This Writing Life

These Our Monsters LIVE: Sarah Moss reads from ’Breakynecky’

13 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On 11th March, Hatchards hosted a live event bringing together four of the authors who contributed stories to These Our Monsters : Sarah, Moss, Fiona...

Graeme Macrae Burnet reads from ’The Dark Thread’ (These Our Monsters)

28 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Last year I was asked to write an introduction for a collection of modern folktales to be published by English Heritage. ----more---- The result was ...

Fiona Mozley reads from ’The Loathly Lady’ (These Our Monsters)

18 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Last year I was asked to write an introduction for a collection of modern folktales to be published by English Heritage. ----more---- The result was ...

Edward Carey reads from ’These Our Monsters’

12 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Last year I was asked to write an introduction for a collection of modern folktales, myths and legends to be published by English Heritage. ----more-...

Simon Barnes Reading: on closely-observed gannets

21 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Reading from the blog on his own website, Simon Barnes describes the close attention required and inspired by bird-watching, and the almost poetic emp...

A Conversation with Simon Barnes - Part 2

21 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Part two of our conversation with Simon Barnes, the award-winning sportswriter, revered birdlover and Chair of 2020's Keats-Shelley Prizes.  ----mor...

A Conversation with Simon Barnes - Part 1

14 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this first of two episodes, I talk to Simon Barnes, the award-winning sportswriter, revered birdlover and Chair of 2020's Keats-Shelley Prizes.  ...

Simon Barnes reads from The Meaning of Birds

14 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Simon Barnes is unique in the world of literature. How many revered sports writers are also revered nature writers too? Off the top of my head I can t...

Episode 142 - Amanda Coe: Part 1

08 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Amanda Coe is an English novelist and screenwriter, whose credits include the BAFTA-winning adaptation of John Braine's Room at the Top, and her highl...

Episode 141 - Leila Slimani - Lullaby: Part 4

18 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The final part of This Writing Life podcast's chat with Leila Slimani begins with a question about racisial abuse of Muslims in France. From here we d...

Episode 140 - Leila Slimani - Lullaby: Part 3

13 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Part three of This Writing Life's podcast with Leila Slimani, author of global smash-hit Lullaby, moves towards more personal territory. We talk about...

Episode 139 - Leila Slimani - Lullaby: Part 2

23 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Part two of Leila Slimani's conversation with This Writing Life podcast about her new novel Lullaby begins with a discussion of objectification: in th...

Episode 138 - Leila Slimani - Lullaby: Part 1

15 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Leila Slimani's second novel Lullaby is a phenomenon. Having sold over 600,000 copies and won the Prix Goncourt in her adopted homeland of France, the...

Episode 137 - Lynn Shepherd: Part 4

07 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Lynn Shepherd was the first ever This Writing Life recorded. The final part of our conversation begins with a discussion of social media and publicity...

Episode 136 - Lynn Shepherd's Advice to Budding Writers

03 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

As a trailer ahead of part four of This Writing Life podcast's conversation with novelist Lynn Shepherd, she offers some advice to budding writers... ...

Episode 135 - Lynn Shepherd: Part 3

30 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Part three of Lynn Shepherd's This Writing Life podcast mixes business and pleasure: how did a successful city worker become a successful writer? Doct...

Episode 134 - Lynn Shepherd: Part 2

27 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Part two of This Writing Life's conversation with Oxford-based novelist Lynn Shepherd begins with some chat about her love of 'clever crime', and how ...

Episode 133 - Lynn Shepherd: Part 1

28 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The latest episode of This Writing Life podcast is particularly special in that it was the first ever recorded. The subject is Lynn Shepherd, a crime ...

Episode 132 - Neel Mukherjee: Part 3

27 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the final part of This Writing Life podcast's conversation with Neel Mukherjee, we begin with Donald Trump before floating in a liberal bubble towa...

Episode 131 - Neel Mukherjee: Part 2

11 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the second part of Neel Mukherjee's chat with This Writing Life podcast, he talks the influence of ghost stories on his excellent new novel A State...

