The Writing Life

BAFTA Award-winning writer and games designer Greg Kasavin joins the pod to talk about his work at Supergiant Games, focusing on the critically acclaimed smash hit HADES. The game won five BAFTA awards last week and we spoke to Greg about how he got into writing for games, his background in journalism and how Supergiant strive to merge narrative and gameplay mechanics. Essential listening for anyo...

Tom Cox is on the pod talking about his TWO new books out this year, Notebook (out now!) and Villager (out later!). Tom talks to Steph about the inspiration behind his books, including having his backpack stolen and finding himself stranded in Bristol, the importance of place in his writing (and life) and why he turned to Unbound to publish his most recent work. It's a funny, informative and hones...

Writer and actor Anni Domingo is on the pod to talk about her debut novel Breaking the Maafa Chain, the remarkable true story of Sara Forbes Bonetta. Anni discusses adapting historical research into a fictionalised retelling, how Covid-19 has disrupted her acting work and how being on our Escalator talent development scheme in 2019 helped develop her writing. Meanwhile, Simon and Steph talk about...

Author and journalist Sonia Faleiro joins us to discuss The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing, her new narrative non-fiction book which examines the killing of two teenage girls in India in 2014. Sonia talks to Steph about her route into journalism and how she researches complex topics and then translates them into engaging narratives. It's a conversation packed full of practical advice for non-fict...

Writer and broadcaster Horatio Clare is on the pod this week to talk to Peggy about his latest book, Heavy Light: A Journey Through Madness, Mania and Healing. It is the story of Horatio's own breakdown: a journey through mania, psychosis and treatment in a psychiatric hospital, and onwards to release, recovery and healing. On the podcast he discusses the writing of the book and how he approached...

Translator William Gregory joins us on the pod to discuss translating for the stage, how he started his professional career and the challenges of working on translated material in the UK. William was a (virtual) translator in residence at BCLT from October 2020 to January 2021, and ran the theatre translation workshop during 2020’s BCLT Summer School. On the other side of the conversation is speci...

We talk to author Stephen Michael Shearer and director John Hay about To Olivia, the film adaptation of Stephen's book An Unquiet Life. Focusing on the lives of Patricia Neal and Roald Dahl, the film stars Hugh Bonneville and Keeley Hawes and is available on Sky Cinema and Now TV from 19 February 2021. Stephen and John talk about the process of adapting the book and how the collaborative nature of...

Author Chris Beckett joins us this week to explore styles of dialogue in literature and how Chris uses it in his novel Two Tribes. Covering topics as wide-ranging as conversation-as-animal-grooming to Brexit, Chris shares his tips and insight into how humans interact and different ways of capturing that on the page. Asking the questions is Sam Ruddock of Gatehouse Press and Story Machines Producti...

Debut author Jon Ransom shares his tips for avoiding writer's block, the importance of deadlines, why he avoids using word counts to judge progress, securing an agent during Covid-19 lockdown and how the Escalator talent development programme helped him complete his first novel The Whale Tattoo, which is due to be published by Muswell Press in 2022. If you'd like to support new voices you can dona...

We're very pleased to finally have Kate Worsley guest on the pod, author of She Rises, discussing her route to publication, her time on our Escalator talent development scheme, how she has benefited from mentoring and the impact of Covid-19 on her work. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Donate to the 2021 Escalator scheme: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/  ...

"The world of the imagination is being diminished by the day, with theatres dark, cinemas closed, and actors and musicians encouraged to retrain in more ‘viable’ professions, so books are more vital than ever, bringing us together safely at a time when we have never felt more isolated." The wonderful Nicola Upson returns to the podcast to talk about her early career, finding her confidence and how...

Escalator needs your help! Our talent development scheme has helped 10 writers every year since 2004 but austerity and funding challenges means we can only fund 6 places in 2021. If you'd like to donate to help us help more writers, visit https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/   On the podcast is previous Escalator participant Owen Nicholls, whose debut novel was publish...

Happy New Year! We begin 2021 with a conversation with Desmond Elliott Prize shortlisted Abi Daré, whose debut The Girl With The Louding Voice caught everyone's attention last year. Abi talks about her approach to world building and how she used the narrative voice in the book to explore its setting. Asking the questions is novelist Sarah Bower. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who start t...

