The Hidden Lives of Writers

In their first-ever remote interview, Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel are joined by the charming and delightful Qarnita Loxton. As well as being an award-winning novelist, Qarnita is a regular listener to the podcast, so it was great to have her on this side of the microphone. Qarnita is the author of the 'Being' series of novels, including Being Dianne, Being Lily, Being Kari, and Being Shelley....

We have an episode locked & loaded and ready to go early in 2024. Gail and Fiona are going remote, and their first guest connects from Cape Town. Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube · Join our newsletter · Ask your writing-related questions here

Mandy Wiener is a superstar of South African journalism. Currently the presenter of the Midday Report on 702, Mandy is the award-winning author of Killing Kebble, Behind the Door: The Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp Story, Ministry of Crime, The Whistleblowers, and more. Mandy joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how the first idea she ever pitched to a publisher was rejected,...

Jo Watson is an internationally bestselling and award-winning author of romantic comedies. Her latest huge hit is What Happens on Vacation. Jo joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how she got her start writing on Wattpad, building such a huge online audience that her first book garnered offers of representation from three major literary agents. Jo discusses romance as a genre, and...

Craig Higginson is an award-winning novelist, playwright, and theatre director. His most recent book, The Ghost of Sam Webster, is currently making waves on the South African literary scene. Craig joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how writing for him is a thing that flows in to fill the spaces that are left in a day. Sometimes this means writing in his car in the parking lot bef...

Ekow Duker is the author of White Wahala, Dying in New York, The God Who Made Mistakes, and most recently Yellowbone. Ekow was a finalist for the European Union Literary Award in 2011/2012 and is currently a judge in the fiction category of the Sunday Times Literary Awards. Ekow joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how he got his start writing anecdotes about his life while working...

Humorist, columnist, author, and social media star, Ndumiso Ngcobo needs no introduction to the South African audience – his column in the Sunday Times Lifestyle section has been a beloved institution for more than fifteen years. Ndumiso joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how his early efforts as a blogger led to a national newspaper approaching him to write for them. We get deep...

Nechama Brodie is a distinguished academic, journalist, novelist, and pioneer in the field of fact-checking. She joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how the different career hats she wears make her feel at times as though she has multiple personalities. Nechama talks us through how she got started as a journalist and how a random tweet got her involved in fact-checking and ultimat...

In 1985, a young Hamilton Wende watched the South African security forces drag seven bodies into Casspirs at Crossroads township and lie about it on the evening news. Since that day, he has dedicated himself as a war reporter to keeping the record and telling the truth in wartime situations. Hamilton Wende joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to break down how he went from being a 16-year-old bo...

Prolific writer, reviewer, columnist, co-author, and ghostwriter Kate Sidley joins Fiona and Gail to educate us on the nuts and bolts of being a co-writer. Kate takes us from her earliest days as a young girl who was “good at English” growing up in a small town in England, to being an in-demand magazine writer, to a much-requested ghostwriter. Kate explains the various forms of ghostwriting, from...

Siphiwo is an award-winning novelist, short story writer, playwright, and academic. He is a noted scholar of Can Themba and the Drum generation. Siphiwo joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how academia is taking over his writing time, and the effort he puts in to keep his creative work alive. He takes us through his earliest days as an idealistic young writer, when he quit his job...

Amy Heydenrych has had extraordinary success in getting her books in front of major international agents. She grabbed the attention of these agents and converted their interest into significant publication deals. Amy is the author of Shame On You and The Pact, and the co-author of Chasing Marian. She has a new book forthcoming from Karavan Press soon. Amy joins Fiona and Gail to share the secrets...

We close out Season 1 on a high note with this fascinating interview with multi-award-winning author Jonny Steinberg, who was gracious enough to fit us in during his whistle-stop book tour of South Africa. Jonny joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about his greatly acclaimed portrayal of the marriage of Winnie and Nelson Mandela. Jonny and Fiona reminisce about their time together at Hy...

Today we welcome media personality, writer, and scholar Joanne Joseph into the studio. Joanne takes Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel through the process of having a book adapted for the audio format. She describes how she got her start in media by auditioning for YFM as an 18-year-old and then advancing her career through the ranks of audio and TV. Joanne shares some details about the process of t...

Brad Pitt is in the studio! Prolific and award-winning writer Fred Khumalo talks to Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel about how he inhabited the first-person consciousness of a female protagonist in Bitches' Brew. He has the ladies hanging on his every word as he describes how the historical inspirations for The Longest March and Dancing the Death Drill presented themselves to him. Fred describes h...

The massively popular author of 'A Year in the Wild' and most recently 'Return to the Wild' James Hendry joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to explain why the first suggestion that pops up when you Google his name happens to be, "is James Hendry married?". James takes us through his evolution as a writer of strong female characters and credits several ex-girlfriends for helping to mature his a...

2020 Goethe Medalist and 2023 Einstein Forum Fellow, Zukiswa Wanner, joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about her roles as a writer, publisher, curator, and speaker. Zukiswa describes how she often walks around with an idea in her mind for a long time before finally sitting down and producing a first draft at speed – frequently writing many thousands of words a day. She describes minin...

Award-winning author, Yewande Omotoso, joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how she has recently got back into writing now that her twins are two-and-a-half years old. She talks about guarding her precious Fridays because that is the time she has to devote to writing. Yewande wonders whether writing emerges from having an idea or an idea emerges from the act of writing. She talks a...

Pamela Power is a television scriptwriter and script editor currently working on several South African TV shows. She is the author or co-author of four well-received novels and the sober-curious memoir My Year of Not Getting Sh*tfaced. Pam joins fellow authors Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how she got her start in television and what the path might look like for a young person who...

South Africa's favourite non-fiction writer Gus Silber joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about his distinguished career as a journalist, columnist, reviewer, screenwriter, and speechwriter. Gus takes us all the way back to his earliest days as a reporter for a local newspaper in Krugersdorp and talks about how that was the best possible training for a journalist. He shares advice for...

Multi-award-winning and much-translated writer Niq Mhlongo is in the studio to talk about his long and varied career. He describes how he got his start as a writer by flunking out of law school and how his early novels foreshadowed the Fees Must Fall movement. Niq tells us what to do when a character refuses to die and how his inspiration comes from living close to a popular shebeen in Soweto. Niq...

Acclaimed and award-winning author Sue Nyathi joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how life has gone since she left the corporate world to become a full-time writer. Spoiler alert – it's gone really well! Sue breaks down how she got started as a writer, going back to the early days when her handwritten books were passed around the class in her Bulawayo high school. Sue admits that...

Fiona and Gail are joined by the brilliant and hilarious Angela Makholwa, author of Critical, But Stable, The Blessed Girl, Black Widow Society, and more. Angela tells us about her close encounters with serial killer Moses Sithole and how she needed a break from the darkness after Red Ink came out. Fiona and Angela talk about how turning thirty hits differently when you're a woman, and Gail asks A...

Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel are working writers - and their favourite people are writers. Join them as they dive deep into HOW and WHY successful writers write. Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube · Join our newsletter · Ask your writing-related questions here