Robert Toppes — Three Talking Heads National Centre for Writing 2026-09-20 | Robert Toppes — Three Talking Heads
Meet the Future of Literary Translation 2024 National Centre for Writing 2024-03-28 | Join us to celebrate another successful year of the Emerging Translator Mentorships programme, championing new literary translators into English, and experience fresh work from the finest new literary translators working today.The Emerging Literary Translator Mentorships programme aims to develop successive new cohorts of literary translators into English, particularly for languages whose literature is currently under-represented in English translation. Since its inception the programme has supported 131 mentees working in 35 languages, including International Booker Prize long-and-shortlistees Nicky Smalley, Sophie Hughes and Reuben Woolley.Meet our talented 2024 graduates. Fresh from six months' mentoring, they offer you short introductions and readings from their translation projects.Engage with our literary translators via live chat during the showcase premiere. You can read more about our translators here: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/get-involved/translators/etm/menteesDownload a digital version of the Emerging Literary Translators 2024 anthology here (PDF): nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Emerging-Literary-Translators-2024-anthology-web-FINAL.pdfHard copies of the anthology can be purchased online for free (p&p applies). Order here: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/publicationsSupported by Arts Council England, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities at UCLA and Waseda University, the Literary Translation Institute of Korea, the Polish Cultural Institute, the Québec Government Office in London, the National Arts Council Singapore, the Society of Authors and ProHelvetia.Subscribe for more videos like this one!
Meet the World: Making the Unfamiliar Familiar National Centre for Writing 2024-03-26 | How does a translator approach texts from the East written in a classical language which is culturally unfamiliar in the West? What decisions arise from translating poetry rich in a different historical and religious context? How does a translator express idioms and convey the finer details in just a few words?Janani Ambikapathy and Nur-El-Hudaa Jaffar, translating from Tamil and Malay respectively, join Shash Trevett for an insightful discussion about the challenges of translating culture and antiquity that they have encountered in their work.This event is generously supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore.Subscribe for more videos like this one! Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/WritersCentre Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/NationalCentreforWriting
Writing subversive women with Naomi Wood National Centre for Writing 2024-03-25 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-eszww-15bc18eIn this episode of The Writing Life, former NCW Communications Assistant Molly speaks with author Naomi Wood about writing subversive women.Naomi Wood is the award-winning author of three novels, including the bestselling Mrs. Hemingway. Her stories have been published in the Mid-American Review, Washington Square Review, Joyland and Stylist, and have been shortlisted for the Manchester Fiction Prize, the London Magazine Short Story Prize and longlisted for the Galley Beggar Press Story Prize. 'Comorbidities' won the 2023 BBC National Short Story Award.In this episode, Molly and Naomi discuss Naomi's experience writing subversive, malicious women in her debut short story collection This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things. They also discuss themes of motherhood, family connections and perceptions of pregnant women, and how to craft a range of different voices in short story writing.
Meet the World: Translating Nature and Sacrifice National Centre for Writing 2024-03-19 | Join translators Sim Wai-chew, Daniel Eltringham and Nicky Harman as they explore the short stories and poetry of two writers heavily involved in guerrilla warfare.In 1976, Hai Fan began his fight for the Malayan Communist Party and spent thirteen years in the rainforest near the Malaysia-Thai border. Around the same time, the guerrilla leader Mario Payeras founded the Guerrilla Army of the Poor in the rainforests of Guatemala. As their written works are translated into English, our panellists give an honest insight into the importance of retrieving histories and translating indigenous knowledge in contexts of struggle. What is the role of mythology and story in learning our place in nature? This event is generously supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore.Subscribe for more videos like this one!Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/WritersCentreLike us on Facebook: facebook.com/NationalCentreforWriting
Meet the World: Poetry in the Digital Age National Centre for Writing 2024-03-12 | Contemporary methods of communication at the hands of digitalisation have created a wealth of evolving spaces for poetic inspiration. Join Tse Hao Guang and Sam Riviere as they explore the creative responsibilities within found poetry and the unique relationship between a poet and their work. Through a dissection of their personal writing processes, we can gain insight into the challenges of embodying contrasting voices and biases. This fascinating discussion is chaired by Tiffany Atkinson. This event is generously supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore.Subscribe for more videos like this one!Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/WritersCentreLike us on Facebook: facebook.com/NationalCentreforWriting
Virtual residencies with Nur-El-Hudaa Jaffar, Sim Wai-chew and Tse Hao Guang National Centre for Writing 2024-03-11 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-nd5af-15a2771In this episode of The Writing Life, writer and translator Daniel Hahn speaks with three former virtual residents Nur-El-Hudaa Jaffar, Sim Wai-chew and Tse Hao Guang about the quirks of virtual residencies, and how their expectations compared to reality.We were delighted to host them from June to December 2023, in a virtual residency generously supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore.In this episode, they discuss the projects they were working on during their residencies with us, how they found inspiration when writing as though they were in Norwich UNESCO City of Literature, and their lives and careers as translators. They also touch on the blogs they wrote for our Writing Hub, which you can read here.
