The Writing Life

On this episode of The Writing Life, we speak to news journalist turned non-fiction writer and biographer Richard Balls about interviewing difficult subjects. Richard is the author of three books: A Furious Devotion: The Life of Shane MacGowan; Be Stiff: The Stiff Records Story, and Sex & Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll: The Life of Ian Dury. In this conversation with Steph McKenna, he talks about using the...

A conversation from the archive! National Centre for Writing’s Kate Griffin talks to writer, translator and editor Rabi Thapa. Kate is our Associate Head of Programmes and Rabi stayed in the Dragon Hall cottage as part of our Visible Communities programme in June 2021. Rabi is a British-born Nepali writer and translator. He is also the Editor of La. Lit, the literary magazine from Nepal, and the a...

As part of the annual Norfolk and Norwich Festival we run a series of events called City of Literature. A central part of our programme is the Harriett Martineau Lecture which celebrates the legacy of a remarkable, world-changing woman by inviting globally-renowned radical speakers to respond to her life and work. In 2022, we were excited to welcome bestselling novelist, memoirist and literary act...

We speak to writer and teacher Okechukwu Nzelu. Why? To discuss that greatest pillar of creative writing - character. Gill and Okechukwu discuss many aspects of character development, including those in his latest novel Here Again Now. Based in Manchecter, Okechukwu Nzelu was the recipient of a Northern Writers' Award from New Writing North in 2015. His debut novel, The Private Joys of Nnenna Malo...

Earlier in the year, our very own Ellie Reeves spoke to local writer James Kinsley. James’s first novella, Playtime’s Over, was published by Propolis in 2021 - a love letter to his native Norwich. James Kinsley’s new book, Greyskin, will be published by Deixis Press on 27th April. Greyskin is a stylish collection of interconnected fantasy stories, inspired by the cinematic mythology of the Old Wes...

Norwich-based poet and writer Shannon Clinton-Copeland speaks to our virtual residents Akshita Nanda, Crispin Rodrigues and Daryl Qilin Yam about writing and literary life in Singapore. Their residencies are supported by Singapore’s National Arts Council.  Akshita, Crispin and Daryl touch on everything from the relationship between writing and culture, to writing as a method for finding common exp...

We speak to Caimh McDonnell about humour. Caimh is a comedian and writer. He’s written for TV shows such as Mock The Week and Have I Got News for You. He was also a professional stand-up comedian and has written a dozen books under the names Caimh and CK McDonnell.  Being funny in fiction is hard, so we wanted to ask the Manchester-based Irishman how to do it - or at least, how he does it. The cov...

For this episode, we speak to the wonderful Kirsty Logan. Kirsty is completely devoted to books: she is the award-winning author of several novels, including The Gloaming and The Gracekeepers, and short story collections including A Portable Shelter and The Rental Heart & Other Fairytales. She recently wrote the Audible Original The Sound at the End, an Arctic ghost story. She’s also a book review...

National Centre for Writing’s Rebecca DeWald talks to translator Clare Richards. Rebecca is our Emerging Translator Mentorships Programme Manager and Clare is a previous mentee, who was mentored by Anton Hur. Clare is a translator of Korean, but has a passion for the more challenging scripts such as Japanese, as she explains in their conversation. As a neurodivergent person, Clare is perfectly pla...

In this episode, we speak to novelist and NCW tutor Megan Bradbury, who gives us a wealth of great advice to help you build your writing routine. We cover a lot of ground in this discussion, the focus of which is removing mental, physical and even temporal blocks to get you writing - from tackling your own avoidance excuses to noise-cancelling headphones. Many of you will already know Megan from t...

This episode is a Writing Life special, featuring an hour of new writing read by the writers on this year’s National Centre for Writing Escalator programme - recorded earlier this year at the showcase event, here at Dragon Hall.   Melody Bowles Bang Wang Ben Cartwright Shirley Day Isabelle Higgins Adam Leeder Joanna Miller Carrie Patten Rick Roydes Mark Stocker Escalator is our talent development...

In this episode: How to grip your readers, with crime and noir writer Julia Crouch. Julia is a crime and noir novelist so she really knows how to grip readers, and this episode has dozens of great tips for writers of all genres.  Julia explains how characters and their development can grip readers; she explains how we can build narrative tension; and how conflict is a key driver of a reader’s atte...

