Little Atoms

Amy Sackville was born in 1981. She studied English and Theatre Studies at Leeds, and went on to do an MPhil in English at Exeter College, Oxford, and an MA in Creative & Life Writing at Goldsmiths. Her first novel was The Still Point , which was longlisted for the Orange Prize and won the 2010 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and her second was Orkney , which won a 2014 Somerset Maugham Award. ...

Born in Manchester, Tim Parks grew up in London and studied at Cambridge and Harvard. In 1981 he moved to Italy where he has lived ever since. He is the author of novels, non-fiction and essays, including  Europa ,  Cleaver ,  A Season with Verona  and  Teach Us to Sit Still . He has won the Somerset Maugham, Betty Trask and Llewellyn Rhys awards, and been shortlisted for...

Miriam Toews was born in 1964 in the small Mennonite town of Steinbach, Manitoba. She has published four novels and a memoir of her father, and is the recipient of numerous literary awards including the Governor General's Award, the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award (twice), and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. Her latest novel is Women Talking . Hosted on Acast....

Lauren Groff is the author of three New York Times bestselling novels – Fates and Furies (named by Barack Obama as his favourite book of 2015), The Monsters of Templeton and Arcadia – as well as the story collection Delicate Edible Birds. She graduated from Amherst College and has an MFA in fiction from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Groff’s fiction ha...

Ottessa Moshfegh   is a fiction writer from New England. Her first book,  McGlue , a novella, won the Fence Modern Prize in Prose and the Believer Book Award. She is also the author of the short story collection  Homesick for Another World . Her stories have been published in  The Paris Review ,  The New Yorker , and  Granta , and have earned her a Pushcart...

Michael Donkor was born in London, to Ghanaian parents. He studied English at Wadham College, Oxford, undertook a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway and now teaches English Literature to secondary school students. His debut novel is Hold . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Melissa Harrison is the author of the novels  Clay  and  At Hawthorn Time , which was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and longlisted for the Bailey's Women's Prize, and one work of non-fiction,  Rain , which was longlisted for the Wainwright Prize. She is a nature writer, critic and columnist for  The Times , the  Financial Times  and the  Guardian,&nb...

William Atkins’s first book,  The Moor , was shortlisted for the Thwaites Wainwright Prize. He works as an editor and his journalism has appeared in the  Guardian  and  Granta . In 2016 he was a recipient of the British Library Eccles Prize. His latest book is  The Immeasurable World: Journeys in Desert Places . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Madeline Miller has a BA and MA from Brown University in Latin and Ancient Greek, and has been teaching both for over a decade. She has also studied at the Yale School of Drama, specialising in adapting classical tales to a modern audience. Her first novel The Song of Achilles  was the winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction 2012. Her latest novel is Circe . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...

Gavin Francis is a GP, and the author of  True North ,  Empire Antarctica: Ice, Silence & Emperor Penguins , which won the Scottish Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize and Costa Prize, and  Adventures in Human Being . He also writes for the  Guardian , the  Times ,  London Review of Books  and  Granta . Gavin's latest b...

Laura Lippman has been awarded every major prize in crime fiction. Since the publication of What the Dead Know, each of her hardcovers has hit the New York Times bestseller list. A recent recipient of the first-ever Mayor’s Prize, she lives in Baltimore, New Orleans and New York City with her family. Laura’s latest novel is Sunburn . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information...

Miranda Doyle's family come from the tiny island of Coney in Sligo Bay. She grew up in Edinburgh alongside three brothers and a suspicious number of ill-fated pets. With an MA from Goldsmiths in Creative and Life Writing she has lectured on Autobiography for the Philosophy and European Literature degree at Anglia Ruskin University and continues to teach creative writing. Her debut book, a memoir t...

Dorthe Nors was born in 1970 and studied literature at the University of Aarhus. She is one of the most original voices in contemporary Danish literature. Her short stories have appeared in numerous international periodicals including including The Boston Review and Harpers, and she is the first Danish writer ever to have a story published in the New Yorker. Nors has published four novels so far,...

Fred Pearce   is an award-winning journalist and author, reporting from 87 countries. He is the environment consultant of  New Scientist  magazine, a regular broadcaster and contributor to the  Guardian, Washington Post  and others. He has written fourteen books on environmental and development issues, translated into 24 languages. Fred's latest book is Fallout . Hosted on...

Sarah Churchwell is Professor of American Literature and Chair of Public Understanding of the Humanities at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. She is the author of  Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and The Invention of The Great Gatsby  and  The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe.  Her literary journalism has appeared widely in newspapers including the  Guar...

Tim Winton has published over twenty books for adults and children, and his work has been translated into many different languages. Since his first novel,  An Open Swimmer , won the  Australian /Vogel Award in 1981, he has won the Miles Franklin Award four times (for  Shallows ,  Cloudstreet ,  Dirt Music  and  Breath ) and twice been shortlisted for the Booker P...

Sharlene Teo was born in Singapore in 1987. She has an LLB in Law from the University of Warwick and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, where she received the Booker Prize Foundation Scholarship and the David TK Wong Creative Writing award. She holds fellowships from the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation and the University of Iowa International Writing Program. In 2016, she w...

Dr Fern Riddell is a historian specialising in sex, suffrage and culture in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. She appears regularly on TV and radio, and writes for the  Guardian ,  Huffington Post ,  Telegraph  and  Times Higher Education  among others, and is a columnist for  BBC History Magazine . Fern is the author of The Victorian Guide to Sex , and most rece...

Adam Kay is an award-winning comedian and writer for TV and film, including  Mitchell & Webb  and  Very British Problems . He previously worked as a junior doctor, detailing his funny and sad experiences in his first book  This Is Going To Hurt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inara Verzemnieks teaches creative nonfiction at the University of Iowa. She has won a Pushcart Prize and a Rona Jaffe Writer's Award, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing. She lives in Iowa City, Iowa. She is the author of Among The Living and the Dead: A Tale of Exile and Homecoming. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daniel Trilling is the editor of  New Humanist  magazine and has reported extensively on refugees in Europe. His work has been published in the  London Review of Books ,  Guardian ,  New York Times  and others, and won a 2017 Migration Media Award. His first book,  Bloody Nasty People: the Rise of Britain’s Far Right , was longlisted for the 2013 Orwell Prize. Da...

Aida Edemariam, whose father is Ethiopian and mother Canadian, grew up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She studied English literature at Oxford University and the University of Toronto, and has worked as a journalist in New York, Toronto and London, where she is currently a senior feature writer and editor for the  Guardian . Her first book is The Wife’s Tale. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Ziyad Marar   is the author of  Intimacy  (2014),  Deception (The Art of Living)  (2008) and  The Happiness Paradox  (2003) and is President of Global Publishing at Sage Publications. His latest book is Judged: The Value of Being Misunderstood. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucy Wood is the critically acclaimed author of Diving Belles, a collection of short stories based on Cornish folklore, and Weathering, a debut novel about mothers, daughters and ghosts. She has been longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize, shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize, and was runner-up in the BBC National Short Story Award. She has also received a Betty Trask A...

Chris Power lives and works in London. His 'Brief Survey of the Short Story' has appeared in the  Guardian  since 2007. His fiction has been published in  The Stinging Fly ,  The Dublin Review  and  The White Review .  Mothers  is his first book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.