The Writing Life

Noirwich 2020: Anita Terpstra, virtual writer in residence

The Noirwich Crime Writing Festival continues with Anita Terpstra joining us on the pod from Leeuwarden in the Netherlands to discuss her crime writing. Talking with Flo Reynolds, Anita reveals her path to becoming published and how keeping the faith and continuing to write are essential. It's an inspiring and positive conversation.

Check out yesterday's pod with Paddy Richardson if you missed it and keep an eye on your podcast feed for our Hercule Poirot special this Sunday, featuring Sophie Hannah and Dr Mark Aldridge. Noirwich 2020 is packed full of amazing live videos, including appearances from Attica Locke, Oyinkan Braithwaite and Olivier Norek. Full details at over at https://noirwich.co.uk.

You can find the short stories by Anita over on the Noirwich blog: https://noirwich.co.uk/news/ 

Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.

Join our Discord community and ask us questions: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Photo by Harry Cock.

Music by Bennet Maples.

Noirwich 2020: Paddy Richardson, virtual writer in residence

Noirwich 2020 has begun! Our crime writing festival is online this year, which means all the author events can be accessed for free here on the podcast and over on our YouTube channel. We kick off with an interview with Paddy Richardson, one of our 'virtual' writers in residence. Paddy is talking from Dunedin in New Zealand to our programme director Peggy Hughes.

Paddy Richardson is the author of two collections of short stories and seven novels. Traces of Red and Cross Fingers were long-listed for the Ngaio Marsh Crime Fiction Award and Hunting Blind and Swimming in the Dark were shortlisted. Through the Lonesome Dark was shortlisted for the New Zealand Historical Novel Award and longlisted for The Dublin International Literature Award.

Paddy has been awarded Creative New Zealand Awards, the University of Otago Burns Fellowship, the Beatson Fellowship and the James Wallace Arts Trust Residency Award. She has been a guest at many writing festivals and was one of the New Zealand writer representatives at both the Leipzig and Frankfurt Book Fairs in 2012 when New Zealand was the guest of honour. In 2019, she was awarded the Randell Cottage residency in Wellington where she spent six months writing and researching her latest novel to be published in 2021.

Read an extract from Swimming in the Dark: https://noirwich.co.uk/swimming-in-the-dark/

Read A Soft Flowing Veil of Grey, an exclusive reflection from Paddy: https://noirwich.co.uk/a-soft-flowing-veil-of-grey/ 

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Join our Discord writer and reader community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

View the complete Noirwich programme: http://noirwich.co.uk/

Find out about everything we do and sign up to our newsletter: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Music by Bennet Maples.

How to get your poetry published - with Flo Reynolds

Poet Flo Reynolds joins us on the pod to share their tips on getting published as a poet. This episode is packed full of practical advice, including what NOT to do, guiding you along the process of building your writer CV through zines and competitions towards being ready for larger pamphlets, chapbooks and collections. Flo has been writing for over ten years and is also an essayist and editor. Their debut pamphlet, the other body, is forthcoming from Guillemot Press in 2021. Recent poems have appeared in The White Review, Stand, The Interpreter’s House, amberflora, Magma, Datableed and more.

When they're not writing, Flo is a literature programmer who works here at the National Centre for Writing. You can usually find them on our Discord community, where Flo runs the NCW Book Club and the Drop-in Writing Sessions. If you've been to any of our workshops or festivals over the years, there's a good chance you'll have benefited from their programming skills!

Check out Flo's what-to-do checklist on the blog here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/how-to-get-your-poetry-published/ 

You can join our Discord community to ask follow-up questions here: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Flo's website: http://floreynolds.com/ 

Noirwich Crime Writing Festival: http://noirwich.co.uk/

Drop-in Writing Sessions: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/drop-in-writing-time-0920/

Join the Book Club: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/book-club-bluebird-bluebird-by-attica-locke/

Music by Bennet Maples.