Episode 130 - Neel Mukherjee: Part 1

05 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the opening instalment of This Writing Life podcast's interview with Neel Mukherjee, Man Booker shortlisted author of The Lives of Others, we discu...

Episode 129 - Meena Kandasamy: Part 4 (Writing Life Revisited)

02 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the final part of This Writing Life podcast's conversation with Meena Kandasamy, she discusses India as a modern superpower, the place of violence ...

Episode 128 - Meena Kandasamy: Part 3 (Writing Life Revisited)

30 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the third part of This Writing Life podcast's chat with the Indian poet, novelist and activist Meena Kandasamy, we begin with some chatter about th...

Episode 127 - Meena Kandasamy: Part 2 (This Writing Life Revisited)

23 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the second part of This Writing Life podcast's interview with Meena Kandasamy, we discuss how fiction mixes with historical truth, women in The Gip...

Episode 126 - Meena Kandasamy reads from The Gipsy Goddess

17 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this new mini-podlet, Meena Kandasamy reads from chapter 4 of her first novel, The Gipsy Goddess. For those of a nervous disposition, the passage d...

Episode 125 - Meena Kandasamy: Part 1 (This Writing Life Revisited)

31 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This Writing Life podcast extracts an interview from its vaults. Back when we had the energy to attempt an actual introduction, even when we mispronou...

Episode 124 - Rick Bass: Part 5 - For a Little While

04 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The final part of This Writing Life's conversation with Rick Bass, award winning writer and respected environmental activist, begins where the last po...

Episode 123 - Rick Bass: How do we protest Donald Trump, Scott Pruitt and the rest?

01 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this short but inspiring podlet, This Writing Life attempts its best impersonation of Pod Save America and asks: what can we do to organise resista...

Episode 122 - Rick Bass: Part 4 - For a Little While

28 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In part four of This Writing Life's conversation with Rick Bass, whose new book For a Little While (Pushkin) on 2017's Story Prize, we talk about his ...

Episode 121 - Rick Bass: are you optimisitic about human nature?

27 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A short trailer for part 4 of This Writing Life's conversation with Rick Bass. In which Rick answers the question: are you optimisitic about human nat...

Episode 120 - Rick Bass: Part 3 - For a Little While

18 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Part three of This Writing Life's transatlantic chat with a Montana-bound Rick Bass takes in the material in Episode 119: in which Rick reviews his sh...

Episode 119 - Rick Bass on his collection For a Little While (and getting lost in writing)

15 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

'You are a stranger inhabiting this blazing dream and you barely get out with your life...yeah, and then you go to the bar for a drink.' A Writing Li...

Episode 118 - Rick Bass: Part 2 - For a Little While

12 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Part two of This Writing Life's transatlantic conversation with Rick Bass, novelist, activist, award-winning short story writer, begins with a questio...

Episode 117 - Rick Bass: Part 1 - For a Little While

03 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

'I am working on a new novel...and an op-ed for the Los Angeles paper about Trump and his reign of terror.' Here in one line is This Writing Life's le...

Episode 116 - Gary Younge: Part 4

26 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

'I quite liked it.' So says Gary Younge about America in the final part of This Writing Life podcast's conversation about his  wonderful new book, An...

Episode 115 - Gary Younge: Part 3

22 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In part three of Gary Younge's conversation with This Writing Life podcast, we continue our discussion of his extraordinary book A Day in the Death of...

Episode 114 - Gary Younge: Part 2

15 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In part two of This Writing Life's conversation with Gary Younge about his powerful book Another Day in the Death of America, we begin by discussing t...

Episode 113 - Gary Younge: Part 1

30 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Gary Younge is an acclaimed writer and journalist, best known for his reporting on the United States for the Guardian in the United Kingdom. The autho...

Episode 112 - Kevin Sullivan: Part 5

27 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The final part of Kevin Sullivan's conversation with This Writing Life podcast arrives after a slight delay for a summer holiday. We begin by asking w...

Episode 111 - Kevin Sullivan: Part 4

01 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the fourth part of This Writing Life's conversation with journalist and novelist Kevin Sullivan, we move away from his experiences reporting on the...