Meet the tutor: Edward Parnell (Creative Non-Fiction: An Introduction) National Centre for Writing 2024-02-20 | Meet Edward Parnell, the tutor of our upcoming beginners' creative non-fiction course.Ed Parnell has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. He’s been the recipient of an Escalator Award from the National Centre for Writing, and has taught Creative Non-Fiction with us since 2020. His second book, 'Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country', a work of narrative non-fiction was published in hardback in the UK during October 2019 by William Collins, and subsequently released in the UK and US in paperback in October 2020. The book was shortlisted for the PEN Ackerley Prize 2020 for memoir and autobiographyFind out more: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/events/creative-non-fiction-an-introductionBrowse our other courses: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/academy/tutored-coursesSubscribe for more videos like this one!Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/WritersCentreFollow us on Instagram: instagram.com/writerscentreLike us on Facebook: facebook.com/NationalCentreforWriting
Writing the grotesque body with Heather Parry National Centre for Writing 2024-02-19 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-y2e45-1580f1bIn this episode of The Writing Life podcast, NCW Senior Communications and Marketing Manager Steph speaks with author Heather Parry about writing the grotesque body.Heather Parry was born in Rotherham and lives in Glasgow. She has won the Bridge Award for an Emerging Writer, Cove Park's Emerging Writer Residency and the Laxfield Literary Launch Prize. In 2021 she was a Hawthornden Fellow and her first novel, Orpheus Builds a Girl, was released in 2022.Heather discusses writing the grotesque body, which combines elements of comedy and horror. She explores reimagining gothic tropes, the impact of who gets a voice in your narrative, and the differences between long- and short-form writing.Heather also mentions her experience on the writing residency and programme Here and Now 2023, bringing together established Scottish and West African writers, and how instrumental residencies are for writers.
Writing and chronic illness with Polly Atkin National Centre for Writing 2024-02-05 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-5bzik-156c3c8In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Emerging Translator Mentorships Programme Manager Annie speaks with author Polly Atkin about writing with a chronic illness.Polly Atkin is a multi-award-winning writer, essayist and poet. She is the author of the poetry collections Basic Nest Architecture, which won a Northern Writers' Award, and Much With Body, which was longlisted for the Laurel Prize, as well as Recovering Dorothy, the first biography to focus on Dorothy Wordsworth's later life and illness.In this episode, Polly and Annie discuss writing and navigating the publishing industry as a chronically ill person. The pair discuss Polly’s memoir Some of Just Fall, released in summer 2023, and explore how Polly imagined time as a chronically ill person, how to advocate for yourself as a disabled writer, and hopes for embedded accessibility in the future of the publishing industry.They also look ahead to their exciting joint writing project on Dorothy Wordsworth and Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, investigating their common identities and experiences.
Meet the tutor: Helen Ivory (Develop Your Poetry: Challenge & Experiment) National Centre for Writing 2024-01-30 | Meet Helen Ivory, the tutor of our upcoming intermediate poetry course.Helen Ivory is a poet and visual artist. She edits the webzine Ink Sweat and Tears, and teaches for NCW Academy online. She has published five collections with Bloodaxe Books: 'The Double Life of Clocks' (2002), 'The Dog in the Sky' (2006), 'The Breakfast Machine' (2010), 'Waiting for Bluebeard' (2013) and 'The Anatomical Venus' (2019), with a sixth, 'Constructing a Witch', out in 2024. Find out more: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/events/develop-your-poetryBrowse our other courses: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/academy/tutored-coursesSubscribe for more videos like this one!Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/WritersCentreFollow us on Instagram: instagram.com/writerscentreLike us on Facebook: facebook.com/NationalCentreforWriting
Writing for younger audiences with Chip Colquhoun National Centre for Writing 2024-01-22 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-viekh-155527eIn this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Programme Officer Ellie speaks with author and NCW mentor Chip Colquhoun about oral storytelling and writing for younger audiences.An NCW Associate Artist, Chip is a storyteller and children’s author. He’s trained teachers through the Department for Education’s English Hub, young creatives through Rathbone College, vicars through Ridley Hall in Cambridge, and children’s writers with publisher Epic Tales.Together, they discuss Chip’s journey into oral storytelling, and some of the distinctions between story writing and storytelling. They also explore the importance of understanding your reader, the key components needed for every story, and how to target your writing to different age groups.Discover Chip’s mentoring offer here.Chip is launching his educational handbook, All the Better to Read You With: Stories & Lessons to Inspire Reading for Pleasure at the London ExCel on Wednesday 24 January. Get your free ticket to the Bett Show where this will be launched here.
