The Writing Life

#4 Sarah Perry, Fiona Sampson & Peggy Hughes on Shelley, du Maurier and Spark

Direct from the Spiegeltent at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival, this week on the podcast we join Sarah Perry, Fiona Sampson and Peggy Hughes to talk about Mary Shelley, Daphne du Maurier and Muriel Spark, chaired by Caroline O'Donoghue. Hosted by Simon Jones, writer and Digital Marketing Manager at the National Centre for Writing. Find out more about the National Centre for Writing: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/introducing-the-national-centre-for-writing/ Useful links: Norfolk & Norwich Festival: nnfestival.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples: http://sonicfruit.co.uk/

How to earn a 6-figure income by self-publishing with Mark Dawson

Mark Dawson joins us this week to discuss his road towards indie publishing success. Hosted by Simon Jones, writer and Digital Marketing Manager at the National Centre for Writing. Find out more about the National Centre for Writing: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/introducing-the-national-centre-for-writing/ Mentioned events: Dragon Hall Salon (Tuesday 17th July): https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/dragon-hall-salon/ Useful links: Mark Dawson's website: https://markjdawson.com/ Mark's Self-Publishing Formula courses: https://selfpublishingformula.com/ Music by Bennet Maples: http://sonicfruit.co.uk/

Kickstarting feminisms with Deborah Smith

We spoke to Deborah Smith, translator and founder of Tilted Axis, about using Kickstarter to crowdfund the publication of their new chapbook series, Translating Feminisms. Hosted by Simon Jones, writer and Digital Marketing Manager at the National Centre for Writing. Find out more about the National Centre for Writing: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/introducing-the-national-centre-for-writing/ Mentioned events: Worlds: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/worlds/ East Anglian Book Awards: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/east-anglian-book-awards/ NCW job openings: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/get-involved/join-the-team/ Useful links: Tilted Axis Press: https://www.tiltedaxispress.com/ Tilted Axis ‘Translating Feminisms’ Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/71029616/translating-feminisms-poetry-chapbooks-from-across Sarah Perry in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/27/sarah-perry-novelist-literary-award-prize-winning-debut-writer Dragon Hall residency opportunities: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/residencies/ Music by Bennet Maples: http://sonicfruit.co.uk/

Introducing the National Centre for Writing

The National Centre for Writing launched at Dragon Hall in Norwich this month. To celebrate and explore what that means, we talk with Chief Executive Chris Gribble and Programme Director Peggy Hughes about the ambitions and aims of organisation and what it means for writers around the UK. Hosted by Simon Jones, writer and Digital Marketing Manager at the National Centre for Writing. Find out more about the National Centre for Writing: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/introducing-the-national-centre-for-writing/ Mentioned events: Dragon Hall Salon: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/dragon-hall-salon/ Translating Comics: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/comics-its-not-just-in-the-bubble/ Family Drop-in Day: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/open-house/ Noirwich: https://noirwich.co.uk/ Useful links: Tilted Axis ‘Translating Feminisms’ Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/71029616/translating-feminisms-poetry-chapbooks-from-across All about the Worlds 2018 symposium: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/worlds/ Peggy’s Indie Bookshop Tour: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/norfolk-bookshops/ Poetry Translation Centre: http://www.poetrytranslation.org/ English PEN:https://www.englishpen.org/ Free Word Centre: https://www.freewordcentre.com/ University of East Anglia: https://www.uea.ac.uk/ Music by Bennet Maples: http://sonicfruit.co.uk/

Tim Clare's Couch to 80k Writing Bootcamp

Writer, performer and tutor Tim Clare came in to talk about how to form a writing habit, taking criticism and his Couch to 80k Writing Bootcamp. Couch to 80k Bootcamp: http://www.timclarepoet.co.uk/couchto80kwritingbootcamp/ Tim's website: http://www.timclarepoet.co.uk/ Death of 1000 Cuts: https://soundcloud.com/timclare Tim on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TimClarePoet

Letyar Tun & Lucas Stewart

Today we've got an interview with Leytar Tun, a writer and translator from Myanmar who spent 18 years in prison, 14 of them on death row. He was here with writer and editor Lucas Stewart to talk about Hidden Words.Hidden Worlds, an anthology of short stories from the region. The original version featured 28 short stories in 12 languages and 11 different scripts, which illustrates the uniqueness of Myanmar's literature scene. Leytar and Lucas discuss the challenges of writing in ethnic languages on computers without proper input and font support, and how writers navigate the complexities of censorship in an evolving cultural and political climate. Visit https://www.writerscentrenorwich.org.uk/article/hidden-words-hidden-worlds to find out more and read Letyar's extracts.

Voices from Japan: Episode Three - Aoko Matsuda

Episode three in a series of podcasts exploring the world of Japanese literature. Hosted by translator Polly Barton in partnership with Writers' Centre Norwich. This is the second of a two-part conversation about Aoko Matsuda, one of Japan's most promising young writers. Aoko has published four collections of stories; English translations of her work include “Photographs Are Images” and “Love Isn’t Easy When You Are The National Anthem” (trans. Jeffrey Angles) in Monkey Business, “Smartening Up” (trans. Polly Barton) in Granta, and “Planting” published as part of the Waseda Bungaku Japan Earthquake Charity Literature project (trans. Angus Turvill). Here, Polly speaks to Angus Turvill, a UK-based translator who has translated two pieces by Aoko Matsuda. This includes the KESHIKI chapbook 'The Girl Who is Getting Married'.

Voices from Japan: Episode Two - Aoko Matsuda

Episode two in a series of podcasts exploring the world of Japanese literature. Hosted by translator Polly Barton in partnership with Writers' Centre Norwich. This is the first of a two-part conversation with Aoko Matsuda, one of Japan's most promising young writers. Aoko has published four collections of stories; English translations of her work include “Photographs Are Images” and “Love Isn’t Easy When You Are The National Anthem” (trans. Jeffrey Angles) in Monkey Business, “Smartening Up” (trans. Polly Barton) in Granta, and “Planting” published as part of the Waseda Bungaku Japan Earthquake Charity Literature project (trans. Angus Turvill). Aoko visited Norwich UNESCO City of Literature in August 2017 for a month-long writing residency, alongside Polly Barton. Here, Aoko and Polly are joined in conversation by Motoyuki Shibata, editor of the English-language literary journal Monkey Business, as well as of the Japanese-language journal Monkey.

Voices from Japan: Episode One - Keshiki

The first in a series of podcasts exploring the world of Japanese literature. Hosted by translator Polly Barton in partnership with Writers' Centre Norwich. Episode One focuses on KESHIKI, an exciting series of eight chapbooks showcasing some of the most talented writers working in Japan today. KESHIKI, published by Strangers Press (part of the UEA Publishing Project) in February 2017, offers unusual perspectives on contemporary Japan from well-known names and new voices – many of which have a particular connection to Norwich, UNESCO City of Literature. In the first of a two-part conversation, Polly speaks to editors Kate Griffin and Phil Langeskov about the KESHIKI series in general.

Ones to Watch - with Abir Mukherjee, A.A. Dhand and Michelle Davies

Abir Mukherjee, A.A.Dhand and Michelle Davies reveal the secrets behind finding inspiration, planning and writing a debut novel, getting an agent and how they got their big breaks. Part of the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival 2016.