Episode 110 - Kevin Sullivan: Part 3

21 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

'It was the loudest explosion I’ve ever heard.' Kevin Sullivan begins part three of his conversation with This Writing Life podcast by remembering t...

Episode 109 - Kevin Sullivan: Part 2

17 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In part two of This Writing Life's conversation with the journalist and novelist Kevin Sullivan, we begin by asking why he travelled from Tokyo to Sar...

Episode 108 - Kevin Sullivan: Part 1

06 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Our next guest on This Writing Life podcast is the journalist and novelist Kevin Sullivan. His latest novel, The Longest Winter, is set during the sie...

Episode 107 - LS Hilton: Part 2

27 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

There's only so much a nice podcast can take. In part two of This Writing Life's chat with LS Hilton, we dive into Maestra, the global blockbuster tha...

Episode 106 - LS Hilton: Part 1

16 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In a new two-part episode, This Writing Life meets Lisa Hilton: journalist, historian and novelist. Her 15 year-career has produced five works of non-...

Episode 105 - Richard Russo: Part 5

10 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The final part of our epic chat with Richard Russo asks an epic question: what has it been like to write novels for 30 years? Having chewed over that ...

Episode 104 - Richard Russo: Part 4

05 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

'This is not an attempt on my part to portray myself as anything like a prophet. I simply was born somewhere...I got to bear witness to something that...

Episode 103 - Richard Russo: Part 3

26 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

'I have always been a meanderer. I have always loved digression.' So says Richard Russo in part three of This Writing Life's conversation with the Pu...

Episode 102 - Richard Russo: Part 2

13 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Part two of This Writing Life's conversation with Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo begins with the idea of sequels: his new novel, Everybody's Fool...

Episode 101 - Richard Russo: Part 1

07 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Part 1 of This Writing Life's interview with the great American comic writer begins in media res. Russo is telling me about signing 9000 copies of his...

Episode 100 - Richard Russo reads from Everybody's Fool

31 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

For the 100th episode of This Writing Life, we celebrate with a very special instalment. Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Richard Russo reads from his ...

Episode 99 - Matt Haig: Part 4

29 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The final part of This Writing Life's interview with Matt Haig (about Christmas, mental health, the internet) begins with Magic Tweets (about Rupert M...

Episode 98 - Matt Haig: Part 3

23 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Part 3 of This Writing Life's interview with Matt Haig changes tack from memories of Christmas past to consider Matt's experience of depression that i...

Episode 97 - Matt Haig Trailer: On Reading vs Depression

17 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A very happy new year to all! We open 2017 by returning back to 2016. This Writing Life's interview with Matt Haig was a game of two halves. For the f...

Episode 96 - Matt Haig: Part 2 - It's a Writing Life Christmas Special

30 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Part two of This Writing Life’s special Christmas interview with Matt Haig (for his Christmas fable A Boy Called Christmas) starts with the magic of...

Episode 95 - Matt Haig: Part 1 - It's a Wonderful Writing Life Christmas Special

22 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Matt Haig has many and diverse talents. Children's author, Young Adult novelist, non-fiction bestseller, for his extraordinary book on depression, Rea...

Episode 94 - Rebecca Thornton's Writing Life

21 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In a postscript to This Writing Life's interview chat with Rebecca Thornton, about her debut novel The Exclusives, we talk about her writing life: lon...

Episode 93 - Rebecca Thornton: Part 3

19 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Part 3 of Rebecca Thornton's interview with This Writing Life begins with a discussion of the Faber Academy writing course, which kickstarted the comp...

Episode 92 - Rebecca Thornton: Part 2

15 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Part two of This Writing Life's conversation with Rebecca Thornton, about her debut novel The Exclusives, begins with a discussion of what perfection ...

Episode 91 - Rebecca Thornton: Part 1

12 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Rebecca Thornton's The Exclusives is a debut novel: a thriller about friendship, paranoia, success and secrets set in an all-girls boarding school. Th...