Meet the tutor: Emmanuel Iduma (Tell Your Story Through Memoir) National Centre for Writing 2024-01-18 | Meet Emmanuel Iduma, the tutor of our upcoming beginners' memoir course. Emmanuel Iduma is a writer who trained as a lawyer in Nigeria. He is the author of the travelogue 'A Stranger’s Pose' (2018), which was longlisted for 2019 Ondaatje Prize, and 'I Am Still With You' (2023), a memoir on the aftermath of the Nigerian civil war. He has written for Granta, n+1, the New York Review of Books, Aperture, Yale Review, and others. He was awarded a Windham-Campbell Prize for nonfiction in 2022. In 2020, Iduma was recognized in Apollo International Art Magazine’s ’40 under 40 Africa’ for the broad social impact of his work.Iduma has an MFA in Art Writing from the School of Visual Arts, New York City, where he taught for several years. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria and Norwich, UK.Find out more: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/events/tell-your-story-through-memoirBrowse our other courses: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/academy/tutored-courses Subscribe for more videos like this one! Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/WritersCentreFollow us on Instagram: instagram.com/writerscentre Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/NationalCentreforWriting
Meet the Mentor: Megan Bradbury National Centre for Writing 2024-01-16 | Meet Megan Bradbury, and explore her 12-month mentoring intensive for long-form prose writers. Guided by her own experience as a novelist of experimental literary fiction, Megan can help you learn how to establish an effective and reliable working practice that fits around your schedule and helps you to write freely, regularly, and without pressure, ‘see’ your own work and enhance your individual voice and grow a long-form project from its conception to its completion.Find out more: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/events/the-full-story-12-month-mentoring-intensive-with-megan-bradbury Subscribe for more videos like this one! Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/WritersCentreFollow us on Instagram: instagram.com/writerscentre Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/NationalCentreforWriting
Writing modern noir with Margot Douaihy National Centre for Writing 2024-01-08 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-8i33s-154077bIn this episode of The Writing Life podcast, NCW Programme Officer Ellie speaks with American author Margot Douaihy about the development of the noir genre in crime writing.Margot Douaihy is the author of several noir titles including the mystery novel Scorched Grace, the inaugural title of Gillian Flynn Books. Douaihy is originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, and now lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, in the US where she teaches popular fiction and literature with Emerson College. Margot stayed with us on a writing residency in September in the Dragon Hall Cottage.Together, Ellie and Margot explore growth and changes in the noir genre, and how crime novels are well-equipped for generating social commentary. They also touch on alienation and the representation of queer identities in crime writing.
Writing unreliable narrators with Hannah Vincent National Centre for Writing 2023-12-18 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-kuz99-152793dIn this episode of The Writing Life podcast, Head of Programmes and Creative Engagement Holly speaks with novelist Hannah Vincent about point of view and different types of narration.Hannah Vincent is a novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her first novel, Alarm Girl was published in 2014 and her second, The Weaning in 2018. Her 2020 short story collection, She-Clown and Other Stories was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize. Her stage plays have been produced by among others, The Royal Court Theatre and The Royal National Theatre Studio and her radio play Come to Grief won a BBC Audio award.Together, they discuss the specifics of different perspectives that writers can inhabit, and the effects perspectives and voices can have on readers. They also touch on why a writer’s choice of perspective is fundamental to the way a story is told, and whether any narrative voice can truly be reliable.Hannah explores this topic in a free, self-paced course for NCW Academy entitled How to Write Unreliable Narrators. Find out more on our website!
Into the contemporary poetry archive National Centre for Writing 2023-12-04 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-revnu-151371bIn this episode of The Writing Life, NCW CEO Peggy Hughes speaks to four dazzling voices in contemporary poetry.On Wednesday 22 November, Jay Bernard, Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Gail McConnell and Joelle Taylor gathered to celebrate the launch of exciting new poetry archive collection, ‘Towards a Centre for Contemporary Poetry in the Archive'. This project, delivered by the British Archive for Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, is supported by the Mellon Foundation with partners the National Centre for Writing and Norfolk County Council Library and Information Service.The project aims to promote and preserve the archives of contemporary poets of colour, LGBTQ+ poets and writers from other historically underrepresented backgrounds and practises in the UK and Ireland.Together, they talk about the archival project, their individual contributions and creative processes. They discuss their understanding of their own work, and how poetry and spoken word can be archived. Visiting Poetry Fellow, Will Harris, joins them to explore the project.
