the Escalator campaign: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/

Get your 'All Shall Be Well' print: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/buy-a-julian-of-norwich-screen-print/

Music by Bennet Maples.

Whether you're a fan of Dickens or not, this episode (and John's book!) will make you think again about one of Britain's best-loved authors. And, yes, we do discuss Muppet's Christmas Carol.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Find out more about our Creative Writing Courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/ 

More info on why we're asking for donations to Escalator: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/

Music by Bennet Maples.

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.

For more information on the Escalator talent development scheme: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator/

Can you donate to Escalator? http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/

Listen to Michael Donkor on the pod: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/creating-characters-with-michael-donkor/

Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/3G39dRW 

Sign up to our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 

Hosted by Simon Jones and Vicki 'Rock DJ' Maitland.

Music by Bennet Maples.

Meanwhile, Steph and Simon are joined by Flo to introduce the latest NCW Book Club book: Our Place by Mark Cocker. Find out more here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/the-ncw-book-club/

You can watch the video version of Oyinkan's event here: https://youtu.be/aQx3AcmpW6Q

Catch up on Noirwich 2020 here: https://noirwich.co.uk/  

Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Music by Bennet Maples.

Oyinkan photo by Amaal Said.

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.

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.

We discuss the challenges of representation, the lack of childcare support for writers, how and when to contact an agent and lots more - including the two prizes being run by Laxfield Literary Associates which you can find out about on their website: https://laxfieldliterary.com/

Hosted by Simon Jones & Steph McKenna.

Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Check out our workshops and Agent Insights sessions: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/courses/

Join our (free!) Discord community and say hi: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Music by Bennet Maples.

The Organised Writer is published by Bloomsbury and is available from all good bookshops!

Meanwhile Vicki jumps on the pod to discuss the challenges of our school work in Covid-19 times and our continuing efforts to keep delivering workshops to young people.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Vicki Maitland.

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

FREE course: Supercharge your productivity: https://courses.nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/p/supercharge-your-productivity

How to write more and stay happy: https://courses.nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/p/how-to-write-more

Find out more about what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Check out Antony's website: https://antonyjohnston.com/

Watch Antony's film debut Crossover Point: https://bit.ly/crossoverpoint

Music by Bennet Maples.

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.

Attica’s most recent novel, Heaven, My Home, is an expertly-crafted thriller mystery, but also a sharp examination of ‘Trump-era’ America and issues of race, power, prejudice and white supremacy which still exist today. Her recent work as a television writer and producer includes When They See Us (Netflix); a portrayal of the 1990 wrongful conviction of five teenage boys from Harlem for a brutal attack in Central Park; and Little Fires Everywhere (Amazon Prime).

You can watch the live Q&A that followed Attica's lecture over on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/bA2R3FRTBR8 

Meanwhile, Steph and Simon talk about free resources to help you keep writing through the latest Covid-19 lockdown rules and regs, what they're currently reading and the upcoming 'World Building' resource pack!

Noirwich is a co-production from the National Centre for Writing and the University of East Anglia. Find out more here: http://noirwich.co.uk/ 

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Sign up to our newsletter and find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Lewis Buxton on poetry in lockdown: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/poetry-in-lockdown-with-lewis-buxton/

Jenny Offill and Joe Dunthorne about catastrophising: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/jenny-offill-talks-to-joe-dunthorne/

Mark Stay on finding your new normal: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/finding-your-new-normal/

Ben Johncock's free productivity course: https://courses.nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/p/supercharge-your-productivity

End music by Bennet Maples.

Intro music from YouTube audio library.

Portrait by Jenny Walters.

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.

If you missed any of the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival 2020, or want to rewatch or relisten, do head over to http://noirwich.co.uk/ where you can find links to all of this year's amazing free events.

Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Event chaired by NCW Chief Exec Chris Gribble.

Music by Bennet Maples.

Check out yesterday's pod with Paddy Richardson if you missed it and keep an eye on your podcast feed for our Hercule Poirot special this Sunday, featuring Sophie Hannah and Dr Mark Aldridge. Noirwich 2020 is packed full of amazing live videos, including appearances from Attica Locke, Oyinkan Braithwaite and Olivier Norek. Full details at over at https://noirwich.co.uk.

You can find the short stories by Anita over on the Noirwich blog: https://noirwich.co.uk/news/ 

Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.

Join our Discord community and ask us questions: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Photo by Harry Cock.

Music by Bennet Maples.

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.

When they're not writing, Flo is a literature programmer who works here at the National Centre for Writing. You can usually find them on our Discord community, where Flo runs the NCW Book Club and the Drop-in Writing Sessions. If you've been to any of our workshops or festivals over the years, there's a good chance you'll have benefited from their programming skills!

Check out Flo's what-to-do checklist on the blog here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/how-to-get-your-poetry-published/ 

You can join our Discord community to ask follow-up questions here: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Flo's website: http://floreynolds.com/ 

Noirwich Crime Writing Festival: http://noirwich.co.uk/

Drop-in Writing Sessions: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/drop-in-writing-time-0920/

Join the Book Club: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/book-club-bluebird-bluebird-by-attica-locke/

Music by Bennet Maples.

Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

All about our work: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Get Noirwich workshop tickets: http://noirwich.co.uk/

Photo of Okechukwu Nzelu (c) Martin Glacken

Music by Bennet Maples.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Early Career Writers' Resource Packs: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/free-resources/

Noirwich Crime Writing Festival: https://noirwich.co.uk/

Produced by the National Centre for Writing https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Image by Richard-Kenworthy

Music by Bennet Maples

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.

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.

Produced by the National Centre for Writing in the UK.

Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk