This week Eimear McBride shares her writing method with advice on characters, how to finish a book and what makes someone a writer. Interview originally broadcast on YouTube in March as part of the Early Career Writers' Resources. More info here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/2-method/ Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples.
Time for a burst of optimism and inspiration, courtesy of poet, producer and tutor Lewis Buxton. If lockdown is getting to you, have a listen to this week's pod and hopefully you'll feel a little brighter about the future. Lewis talks about TOAST, his regular live literature events, his own route into poetry and how coronavirus has affected his work. Then he treats us to readings of a couple of his own poems plus material from selected TOAST headliners. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. J...
The time to reveal the Desmond Elliott Prize shortlist has finally arrived! NCW Programme Assistant and almost absurdly well-organised person Lillie Coles joins us on the pod to introduce the shortlisted titles and provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the running of the prize. The Desmond Elliott Prize is part of the National Centre for Writing's Early Career Awards. Find out more about them here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/ Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon ...
Bregje Hofstede returns to the podcast with this full length version of her conversation with our Programme Director Peggy Hughes. Bregje stayed with us back in October as a writer in residence at Dragon Hall, back when such a thing was still possible. Bregje came to work on her new novel – working title De oplossing van Hadewych (The Hadewych Solution). Dragon Hall was the ideal location, as the Middle Ages feature large in the novel while Norwich is the most complete medieval English town to h...
Owen Sheers, author, poet and playwright and Professor in Creativity at Swansea University, reveals his selection of ten inspiring writers asking the questions that will shape our future, as part of the International Literature Showcase. In this conversation with award-winning jouranlist Chitra Ramaswamy you'll discover the details of Owen’s list, including his introduction to each writer and the reasons why he finds their work to be so important – spanning topics including the environment, stru...
Our City of Literature festival continues with today's podcast: A fascinating glimpse into the daily process of making and writing from Sara Baume (Spill Simmer Falter Wither) and Elizabeth Macneal (The Doll Factory), chaired by Jen McDerra. Through writing, sculpture and ceramics, they will offer reflections on isolation, motivation, nature and beauty. This episode is presented by the National Centre for Writing and the Norfolk & Norwich Festival. Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Jo...
City of Literature 2020 begins! Today's special episode features Max Porter and Sam Winston, talking about the collaborative exhibition A Delicate Sight. Originally intended to be part of this year's Norfolk & Norwich Festival, we're now taking the event online so that you can experience it at home. Place darkness at the centre of your perception and explore how your senses, thoughts and emotions are heightened with this free creative resource. A number of the UK’s leading writers – includin...
Michael Donkor, author of HOLD, graduate of our Escalator talent programme and a Desmond Elliot Prize nominee, guests on the pod to talk about creating and developing characters. It's a chat full of amazing tips for any writer - and you can find even more with our Early Career Writers' Resources Pack this month, as it's all about CHARACTER and is packed full of insight from Sarah Perry, Joe Dunthorne and more. Check out the full pack: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/pack-3-character/ Joi...
We have something of a mini-episode this week as NCW Programme Officer Flo Reynolds joins Simon and Steph to introduce our new Book Club. Starting today, the Book Club is reading A Line Made By Walking by Sara Baume - we hope you'll join us on the read! There are many ways to get involved - all of them free, of course. Read along, chat with us on Twitter and join our scheduled Zoom chats to share your opinions. We're also launching a new online community on Discord, which is open now and you can...
Moto Shibata returns to the podcast for an in-depth conversation about how he became a translator, balancing the academic and more accessible styles of translation and his new serialised adaptation of Gulliver's Travels. Asking the questions: Peggy Hughes! Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who talk excitedly about our new Time To Write workshops for younger writers (https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/working-with-schools/young-workshops/), the transformed INN CROWD (remote) residenci...
Poets Kendel Hippolyte and Flo Reynolds talk on the pod about Kendel's career, taking in his work on page and stage, sharing tips and techniques for poets and considering the responsibilities - and obligations of artists to society. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.
Stephanie Scott's debut What's Left Of Me Is Yours releases on April 21st - that's Tuesday, for fast listeners - and Laura Stimson sat down to discuss the creation of the book and its true crime inspiration. There's great tips from Stephanie about conducting research, finding agents and working through a large project. Meanwhile, Simon and Steph talk about the on-going weirdness of working from home during Covid-19 and highlight some of the exciting opportunities and writer resources we're putti...
Former Dragon Hall resident Vahur Afanasjev joins the pod to talk to Lewis Buxton about his books, how coronavirus has affected his writing and why he writes a lot about fish. Vahur is an Estonian author and creator of the award-winning Serafima and Bogdan, a bloody, funny and surreal family saga about the Russian Old Believer minority in Estonia. ALSO on this week's episode is guest-host Peggy Hughes, joining Steph and Simon to talk about Bibliotherapy and recommend some great books for us all ...
Writer and presenter Mark Stay, co-creator of The Bestseller Experiment and author of Robot Overlords and The End of Magic, returns for this week's episode to discuss his publishing experiments and why 'finding a new normal' is something we all do multiple times in our lives. If you're struggling to be productive while under isolation, listen to this right now. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Mark's website: https:/...
It's a bumper edition of the pod today, with TWO special guests: Bregje Hofstede and Motoyuki Shibata. As part of our new Early Career Writers' Resource pack they are talking all about their METHOD: from the writer's perspective and the translator's. Simon also shares his favourite digital tools for writers! Check out the full METHOD resource pack: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/2-method/ Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Mus...
None other than Jenny Offill joins the podcast to talk about her new book Weather with Joe Dunthorne. Along the way they discuss catastrophising, doomers, coronavirus and seismic historical events. This conversation is in partnership with The Book Hive. Weather is available direct from them at a special discount for pod listeners and event ticket holders! Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Writing courses: https://cou...
Flo talks to Ayobami Adebayo about the writing of her debut novel Stay With Me, in particular focusing on the creation of the characters. Meanwhile, we introduce our new online courses! These can be found at https://courses.nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk and include lots of free courses packed full of practical writing tips. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.
Prominent BookTuber Leena Norms joins us to talk about developing and maintaining an online profile, handling abuse and her parallel careers on YouTube and in the publishing industry. Also, she politely explains to Simon what BookTube actually means. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who are joined by special guest - and BookTube afficionado - Vicki Maitland. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Leena's website: https://www.leenanorms.com/ Leena on Twitt...
Get a taste of what we do and meet hosts Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. We're a weekly podcast for anyone who writes - find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and all good podcast apps. Produced by the National Centre for Writing in the UK. Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk
"If you write, you're a writer." This week we talk to Ashley Hickson-Lovence about the creation of his debut novel The 392, and how he had to fit writing time in and around his job of being a teacher. Ashley shares his journey from poet to teacher to novelist and talks about his next project. Interview by Florence Reynolds. Meanwhile, Simon and Steph introduce the Norfolk & Norwich Festival's City of Literature strand which was announced last week. Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Mo...