Meet the World: Translating Genre National Centre for Writing 2023-11-21 | In this Meet the World event we explore translating genre fiction – from Scandinavian noir to horror to speculative fiction and fantasy. What are the joys and what are the challenges of translating within these conventions? How does translating commercial fiction differ from literary fiction, from translation to publication?All three speakers are alumni of NCW’s Emerging Translators Mentoring Scheme. This is event is co-programmed with BCLT as part of the BCLT Advanced Scandinavian Translation Workshop, supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, NORLA and the Swedish Arts Council.Dr Jacky Collins, Lecturer in Spanish and Latin American Studies at Stirling University, is the Festival Director for Newcastle Noir. As ‘Dr Noir’ she regularly interviews a range of internationally acclaimed and emerging crime fiction authors at national and international events. Prior to embarking upon her current portfolio of creative, publishing and academic projects, Jacky was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Arts at Northumbria University (UK). During her 25 years of service at Northumbria (between 1995 and 2020), she taught Spanish, and modules on film, TV and literary crime fictions. Her research interests and publications span international crime fictions, queer fictions, and Spanish culture. More recently, she translated Antonia Lassa's Llevado en la piel (Skin Deep), published by Corylus Books (15 May 2023).Alex Fleming is a literary translator from Swedish and Russian into English. Working across a range of genres, her recent translations include Anders de la Motte’s The Mountain King, Camilla Sten’s The Resting Place, Maxim Osipov’s Kilometer 101 (co-translated with Boris Dralyuk and Nicolas Pasternak Slater) and Katrine Kielos-Marçal’s Mother of Invention. She is also editor of Swedish Book Review, a journal of new Swedish writing.Rosie Hedger was born in Scotland and completed her MA (Hons) in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Edinburgh, where she graduated with a distinction in Norwegian. Rosie has translated work by authors including Marie Aubert, Helga Flatland and Agnes Ravatn - her translation of Gine Cornelia Pedersen’s Zero was shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize in 2019, and her translation of Agnes Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal won an English PEN Translates Award in 2016. Rosie has lived in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and is now based in the UK.Megan Turney is a Staffordshire-based literary and commercial translator and editor, working from Norwegian and Danish into English. She was the recipient of the National Centre for Writing’s 2019 Emerging Translator Mentorship, and holds an MA (Hons) in Scandinavian Studies and English Literature from the University of Edinburgh and an MA in Translation and Interpreting Studies from the University of Manchester. You can find a list of her other translations and work at www.meganeturney.com.Share this video with your friends and colleagues: Subscribe for more videos like this one! Follow us on Twitter: Like us on Facebook:
How to Write a Script with Molly Naylor National Centre for Writing 2023-11-20 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-2m4tt-14ff55aIn this episode of The Writing Life podcast, writer and theatre director Jen Dewsbury speaks with writer, performer and NCW Academy tutor Molly Naylor about the craft of scriptwriting.Molly Naylor is the co-creator and writer of Sky One comedy After Hours. Her plays have been toured nationally and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. She wrote and performed the acclaimed solo spoken-word shows Stop Trying To Be Fantastic, Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think Of You and My Robot Heart.Jen Dewsbury is an actress, theatre director, and voice and acting coach. She recently completed an MA in Writing for Script and Screen with Falmouth University.Together, they discuss the process of developing a script, and their experiences teaching and studying on the NCW Academy online tutored scriptwriting course. They also discuss tools and techniques for developing an initial story idea into the first full draft of a script, and the benefits of investing time and energy into the planning stages, delving into phases such as the premise, steps outline and treatment.
In conversation with bestselling crime writer Ian Rankin National Centre for Writing 2023-11-06 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-a42sz-14eb419In this episode of The Writing Life podcast, former NCW CEO Chris Gribble spoke to bestselling crime writer Ian Rankin about his new standalone short thriller The Rise.Ian Rankin was born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960 and graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982. He is the internationally bestselling author of the Inspector Rebus and Detective Malcolm Fox novels, as well as a string of standalone thrillers. His books have been translated into thirty-six languages and are bestsellers on several continents.Together, they discuss Ian’s much-loved series character Inspector Rebus and his return to the page in a new phase of life, in Ian’s new Amazon Original Story The Rise. Ian shares the challenges he experienced while writing the short story and considers how writers always find a way to tell the stories they need to tell. They chat about Ian’s thoughts on the upcoming TV adaptation Rebus, and the differences between novel writing and screenwriting.
