The Writing Life

How to get children excited about writing with Ruthie Collins

Ruthie Collins joins us on the pod to talk about her efforts to excite young children about writing, most recently during a writing residency in Great Yarmouth. We also talk to teacher at St Georges Primary and Nursery School and Clare Parker, Education Officer at the Time & Tide Museum. There are several instances of highly adorable children in this episode. Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones, with special guest Hannah Garrard. Find out more about Ruthie's work: https://www.ruthiecollins.co.uk/ Mystery Lunch event: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mystery-lunch-tickets-78956826995 More info about our own residencies: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/residencies/ Music by Bennet Maples. Additional music courtesy of the YouTube audio library.

How to self-publish children's picture books with Mandy Stanley

Today we have an interview with Mandy Stanley, a children's author and illustrator who has created a huge number of books over her career. Although she was traditionally published by the likes of HarperCollins, for her latest book in the Lettice series she decided to self-publish. We talked to her about why she took that route, and her top tips for anybody looking to self-publish their own children's picture books. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna from Dragon Hall in Norwich. Find out more about our work at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Mandy's website: http://mandystanley.com Music by Bennet Maples.

How to pitch for travel writing with Agustinus Wibowo & Suzanne Joinson

Travel writers Agustinus Wibowo and Suzanne Joinson join us on the pod this week to discuss pitching and funding projects, leaving family behind, the perils of getting in taxis, near-kidnappings - and the joys of meeting new people around the world. Agustinus Wibowo was writer in residence at the National Centre for Writing in August 2019 and ran two travel writing workshops with Suzanne Joinson. His residency was generously supported by BEKRAF, the National Organising Committee for the Indonesia Market Focus at London Book Fair 2019, Virtuago and the British Council. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Interview by Kate Griffin. Blog by Agustinus: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/to-travel-is-to-share/ Blog by Suzanne: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/suzy-joinson-valletta-to-tromso/ More on our Dragon Hall residencies: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/residencies/ Music by Bennet Maples.

Progressive politics in crime fiction with Denise Mina

Denise Mina, the award-winning Scottish crime writer, playwright and comic book author, joins us on the pod for a fascinating discussion exploring genre, the notion of high and low art and the power of crime fiction to explore progressive politics. Steph McKenna is asking the questions. Hosted by Simon Jones, who is getting excited about NaNoWriMo. Noirwich is produced by the National Centre for Writing and the University of East Anglia. https://noirwich.co.uk https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Balancing a job & writing with Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

'Iceland's crime queen', Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, joins Kate Griffin on the pod to discuss her writing, how she balances being a bestselling author with having a day job - and why she wants to keep the day job - and shifting between crime, horror and children's literature. Yrsa was the inaugural UNESCO City of Literature Writer in Residence here at Dragon Hall in September, during the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about Noirwich: noirwich.co.uk Join our newsletter: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

10 BAED Writers Chosen By Jackie Kay

Jackie Kay revealed her list of 10 black, Asian and ethnically diverse writers for the International Literature Showacse at the Cheltenham Literature Festival earlier this month. This recording of the event has Jackie in conversation with three of her selected writers: Eric Ngalle Charles, Zaffar Kunial and Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi. The International Literature Showcase is a partnership project presented by us and British Council, with support from Arts Council England and Creative Scotland. Apologies for the audio quality of this episode - hopefully the quality of the discussion more than makes up for it! Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Music by Bennet Maples.

Representation in fiction With Sara Collins

"I had no examples of people like me in the page." Writer Sara Collins joins us on the pod to talk about representation in literature - both behind-the-scenes and within stories. Sara was in town to discuss her debut novel The Confessions of Frannie Langton at the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival. Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ More about Noirwich: https://noirwich.co.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Preparing For Publication With Richard Lambert

Richard Lambert's debut novel The Wolf Road is set for release in February 2020. The book is finished, edited, proofed. What's it like to be in the in-between stage between completion and publication? We talk to Richard about how he got to this stage in his writing, and where he's going next. Also on the pod today: we're very excited about the third and final International Literature Showcase of 2019, with Jackie Kay curating a list of 10 amazing BAME writers working in the UK today. Join us on Saturday 5th October at 12.45 for the live stream reveal. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. All about us: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk ILS live stream: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ils/showcase-3-live/ Early Career Awards: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/ Richard's website: https://richardlambert.org/ The Escalator scheme for writers: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator/ Music by Bennet Maples

Changing direction with Antti Tuomainen

The King of Helsinki Crime and the 'funniest writer in Europe' Antti Tuomainen joins us on the pod to talk about his books including The Man Who Died and Little Siberia, plus how the crime fiction genre is the perfect engine for telling stories. Many thanks to the Finnish Literature Exchange (FILI) for supporting Antti's visit to the UK. Meanwhile, Steph and Simon introduce the Early Career Awards, launched TODAY, including the news that we are now running the Desmond Elliott Prize. We also share the writing prompt from our first drop-in writing session; "Out of the ashes rose..." Fill in the rest by sending us your microfiction responses on Twitter @writerscentre! Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Early Career Awards: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/ Noirwich: noirwich.co.uk

Fiction & Fact: George Alagiah's 2019 Noirwich Lecture

Today we have something particularly special on the pod, in the form of George Alagiah's 2019 Noirwich Lecture. George is of course best known for his journalistic work with the BBC, in particular as presenter of BBC News at Six. He's just released his first work of fiction, The Burning Land, and in his lecture he talks about the power of fiction to better illuminate facts, and how the book complements the factual work he's done as a journalist throughout his career. Hosted by Simon Jones. Find out more about Noirwich: https://noirwich.co.uk What we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk UEA: https://www.uea.ac.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples.