The Hidden Lives of Writers

Morabo Morojele is the award-winning author of the novels How We Buried Puso and Three Egg Dilemma, which won the University of Johannesburg Award in 2024. Morabo joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about the time he forgot that he was a writer, and what made him remember again. He talks about writing drunk and editing sober, and gaining his inspiration from visits to a nearby working-m...

Cliffordene Norton is the celebrated author of young adult novels and short stories in Afrikaans, and has a new title coming out in 2025. Cliffordene joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about why Afrikaans readers show up so consistently for their writers. She shares the secrets behind writing for teens, and having her short stories regularly snapped up by magazines like HUISGENOOT. For...

Terry-Ann Adams is the award-winning author of the novel THOSE WHO LIVE IN CAGES and the short story collection WHITE CHALK. Terry-Ann joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about what it is like to embark upon an MA in Creative Writing after you have already been published and won awards. She shares what she has learned from the process. For more details about the books, movies, series, a...

Penny Haw is the highly successful author of several works of historical fiction. Her latest novel FOLLOW ME TO AFRICA is hitting bestseller lists all over South Africa right now. Penny joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about her early forays into children's fiction, thrillers, and now historical fiction. For more details about the books, movies, series, and podcasts that are discusse...

Shameez Patel Papathanasiou is taking her writing in a new direction. The author of the Selene Trilogy of fantasy novels, has gone back to her one true love - contemporary romance. Shameez joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about what inspired this pivot and how much fun she had writing her new hit novel, PLAYING FLIRTY. For more details about the books, movies, series, and podcasts th...

Spud is back! John van der Ruit is the record-smashing, best-selling author of the SPUD series of books, as well as an actor and playwright. John joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about what it was like finding the voice of an older Spud after all these years. He gives great tips about writing a comic novel, and explains how it is not enough to write funny scenes - your novel has to h...

Gareth Crocker is a well known novelist, film maker, and television creator. His latest book NOW YOU SUFFER is garnering great reviews. Gareth joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how he got an international deal for his first novel FINDING JACK, and why major Hollywood stars like Chris Evans and Elijah Wood began calling him shortly afterwards. He talks about why he recently pivot...

Samantha Shannon is the internationally bestselling author of the BONE SEASON series of urban fantasy novels, as well as the epic fantasy novel THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE. Samantha joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about why she is rereleasing the BONE SEASON series as 'the author's preferred edition' with all new artwork. She explains what it was like to strike a major book deal a...

Louisa Treger is the acclaimed author of four historical novels featuring remarkable women whose contributions to society have been overlooked or forgotten. Her most recent novel is THE PARIS MUSE. Louisa joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about why she pivoted from academic research to fiction writing, and how she chooses the women who become the subjects of her novels. She explains w...

Vernon Head is the author of THE SEARCH FOR THE RAREST BIRD IN THE WORLD - a piece of creative non-fiction that has recently been reissued, as well as A TREE FOR THE BIRDS, and the award-winning ON THAT WAVE OF GULLS. Vernon joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how a childhood encounter with the Burchell's Coucal was the spark that got him interested in bird-watching. He tells us h...

Alex Latimer is an author and illustrator of children's fiction and an author of books for adults. As Frank Owen, he and Diane Awerbuck wrote the dystopian novels SOUTH and NORTH. Alex also recently released the acclaimed collection of short stories LOVE STORIES FOR GHOSTS. Alex joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how his career as an illustrator got started thanks to his own chut...

Mphuthumi Ntabeni won the UJ Debut Novel Prize in 2019 for BROKEN RIVER TENT and is the author of the acclaimed 2021 novel THE WANDERES. He is also a journalist, columnist, reviewer, and cultural commentator. Mphuthumi joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how he draws on the history of the Eastern Frontier to create his narratives. He admits that researching the archives has the po...