Meet the World: This is my ******* country! Bad language and good living in the UK National Centre for Writing 2023-10-25 | How has language affected how Nepali Gurkha-origin individuals and communities integrate, dissociate or simply live life in the UK? How does this vary across generations and genders? How is this intertwined with cultural or artistic expression? This Meet the World panel explores the experiences of Nepali Gurkhas living in the UK to understand how the use of language – or the inability to use a specific language – defines their identities in the fraught multicultural realities of Britain today.The panellists for this Meet the World session are Premila van Ommen, a researcher on Gurkha youth culture in the UK; Mukahang Limbu, whose debut poetry collection ‘Mother of Flip-Flops’ was published by Out-spoken Press in 2022; and Sanjay Sharma, a researcher on the transnational histories of Gurkha women. Premila will talk about the role of rap in the youth culture of British Nepali youth; Mukahang will talk about how he and other Nepali youth are using poetry and prose to recall Nepal while living in the UK; and Sanjay will share his experiences of using oral history to record the often hidden lives of Gurkha wives.The session will be moderated by Rabi Thapa, NCW virtual translator in residence for summer 2023, a UK-born, Nepal-bred writer/editor/translator who lives in Wales, hoping one day to be one of the Cymru Cymraeg.Share this video with your friends and colleagues: Subscribe for more videos like this one! Follow us on Twitter: Like us on Facebook:
The craft of life writing with Fiona Mason National Centre for Writing 2023-10-23 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-4g6qj-14d5dafIn this episode of The Writing Life podcast, former NCW CEO Chris Gribble caught up with author Fiona Mason to discuss her memoir 36 Hours and the craft of life writing.Originally from the Midlands, Fiona Mason now lives between the salt marshes of the east of England, and the Ariege Pyrenees in southwest France where she's renovating a house with her partner. She holds MAs in Philosophy and Creative and Life Writing, and combines her work as a writer with roles as a coach, mentor and creative writing tutor.Together, they discuss how she was compelled to write her incredibly personal memoir. She explores her journey into writing, the stigma around talking and writing about death and how she makes a living from her writing.Fiona also mentions that she received a Developing Your Creative Practice grant from Arts Council England, which helped her to dedicate time and energy to writing this memoir. You can find out more about Arts Council funding on their website here.
Writing Short Stories with Yan Ge National Centre for Writing 2023-10-10 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-2xh65-14c6ceeIn this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Programme Officer Vicki Maitland caught up with writer and NCW Academy tutor Yan Ge to discuss the process of writing short stories.Yan is a fiction writer, writing in both Chinese and English, and is the author of thirteen books in Chinese, including five novels. She has received numerous awards and was named by People’s Literature magazine as one of twenty future literature masters in China. Together, they discuss Yan's experience writing her English language debut short story collection Elsewhere, and the unique challenges and opportunities that writing short stories can present to writers. Yan also provides personal insights on editing short form pieces of writing.
Emerging Translators 2024 - Meet the mentees! National Centre for Writing 2023-09-29 | Founded by Daniel Hahn in 2010, our translation mentoring programme aims to develop successive new cohorts of literary translators into English, particularly for languages whose literature is currently under-represented in English translation.Find out more: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/get-involved/translators/etmOur mentees will receive six months of personal mentoring. They will also be awarded a £800 stipend to cover expenses associated with the mentorship, such as travel. The mentorship will include various online industry events with tailored training events and talks, a feature at International Translation Day and attendance of London Book Fair with a networking day at NCW’s headquarters at Dragon Hall in Norwich.At the end of the six months, the mentees’ work will be celebrated in a concluding digital showcase, when a print and digital anthology with samples of the mentees’ translations will also be published, to further amplify the translators’ work.Discover more about our mentees: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/get-involved/translators/etm/mentees
Meet the World: Translating Arab Graphic Novels National Centre for Writing 2023-09-26 | Join translators Amy Chiniara, Deena Mohamed, Emma Ramadan and Nadiyah Abdullatif for a wide-ranging discussion on identity, language and representation.In this Meet the World event, four translators of recently published graphic novels from the Arab world discuss the translation process as well as identity, language and representation.In this wide-ranging discussion, Amy Chiniara (Inside the Giant Fish by Rawand Issa), Deena Mohamed (Your Wish is My Command), Emma Ramadan (My Port of Beirut by Lamia Ziadé) and Nadiyah Abdullatif (Yoghurt and Jam (or how my mother became Lebanese) by Lena Merhej, co-translation with Anam Zafar) explore the similarities and differences in their experiences of routes into translation, collaborating with authors, getting work published, working with illustrations, and handling different source languages and multilingualism.Share this video with your friends and colleagues: youtu.be/SITAbb_NkGQ Subscribe for more videos like this one!
Music and translation with Kalaf Epalanga & Daniel Hahn National Centre for Writing 2023-09-26 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-fsgtg-14b3b4eThis episode of The Writing Life features musician and writer Kalaf Epalanga and writer, editor and translator Daniel Hahn on the process of writing and translating Kalaf’s exhilarating debut novel, Whites Can Dance Too. They were interviewed by NCW Programme Manager Rebecca DeWald.Kalaf Epalanga is a musician and writer. Best known internationally for fronting the Lisbon-based dance collective Buraka Som Sistema, he is a celebrated columnist in Angola and Portugal.Daniel Hahn is a writer, editor and translator with over one hundred books to his name. He has translated fiction and non-fiction for adults and children, from Europe, Africa and the Americas. Rebecca chatted with Kalaf and Daniel about many aspects of writing and translating Whites Can Dance Too, including the structure of the book and whether it can be called non-fiction. They also discuss the process of translating music and different forms of Portuguese, from Portugal, Angola and Brazil.
Meet the World: Cities of Stories, Stories of Cities National Centre for Writing 2023-09-14 | Are you a writer or illustrator looking for opportunities to broaden your horizons? Virtual residencies offer creative individuals a unique way to connect with people and organisations around the world, all from your own home.In this event, Norwich residents Amanda Addison and Hsuan Pai are joined by Jakarta residents Noor H. Dee and Andina Subarja for an in-depth discussion of their virtual residency experience. Chaired by Tyas Widjati, the residents will explore how their projects came to life and what they have discovered about cities, stories and lives through the eyes of one another.Discover Amanda and Hsuan’s project, ‘Rainbow Round the Park’: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/writing-hub/rainbow-round-the-park-by-amanda-addison-and-hsuan-paiDiscover Noor and Andina’s project, ‘The Statue and the Wind’: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/writing-hub/the-statue-and-the-wind-by-noor-h-dee-and-andina-subarjaAmanda, Hsuan, Noor and Andina’s residencies were supported by the International Literature Showcase Collaboration Fund. The International Literature Showcase is a partnership between the National Centre for Writing and the British Council.Share this video with your friends and colleagues: Subscribe for more videos like this one! Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/WritersCentreFollow us on Instagram: instagram.com/writerscentre
Priscilla Morris on writing resistance and community in Black Butterflies National Centre for Writing 2023-09-11 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-57x3j-149e5b8In this episode we’re bringing you a conversation with debut novelist and creative writing teacher Priscilla Morris. Priscilla’s first novel Black Butterflies is the author’s personal response to the war that devastated her mother’s hometown of Sarajevo, Bosnia, in the former Yugoslavia, from 1992-1996.Priscilla spoke to NCW Communications Assistant Molly-Rose Medhurst about her approach to researching and writing sensitively about the Siege and the atrocities of war, drawing from memory and from the recollections of family and friends. She also talks about her desire to centre the importance of community in the book and her narrative approach to time.Priscilla and Molly’s conversation contains references to sexual assault, death, violence and the horrors of war linked to the Siege of Sarajevo. Please take care when listening.
Working Class Noir with Tom Benn National Centre for Writing 2023-08-28 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-8ymux-148c594In this episode of The Writing Life, we are joined by author, screenwriter and lecturer Tom Benn to discuss his latest novel, Oxblood. Set in 1980s South Manchester, Benn's blazing novel of female solidarity and the legacy of male violence centres on three generations of women at the heart of an underworld family. It won the 2022 Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award and was longlisted for the Gold Dagger 2023 and Gordon Burn Prize 2022.Tom chats to NCW CEO Chris Gribble about the genesis of Oxblood and why it took six years for him to write. He talks about choosing to write a crime novel in a ‘different way’ from a female perspective; and his aim to re-sensitise the reader through dark or violent stories. He and Chris also discuss how publishers may react to a book like Oxblood, which sits within the crime genre but also interweaves elements of other genres.For the introduction, Steph is joined by NCW Development Manager Dan Scales to talk about a new fundraising campaign launched this month for Escalator, our long-running talent development programme for underrepresented writers. You can support the campaign here: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/support-us/donate/escalator-campaignApplications for Escalator 2023-24 close at 10am BST on Tuesday 19 September 2023. Find out more and apply here: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/get-involved/writers/escalator
NCW Mentoring: Meet the Mentors - Julia Bird National Centre for Writing 2023-08-15 | Share this video with your friends and colleagues: Subscribe for more videos like this one! Follow us on Twitter: Like us on Facebook:
NCW Mentoring: Meet the Mentor: Chip Colquhoun National Centre for Writing 2023-08-15 | Share this video with your friends and colleagues: Subscribe for more videos like this one! Follow us on Twitter: Like us on Facebook:
Writing Real People in Memoir with Katy Massey National Centre for Writing 2023-08-14 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-bgji9-147aae6In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Programme Officer Vicki Maitland speaks with writer, editor and workshop leader Katy Massey about the process of writing real people in memoir.Katy was a journalist for many years before studying for an MA and PhD in Creative Writing. Her memoir, Are We Home Yet? was published in 2020 and praised by Bernardine Evaristo as ‘a gem’. It was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Portico Prize. In addition, her work has been widely anthologised, including Common People edited by Kit de Waal, The Place for Me, and speculative collection Glimpse. Her first novel All Us Sinners, an unusual take on the crime genre, is due to be published by Sphere in January 2024.Together, they discuss how her new self-paced course for NCW, How to Write Real People in Memoir, provides the tools you need to think of yourself as the main character in your story: from creating distinct voices in your narrative to discovering the difference between memory, truth and perspective.