We're joined on the pod by Dutch writer Thomas Heerma van Voss, who is talking about his new chapbook, Thank You For Being With Us. We're also very pleased to have editor, writer and lecturer Andrew McDonnell asking the questions. They discuss the translation of Thomas' work, how lockdown has affected his writing in 2020 and how he crafted his short stories. Thomas' residency was made possible by...

We talk to producer Tamsin Flower about Black Writers on Democracy, a project conceived following the Black Lives Matters protests in 2020. Funded rapidly via crowdfunding, a commissioning call was sent out to find writers from around the world to address the theme. The five written pieces have now been published and on the podcast today we talk to Olu Alakija, Nike Igbaroola, Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto...

Award-winning poet Will Harris, creator of RENDANG (Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection and a Guardian best poetry book of 2020), is our guest this week. Will discusses how he perceives his writing career and explores form and feeling with Flo Reynolds.  Meanwhile Simon and Steph talk about our fundraising campaign for the Escalator talent development scheme, our lovely 'All Shall Be Well...

Think you know everything there is to know about Charles Dickens? Professor John Mullan is back with his new book The Artful Dickens to show us Dickens and his work in a completely new light, exploring the famous author's often overlooked experimental and ground-breaking techniques. John came on the show to talk everything Dickens, from the original serialisation of his novels (which gets Simon ve...

Stuart Turton discusses the research, editing and planning process behind The Devil and the Dark Water, as well as his route into publishing his first novel, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Stuart's talking to Vicki Maitland and their conversation is packed full of practical tips, fascinating insights and historical stories you will feel compelled to immediately Google. Meanwhile, Simon tal...

Debut author Sally-Anne Lomas shares her route to being published, which resulted in Gatehouse Press picking up her book Live like Your Head’s on Fire. Sally-Anne talks about her experiences on our Escalator talent development scheme and the process of  reaching publication. We're also joined by Sam Ruddock of Gatehouse who talks about assessing manuscripts and why small presses are essential to t...

Lockdown didn't stop us from putting on the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival this year in partnership with our friends at the University of East Anglia. One of the many highlights was this conversation between Oyinkan Braithwaite and Femi Kayode, discussing Oyinkan's My Sister, The Serial Killer. If you missed it during the festival, now's your chance to listen on the pod! Meanwhile, Steph and Simo...

We spoke to Richard Lambert on the podcast in October 2019 about his debut novel The Wolf Road, which was to be published in early 2020. It never came out: instead, Covid-19 triggered global lockdowns, which forced bookshops and libraries to close, distributors shut down and Richard's dream of publication became another casualty of 2020.  Fast forward to October 2020 and not only is Richard back o...

Kate Summerscale, the award-winning author of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, joins the pod to talk to Chris about her new book, The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story. They discuss the origins of the book, Kate's approach to research and how she had to track down the facts, and how the book sets poltergeists and the increased interest in the supernatural in the 1930s with the rise of Hit...

Emma Shercliff of Laxfield Literary Associates talks to us about being an agent outside of London and her efforts to better represent both regional writers and authors from Africa and the Middle East. Following a globe-trotting career with Macmillan, Hodder and Cassava Republic Press, encountering the Common People report prompted Emma to set up Laxfield Literary Associates with the aim of making...

Want to be a more organised writer? On the pod this week we have Antony Johnston, prolific and bestselling creator of comics, novels, podcasts and more. He created the graphic novel that was turned into the movie Atomic Blonde, has worked extensively on his own comics as well as Marvel books, video games including Dead Space and Shadow of Mordor and numerous crime thrillers. His latest  book is Th...

Multi-award-winning comics writer Kieron Gillen joins us on the pod today to discuss his methods for world building. Kieron is perhaps best known for The Wicked + The Divine, the hugely ambitious collaboration with artist Jamie McKelvie which presents a pantheon of gods who happen to also be pop stars, as well as UBER, Phonogram, DIE, Once & Future and Ludocrats. Beyond his own books he's also wor...