Jarred Thompson's stunning debut novel THE INSTITUTE FOR CREATIVE DYING won the UJ Debut Prize and has been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize. Jarred joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how he structured his complex narrative and juggled the voices of his different characters. He tells us why he decided to set his first book in the world of chronic illness and end-of-...

Nthikeng Mohlele is a prolific and critically acclaimed author of multiple novels and short stories - most recently 'Revolutionaries' House'. His novel 'Breasts' has just been shortlisted for the UJ Prize for Fiction. Nthikeng joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how music informs his fiction and how he writes only when inspiration strikes. Fiona and Gail agree that Nthikeng has on...

Shubnum Khan is the author of the novel ONION TEARS which has recently been rereleased in paperback. She also wrote the collection of essays HOW I ACCIDENTALLY BECAME A GLOBAL STOCK PHOTO and the internationally successful novel THE LOST LOVE OF AKBAR MANZIL. Shubnum joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how she wrote her first novel in her early twenties under the mentorship of Kob...

Barbara Boswell is a distinguished academic and novelist whose latest work THE COMRADE'S WIFE has taken the literary world by storm. Barbara was a visiting fellow at Oxford University earlier this year where she conducted research in preparation for future life writing. Barbara joined Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how THE COMRADE'S WIFE may be read in conjunction with her earlier...

Ivan Vladislavic is a multi-award winning author, editor, and professor of creative writing. His new memoir The Near North is available now. Ivan joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how not having grown up in Johannesburg has made him more curious about the city and how the words of other authors are the constant backdrop to his life. Ivan discusses the narrative choices one has t...

Lynn Joffe is a copywriter, a novelist, a short story writer, and an author of children's books. She is the author of the critically acclaimed picaresque novel, The Gospel According to Wanda B. Lazarus, published by Modjaji Books. Lynn joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how she came to write a feminist reimagining of the antisemitic Medieval myth of the Wandering Jew. Describing...

Margie Orford is a writer, academic, activist, and award-winning journalist. She is the author of the acclaimed Clare Hart series of crime novels. Her most recent work is a much-anticipated memoir, Love And Fury. Margie joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about the narrative choices one makes for memoir rather than fiction, and how second-wave feminism influenced her life at every step....

In this special episode of The Hidden Lives of Writers, Fiona Snyckers sits down with author, reviewer, and journalist Gus Silber to talk about her new novel THE HIDDEN, which is published by Pan Macmillan. Gus grills Fiona about her secret past as a child writer and whether her own children find her books difficult to read, and Gus does a deep dive into the culture wars and the historical and cul...

Helen Moffett is a writer, an editor, and an award-winning poet. Her novel 'Charlotte' was released internationally to great acclaim. Helen joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how every writer needs to be edited and why the business of editing has remained untransformed for so long. Helen describes her writing process for 'Charlotte', much to the envy of Fiona and Gail, and explai...

Diane Awerbuck is the award-winning author of multiple novels and short story collections. Her latest book is Inside Your Body There Are Flowers published by Karavan Press. Diane joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about being published at a young age and what a young writer brings to the table. Diane talks about why she believes that a writer's process shouldn't always be revealed to t...

Ron Irwin is the acclaimed author of Flat Water Tuesday and My Side of the Ocean, which was recently published by Pan Macmillan. He is a senior lecturer in Media Studies at UCT and teaches in the UCT Creative Writing Masters programme. Ron joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how deciding to write a book that he would give an A to instead of a D, transformed his writing career year...

Shafinaaz Hassim is an author, activist, and sociologist. She has written extensively about GBV, human trafficking, and women's issues. Her latest novel, Darlings of Durban, has everyone talking. Shafinaaz joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how she built her literary career from the ground up and developed a network of loyal readers and reviewers. Shafinaaz describes how her use...

Sven Axelrad is a Durban-based writer whose debut novel Buried Treasure took the South African literary world by storm in 2023. Sven joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how he balances his day job as an accountant with the demands of his lively literary imagination. He talks about the influence of the South American magical realists on his work and discusses the significance of th...