In this episode, Isabelle King speaks to our recent writer-in-residence, Els Beerten. Els is an award-winning Belgian writer, and, in this wide-reaching conversation, she discusses how she develops characters as well as uses the senses to bring places and people to life. Els is part of our residency programme in which writers and translators from around the world stay in our cottage, here at Drago...

This month, we explore the short story: what makes a great short story and how the format differs from longer forms such as the novel. Lots of writers and teachers extol the virtues of short stories as a training ground for novels, and while this might be true, short stories are a great medium in their own right - doing many things that novels can’t.  To help us delve into this topic, we spoke to...

How to write about love in its various forms with Maddie Mortimer.  Maddie is the author of Maps Of Our Spectacular Bodies which won her a 2022 Desmond Elliott Prize.  The first part of our conversation was about her Desmond Elliott Prize win, but we soon started talking about the novel, writing craft and writing love. This episode features the section of the conversation about writing love, from...

This episode is a Writing Life special to celebrate Noirwich, the 2022 Norwich Crime Writing Festival here in our fine city. The festival featured Ukrainian-born American and French artist and writer, Yelena Moskovich. Yelena has written for Vogue, The Times Literary Supplement, Paris Review and many more. She has also just released her third novel, A Door Behind a Door, an exploration of the post...

This month, we discuss revision. To help us understand how, when and why writers should revise, rewrite and redraft our work, we speak to writer and NCW course tutor, Lynne Bryan. We discuss the importance of revising one’s work, how revision is different for different types writer, when to do what kind of revision, and the role of third-party feedback. This is a great discussion for anyone doing...

We talk to international bestselling writer Mohsin Hamid about his new book, The Last White Man. The conversation covers the key themes of his new novel: race, transformation, freedom, loss - as well as his journey into writing fiction, and, how a story is only ever half-told, until it finds a reader… Many will know his Booker shortlisted novels The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Exit West. And some...

In this episode, we speak to novelist, teacher and doctor of letters, Ashley Hickson-Lovence to explore story and plot. Ashley is the author of The 392 and the prize-nominated novel Your Show (which he talks a little about in our chat). We also discuss the difference between story and plot, key plot devices and how you can ensure your story has a plot that keeps people turning pages.  Ashley is al...

Novelist and creative writing lecturer Ian Nettleton explains how to structure a novel - the devices and structural elements that can keep readers engaged, and how to ensure your story becomes a page-turner.  The episode covers characters’ wants and needs, conflict, obstacles, narrative tension and building a compelling story scene by scene, chapter by chapter. We also discuss quests, commitments,...

This is a special episode to celebrate our City of Literature programme at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival. As part of the festival, we organised, curated and hosted a series of events at the legendary spiegeltent as well as talks and our publishing fair, here at Dragon Hall. Called Wandering Words, we commissioned five poets and five sound designers to create an interactive digital experience. Thi...

What is translation and how is it experienced? In this episode, three translators explore their experiences of inhabiting multiple languages in a portrayal of life in translation, of translation as a part of everyday life, of translation as survival, and of people as translated beings. Interviews with Kavita Bhanot, Yovanka Paquete Perdigão and Nariman Youssef. Made by Gitanjali Patel and Miia Lai...

Novelist Megan Bradbury and Sam Ruddock from Story Machine Productions discuss the role of research in writing. Megan describes how she went to New York to research the geniuses who lived there, to bring her novel to life. She also talks about working with Professor Pete Wilde on NCW’s Translating Science project.  Megan explains how different types of research can become a regular part of your wr...

Khairani Barokka is an Indonesian writer and artist living in London. She is the co-editor of Stairs and Whispers: D/deaf and Disabled Poets Write Back, the author-illustrator of Indigenous Species, and author of debut poetry collection Rope. She was Modern Poetry in Translation’s Inaugural Poet-In-Residence, National Centre for Writing’s Associate Artist in 2020 and she has been a Researcher-in-R...

Mattho Mandersloot is a literary translator working from Korean into English and Dutch. He holds a degree in Classics from King’s College London and one in Translation from the School of Oriental and African Studies. He has won the Korea Times’ 51st Modern Korean Literature Translation Award, the World Literature Today Translation Prize and the Oxford Korean Poetry Translation Prize. In July 2021,...