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We’re a podcast for anyone who writes. Every week we talk to writers about their writing journeys and techniques, from early career debuts to self-publishers and narrative designers. We’ve featured Margaret Atwood, Jackie Kay, Sara Collins, Antti Tuomainen, Val McDermid, Sarah Perry, Elif Shafak and many more! The Writing Life is produced by the National Centre for Writing at Dragon Hall in Norwich.
Episodes
Thursday May 07, 2020
Thursday May 07, 2020
We have something of a mini-episode this week as NCW Programme Officer Flo Reynolds joins Simon and Steph to introduce our new Book Club. Starting today, the Book Club is reading A Line Made By Walking by Sara Baume - we hope you'll join us on the read! There are many ways to get involved - all of them free, of course. Read along, chat with us on Twitter and join our scheduled Zoom chats to share your opinions. We're also launching a new online community on Discord, which is open now and you can find an invite for podcast listeners below. We can't wait to discuss the book with you all! Follow this link to join the new NCW community on Discord (limited places available): https://discord.gg/ERQhsGj Book your place on the free Zoom chats: Thursday 21 May: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/ncw-book-club-a-line-made-by-walking/ or Tuesday 26 May: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/virtual-book-club-2-a-line-made-by-walking/ Full details on the Book Club can be found here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/join-the-ncw-virtual-book-club/ Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.
Friday May 01, 2020
Friday May 01, 2020
Moto Shibata returns to the podcast for an in-depth conversation about how he became a translator, balancing the academic and more accessible styles of translation and his new serialised adaptation of Gulliver's Travels. Asking the questions: Peggy Hughes! Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who talk excitedly about our new Time To Write workshops for younger writers (https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/working-with-schools/young-workshops/), the transformed INN CROWD (remote) residencies (https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/apply-to-be-a-remote-writer-in-residence/) and why you should sign up to our excellent newsletter (https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/newsletters/). Enjoy and hear you next week! More about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples.
Friday Apr 24, 2020
Friday Apr 24, 2020
Poets Kendel Hippolyte and Flo Reynolds talk on the pod about Kendel's career, taking in his work on page and stage, sharing tips and techniques for poets and considering the responsibilities - and obligations of artists to society. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.
Friday Apr 17, 2020
Friday Apr 17, 2020
Stephanie Scott's debut What's Left Of Me Is Yours releases on April 21st - that's Tuesday, for fast listeners - and Laura Stimson sat down to discuss the creation of the book and its true crime inspiration. There's great tips from Stephanie about conducting research, finding agents and working through a large project. Meanwhile, Simon and Steph talk about the on-going weirdness of working from home during Covid-19 and highlight some of the exciting opportunities and writer resources we're putting out every week. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.
Thursday Apr 09, 2020
Thursday Apr 09, 2020
Former Dragon Hall resident Vahur Afanasjev joins the pod to talk to Lewis Buxton about his books, how coronavirus has affected his writing and why he writes a lot about fish. Vahur is an Estonian author and creator of the award-winning Serafima and Bogdan, a bloody, funny and surreal family saga about the Russian Old Believer minority in Estonia. ALSO on this week's episode is guest-host Peggy Hughes, joining Steph and Simon to talk about Bibliotherapy and recommend some great books for us all to read while stuck in isolation. Hosted by Steph McKenna & Simon Jones. Music by Bennet Maples.
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
Writer and presenter Mark Stay, co-creator of The Bestseller Experiment and author of Robot Overlords and The End of Magic, returns for this week's episode to discuss his publishing experiments and why 'finding a new normal' is something we all do multiple times in our lives. If you're struggling to be productive while under isolation, listen to this right now. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Mark's website: https://markstaywrites.com/ Listen to the Bestseller Experiment: https://bestsellerexperiment.com/ Music by Bennet Maples.
Wednesday Mar 25, 2020
Wednesday Mar 25, 2020
It's a bumper edition of the pod today, with TWO special guests: Bregje Hofstede and Motoyuki Shibata. As part of our new Early Career Writers' Resource pack they are talking all about their METHOD: from the writer's perspective and the translator's. Simon also shares his favourite digital tools for writers! Check out the full METHOD resource pack: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/2-method/ Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.
Friday Mar 20, 2020
Friday Mar 20, 2020
None other than Jenny Offill joins the podcast to talk about her new book Weather with Joe Dunthorne. Along the way they discuss catastrophising, doomers, coronavirus and seismic historical events. This conversation is in partnership with The Book Hive. Weather is available direct from them at a special discount for pod listeners and event ticket holders! Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Writing courses: https://courses.nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples.
Friday Mar 13, 2020
Friday Mar 13, 2020
Flo talks to Ayobami Adebayo about the writing of her debut novel Stay With Me, in particular focusing on the creation of the characters. Meanwhile, we introduce our new online courses! These can be found at https://courses.nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk and include lots of free courses packed full of practical writing tips. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.
Friday Mar 06, 2020
Friday Mar 06, 2020
Prominent BookTuber Leena Norms joins us to talk about developing and maintaining an online profile, handling abuse and her parallel careers on YouTube and in the publishing industry. Also, she politely explains to Simon what BookTube actually means. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who are joined by special guest - and BookTube afficionado - Vicki Maitland. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Leena's website: https://www.leenanorms.com/ Leena on Twitter: https://twitter.com/leenanorms