Okechukwu Nzelu's 10 year writing journey

Okechukwu Nzelu joins us on the pod to talk about his debut The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney, writing in lockdown and balancing life as a full-time teacher and author. Okey was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliot Prize and Polari First Book Prize and won a 2020 Betty Trask Award. Turns out that award-winning debut author + experienced English teacher = a brilliant podcast full of tips and insight.

Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones.

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

All about our work: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Get Noirwich workshop tickets: http://noirwich.co.uk/

Photo of Okechukwu Nzelu (c) Martin Glacken

Music by Bennet Maples.

Debut author Eliza Clark on Boy Parts, being published during Covid-19 & lazy comparisons

We're joined on the pod by Eliza Clark, the debut author of Boy Parts. Eliza talks to Steph about being published in her mid-20s, the inevitable comparisons with other authors and the series of unlikely events that led to publication. She also discusses how writing fan fiction in her teens helped hone her craft before embarking on her first book, as well as how Covid-19 has affected the book's launch.

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Early Career Writers' Resource Packs: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/free-resources/

Noirwich Crime Writing Festival: https://noirwich.co.uk/

Produced by the National Centre for Writing https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Image by Richard-Kenworthy

Music by Bennet Maples

How Arts Council National Lottery Grants Work

Our CEO Chris Gribble joins us on the pod to discuss Arts Council England's new National Lottery Funding Grants. Available now to artists they offer much-needed support and relief during Covid-19. Applications are open, and Chris is on the show to provide starter tips and an introduction to the grants system: plus why arts funding is critical, especially at times like this.

It was very hot when recording this episode, so we're going to blame the heat for the slightly glitchy audio quality on Chris' end. Heat rises, so we can only assume that it stole away some of the soundwaves before they reached the mic. Apologies!

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Find out more about the ACE grants: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/projectgrants

Here's what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 

Music by Bennet Maples.

Elvira Dones on identity and translation in Sworn Virgin

Long overdue, we finally have this wonderful recording from the BCLT Summer School 2019, featuring Swiss-Albanian writer Elvira Dones, her translator Clarissa Botsford and publisher Stefan Tobler. Chaired by Rosie Goldsmith, it's a wide-ranging discussion taking in themes of identity, linguistics, translation processes and the creation of Elvira's book Sworn Virgin.

This event took place in partnership with the British Centre for Literary Translation, with support from Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.

Meanwhile, Simon and Steph talk about lots of exciting NCW things, from the Book Club and drop-in Writing Sessions to the new Creative Writing Online courses and the exciting announcement of NOIRWICH 2020.

Some useful links:

Join the National Centre for Writing's Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW

Check out the full Noirwich 2020 programme: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW 

More info on all of our work to support writers: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ 

Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna.

Music by Bennet Maples.

The Writing Life Trailer

Get a taste of what we do and meet hosts Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. We're a weekly podcast for anyone who writes - find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and all good podcast apps.

Produced by the National Centre for Writing in the UK.

Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk

Sarah Perry on crafting characters

We are very excited to have Sarah Perry back on the podcast! Sarah talks to Chris Gribble about crafting characters and what it means when an author talks about their creations 'coming to life'. This conversation was part of our Early Career Writers' Resource pack back in May, so do check out the other contributions from Michael Donkor and Joe Dunthorne - https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/pack-3-character/ The pack was made possible by support from Arts Council England. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Designing Your Plot - Nicola Upson returns!

Crime writer Nicola Upson returns to the pod to talk about designing a good plot. Nicola tells us how her process has adjusted over time and discusses the unique requirements of the crime genre. Nicola's latest book is Sorry for the Dead, continuing her hugely successful Josephine Tey series. This episode is part of our latest Early Career Writers' Resource pack, which is all about PLOT. Check out the website for more amazing free stuff from Okechukwu Nzelu and Inua Ellams. https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/4-plot/ Supported by Arts Council England. Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. More about us: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.