Episode 90 - Rebecca Thornton Trailer: Thrillers, Catastrophes (and Motherhood)

09 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Our next guest on This Writing Life is Rebecca Thornton, whose debut novel The Exclusives was published in paperback earlier this year. We talked in a...

Episode 89 - Neil Richards and Matt Costello: Part 3

02 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Neil Richards, Matt Costello and This Writing Life bid adieu to Hotel Xanadu in the third part of their podcast about cosy mysteries, the Cherringham ...

Episode 88 - Neil Richards and Matt Costello: Part 2

28 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Part two of This Writing Life's chat with ace writing team Neil Richards and Matt Costello opens with a discussion of their first novel, Dead in the W...

Episode 87 - Neil Richards and Matt Costello: Part 1

23 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This Writing Life has talked to a pair of writers before: David Mitchell and Michel Faber. But Neil Richards and Matt Costello are the first bona fide...

Episode 86 - Neil Richards and Matt Costello offer a little writing advice

20 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As a trailer for This Writing Life's next interview - with crime fiction, video game and script-writing team Neil Richards and Matt Costello - our dyn...

Episode 85 - DBC Pierre: Part 4

15 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The fourth and final part of DBC Pierre's conversation with This Writing Life podcast begins with a discussion of fraud. Pierre writes about this at t...

Episode 84 - DBC Pierre: Part 3

10 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

'I don't believe in inspiration.' So says DBC Pierre at the start of his third This Writing Life podcast, brought to you after two small party politic...

Episode 83 - This Writing Life Special: Richard Russo on 2016's US Presidential Election

02 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Russo has written 11 books, 8 screenplays, won a Pulitzer Prize (for Empire Falls), and most recently published the excellent Everybody's Fool...

Episode 82 - This Writing Life Special: Gary Younge on 2016's US Presidential Election

31 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

With a week to go before polling day in 2016's US Presidential Election, This Writing Life posts the first of two special 'Clinton-Trump' podcasts. Th...

Episode 81 - DBC Pierre: Part 2

28 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In his second This Writing Life podcast, DBC Pierre talks learning to write by remembering what he has read. For dialogue, he looked to Len Deighton. ...

Episode 80 - DBC Pierre: Part 1

24 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Part one of DBC Pierre's interview chat with This Writing Life podcast starts in media res. With a fan blowing our hair in attractive fashion (apologi...

Episode 79 - DBC Pierre Trailer: Does Writing Help (or: do writers need to be weirdos)?

20 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The next guest on This Writing Life is DBC Pierre, Man Booker winning novelist, literary rogue and now writing guide supremo thanks to the excellent, ...

Episode 78 - Rosa Rankin-Gee: Part 4

16 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Part four of Rosa Rankin-Gee's This Writing Life podcast interview opens with some bad pronunciation, some Borges, a little light reading and some Voc...

Episode 77 - Rosa Rankin-Gee: Part 3

14 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Part three of Rosa Rankin-Gee's conversation with This Writing Life podcast about her debut The Last Kings of Sark begins with love triangles, friends...

Episode 76 - Rosa Rankin-Gee: Part 2

13 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Part two of Rosa Rankin-Gee's chat with This Writing Life begins with a discussion of the coming-of-age-story (in her case, debut novel The Last Kin...

Episode 75 - Rosa Rankin-Gee: Part 1

10 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Rosa Rankin-Gee was one of the first guests on This Writing Life when the podcast was still a glint in its host's eye. We spoke ostensibly about her e...

Episode 74 - Rosa Rankin-Gee reads from The Last Kings of Sark

08 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As a trailer for the next writer to face the onslaught that is This Writing Life podcast, Rosa Rankin-Gee reads from her debut novel, The Last Kings o...

Episode 73 - Bill Clegg: Part 5

05 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Bill Clegg ends his marathon appearance on This Writing Life podcast by talking about his (then) recent Man Booker longlisting for his first novel, Di...

Episode 72 - Bill Clegg: Part 4

02 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Part four of Bill Clegg's This Writing Life podcast, begins with a discussion about paying attention to the workings of our own consciousness. After a...