Escalator | Help raise £10,000 to support emerging talent National Centre for Writing 2023-08-10 | Escalator is a talent development programme run by the National Centre for Writing.Each year, Escalator provides a cohort of emerging writers from the East of England with bespoke mentoring, skills development masterclasses, industry connections and showcases.So far, we have transformed the careers of over 130 writers, helping them hone their craft, get published, earn critical acclaim and more.Today, we need your support to take Escalator to the next level.For a limited time, donate to receive a free gift screen print.Donate: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/support-us/donate/escalator-campaignMore about Escalator: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/writers/escalator Discover the National Centre for Writing: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk National Centre for Writing is a registered charity. Our charity number is 1110725
How to Write Suspense Fiction with Claire McGowan National Centre for Writing 2023-07-31 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-4sxwd-14640adIn this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Chief Executive Chris Gribble caught up with Claire McGowan to discuss how she got started as a writer, her route(s) into publishing and how she’s maintained and developed a career in writing across a range of genres and over a lengthy period of time.Claire McGowan published her first novel in 2012, and has followed it up with many others in the crime fiction genre and also in women’s fiction (writing as Eva Woods). She has had four radio plays broadcast on the BBC, and her thrillers What You Did and The Other Wife were both number-one bestsellers. She ran the UK’s first MA in crime writing for five years, and regularly teaches and talks about writing. Her first non-fiction project, the true-crime book The Vanishing Triangle, was released in 2021. She also writes scripts and has several projects in development for TV.Together, they discuss how Claire's teaching work has developed across her writing career and how her new course for NCW distils a lot of what she’s learned about the many different ways and means of creating suspense in your writing: from character to landscape, to plot to style.Claire's self-paced online course 'How to Create Suspense in Fiction' will launch on the NCW website on Monday 7 August.
Writing a Biography with Patrick Barkham National Centre for Writing 2023-07-17 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-p9tjv-1456bbaIn this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Chief Executive Chris Gribble speaks with writer Patrick Barkham about the process of writing his new book The Swimmer, and how he found ways to ‘hear’ the voice of an author whose work he knew well, but who he never met.Patrick Barkham is an award-winning author and natural history writer for the Guardian. His books include The Butterfly Isles, Badgerlands, Islander and Wild Child. He is President of Norfolk Wildlife Trust and lives in Norfolk with his family.His new book The Swimmer is a creative biography of the late writer, filmmaker and environmentalist Roger Deakin. The book is told primarily in the words of the subject himself, with support from a chorus of friends, family, colleagues, lovers and neighbours.Together, they touch on the impact and legacy of Roger, as one of the forerunners of the new nature writing movement, the ethics of biography, and the hard graft of reconstructing a life from the myriad of physical and emotional traces a writer has left behind.
Escalator Showcase 2023 National Centre for Writing 2023-07-14 | National Centre for Writing invites you to a showcase of short readings and conversations with 6 brilliant emerging writers from our Escalator 2023 talent development programme. Fresh from nine months’ mentoring with established writers, our emerging fiction writers are not to be missed. Subscribe for more videos like this one! Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/WritersCentre Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/NationalCentreforWriting
Life as a Poet - with Raymond Antrobus National Centre for Writing 2023-07-03 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-t568j-144684cIn this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Chief Executive Chris Gribble speaks with writer, poet and educator Raymond Antrobus in an interview which was recorded ahead of his performance at the City of Literature weekend 2023. City of Literature takes place in May each year and is a National Centre for Writing and Norfolk & Norwich Festival partnership, programmed by National Centre for Writing.Raymond was born in London, Hackney to an English mother and Jamaican father. He is the author of Shapes & Disfigurements (Burning Eye, 2012), To Sweeten Bitter (Out-Spoken Press, 2017), The Perseverance (Penned In The Margins / Tin House, 2018) and All The Names Given (Picador / Tin House, 2021). In 2019 he became the first ever poet to be awarded the Rathbone Folio Prize for best work of literature in any genre. Raymond chats to Chris about his development and life as a poet and educator: from finding a community in the London spoken word scene to winning the Folio Prize for The Perseverance through to his most recent collection All The Names Given. He discusses the challenges and joys of working in the poetry ‘business’ as well as the poetry community.
Writing About Historical Figures with Victoria Mackenzie National Centre for Writing 2023-06-19 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-z3ce8-14354b3In this episode of The Writing Life, National Centre for Writing’s Head of Programmes & Creative Engagement Holly Ainley caught up with Victoria Mackenzie after her event in Norwich to discuss her debut novel For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain, the joys and pitfalls of researching historical periods, and how you communicate this to contemporary readers.Victoria is a fiction writer and poet. She is the winner of the Scottish Book Trust New Writer Award and the inaugural Emerging Writer Award from Moniack Mhor. She was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, as well as being awarded prestigious writing residencies in Scotland, Finland and Australia.This insightful discussion covers the blurry lines between fact and fiction; the moral responsibility of authors when writing about real historical figures; and what the term historical fiction actually encompasses – how it is used by the publishing industry and what it really means to authors.
