Podcast: The Writing Life

We’re a weekly podcast for anyone who writes. 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!Brought to you by the National Centre for Writing at Dragon Hall in Norwich.

Mohsin Hamid discusses The Last White Man

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 st…

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How To Balance Story And Plot

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 t…

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How To Structure A Novel

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 need…

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SPECIAL: Wandering Words poems and soundscapes

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,…

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We Are Always Translating

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…

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Research for writing with Megan Bradbury and Sam Ruddock

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 wi…

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The poetry process with Khairani Barokka

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 Mod…

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From Taekwondo to literary translation with Mattho Mandersloot

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 Mode…

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Translation as activism with Anam Zafar & Meena Kandasamy

Translator and editor Anam Zafar and poet, novelist and translator Meena Kandasamy discuss translation as activism and helping under-represented communities to tell their own stories. Anam was mentored by Meena on NCW’s Emerging Translator Mentorship pro…

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Lucy van Smit’s Writer’s Journal Workbook

Lucy van Smit is an award-winning author, a screenwriter, and artist. She has worked internationally for NBC News, has made documentaries for Canadian TV on writers like John Le Carre and Ian McEwan and in 2018 her debut novel The Hurting won the inaugur…

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