Episode 71 - Bill Clegg: Part 3

30 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Part 3 of Bill Clegg's chat with This Writing Life podcast about his debut novel, Did You Ever Have a Family?, begins with the personal: 'There are so...

Episode 70 - Bill Clegg: Part 2

27 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In part two of Bill Clegg's chat with This Writing Life's podcast, we begin with the trauma (a house fire on the night before a wedding) that propels ...

Episode 69 - Bill Clegg: Part 1

24 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This Writing Life podcast talked to Bill Clegg shortly after the publication of his first novel, Did You Ever Have a Family? Just longlisted for the M...

Episode 68 - Bill Clegg Trailer: Did You Ever Have a Literary Hero?

21 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In this prologue to our next guest on This Writing Life podcast, Bill Clegg answers my pilfered Paris Review question: is there one writer that inspir...

Episode 67 - Laura Lippman: Part 3

15 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the final part of Laura Lippman's This Writing Life podcast, we begin by discussing trigger warnings: the fine line between offensiveness and indiv...

Episode 66 - Laura Lippman: Part 2

09 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Part two of Laura Lippman's chat with Writing Life Podcast about her new novel Wilde Lake begins with the real-life district of Columbia, where Lippma...

Episode 65 - Laura Lippman: Part 1

04 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Laura Lippman is the author of 22 crime novels. In addition to her series featuring private investigator Tess Monaghan, she has written nine standalon...

Episode 64 - Laura Lippman reads from Wilde Lake

30 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As a trailer for the next guest on This Writing Life Podcast, the wonderful American crime writer Laura Lippman reads from her new novel, Wilde Lake. ...

Episode 63 - Vendela Vida on why Fargo beats Parenthood

26 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In this second Writing Life Podcast Extra, Vendela Vida offers some TV recommendations and asks the questions for a change. Your host blethers on... ...

Episode 62 - Vendela Vida on the real and fictional Patti Smith(s)

23 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In this first of two Writing Life Podcast extras, Vendela Vida recalls meeting the real rock star Patti Smith - who appears as herself in The Diver's ...

Episode 61 - Vendela Vida: Part 4

20 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The final part of ThisWriting Life's cheerful conversation with Vendela Vida begins with wondering whether writing is a form of narcissism and ends w...

Episode 60 - Vendela Vida Readng from The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty: Part 2

18 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Vendela Vida reads a second passage from her excellent new novel, The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty. It begins after a little banter and a glass of water....

Episode 59 - Vendela Vida: Part 3

16 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In part three of This Writing Life's chat with American writer Vendela Vida about her latest novel The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty, we begin by asking: ...

Episode 58 - Vendela Vida on Joan Didion, and Interviews

14 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In this mini-podcast, Vendela Vida explains why Joan Didion is a formative literary hero, and why long-form interviews are great. Phew. Part three...

Episode 57 - Vendela Vida: Part 2

12 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Part 2 of Vendela Vida's Writing Life podcast begins with a discussion of performance: parenthood as performance, self as performance, acting as perfo...

Episode 56 - Vendela Vida: Part 1

07 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Vendela Vida is a novelist, editor (of The Believer magazine), screenwriter, literacy advocate (via 826 Valencia). She is also a wife, of the similarl...

Episode 55 - Vendela Vida: Reading from The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty

05 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As a trailer for the next subject on This Writing Life, Vendela Vida reads from her latest novel, The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty - just released in pap...

Episode 54 - David Gates: Part 5

05 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the final part of David Gates' episode of Writing Life, we begin by exploring the question of religion that we failed to address in Part 4. 'I am n...

Episode 53 - David Gates: Part 4

02 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the fourth and penultimate part of our podcast with David Gates, we set out by talking about money - how to earn it, keep writing, earn money from ...

Episode 52 - David Gates: Part 3

26 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Part 3 of David Gates' conversation with This Writing Life starts with a discussion of 'story' - how Gates writes them and how people tell them (and h...

Episode 51 - David Gates: Part 2

22 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the (summer delayed) second part of our chat with David Gates, we go on (we can't go) with the influence of Samuel Beckett and Jane Austen. ----m...