Working with a Translator - with Caroline Lamarche and Katherine Gregor National Centre for Writing 2023-06-05 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-xqmxe-142360cIn this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Programme Manager Rebecca DeWald had the pleasure of talking with Katherine Gregor and Caroline Lamarche about the process of writing and translating The Memory of the Air, a novella by Caroline which explores a universal experience of gender and sexual violence and challenges common notions of victimhood. The book was translated into English by Katherine and published by Héloïse Press in 2022.Together with Rebecca, they discuss how Katherine first discovered Caroline’s book and the experience of it being rediscovered and translated in a post-#MeToo era. Caroline talks about the process of drawing on personal experiences to write this book, and about finding her voice.Please note that this conversation contains references to domestic violence and sexual assault, so listener discretion is advised.
In conversation with Max Porter at the Book Hive National Centre for Writing 2023-05-22 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-wtbus-1411a4fOn this episode of The Writing Life, we are delighted to welcome Max Porter back to Norwich! Max was here in April for an event hosted by The Book Hive to celebrate the publication of his latest novel, Shy.NCW Executive Director Peggy Hughes settled in for a cosy chat with Max upstairs in The Book Hive. Their expansive conversation covers the special power of bookshops, questions of masculinity and vulnerability portrayed through Shy’s protagonist, the musicality of Max’s language, and much more.Max’s first novel Grief Is the Thing with Feathers won the Sunday Times/Peter, Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year, the International Dylan Thomas Prize, the Europese Literatuurprijs and the BAMB Readers’ Award and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Goldsmiths Prize. His second novel, Lanny, was a Sunday Times bestseller and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. The Death of Francis Bacon was praised as a ‘miniature masterpiece’ and his new book, Shy, has been called a ‘miracle of language’. Editing by Omni Mix
Interviewing difficult subjects with Richard Balls National Centre for Writing 2023-05-08 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-3bz6v-13fd536On this episode of The Writing Life, we speak to news journalist turned non-fiction writer and biographer Richard Balls about interviewing difficult subjects.Richard is the author of three books: A Furious Devotion: The Life of Shane MacGowan; Be Stiff: The Stiff Records Story, and Sex & Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll: The Life of Ian Dury. In this conversation with Steph McKenna, he talks about using the experience and techniques acquired through a 20-year journalism career to inform the way he approaches, interviews, and writes about high-profile figures such as Shane MacGowan, whose life story is as much fiction as fact!How do you secure an interview with a reluctant subject? What do you do when an interview isn’t going to plan? And what ethics or responsibilities are involved when writing about someone’s complex, contradictory, or unacceptable behaviour? Richard covers all this and more on the podcast.
Meet the Future of Literary Translation National Centre for Writing 2023-04-03 | Join us to celebrate another successful year of the Emerging Translator Mentorships programme, championing new literary translators into English, and experience fresh work from the finest new literary translators working today.The Emerging Literary Translator Mentorships programme aims to develop successive new cohorts of literary translators into English, particularly for languages whose literature is currently under-represented in English translation. Since its inception the programme has supported 122 mentees working in 35 languages, including International Booker Prize long-and-shortlistees Nicky Smalley, Sophie Hughes and Reuben Woolley.Meet our talented 2023 graduates. Fresh from six months' mentoring, they offer you short introductions and readings from their translation projects.Engage with our literary translators via live chat during the showcase premiere. You can read more about our translators here: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/emerging-translator-mentorships/2023-translatorsDownload a digital version of the Emerging Literary Translators 2023 anthology here (PDF): nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ETM-anthology-web-FINAL.pdfHard copies of the anthology can be purchased online for free (p&p applies). Order here: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/etm-anthology-23Supported by Arts Council England, British Centre for Literary Translation, British Council, Danish Arts Foundation, Harvill Secker Young Translators' Prize, Italian Cultural Institute, Literary Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea), Polish Cultural Institute London, Québec Government Office in London, Royal Norwegian Embassy, the Saroj Lal mentorship, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, Swedish Arts Council, the Tadashi Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities at UCLA and Waseda University and the Visible Communities programme.Share this video with your friends and colleagues: youtu.be/ztkFzhVGYJkSubscribe for more videos like this one!
Meet the World: Norwich-Québec – Walls Come Down National Centre for Writing 2023-03-28 | Please note: some of this conversation takes place in French. Turn on subtitles for English captions.Over three months, writers Megan Bradbury in Norwich and Juliette Bernatchez in Québec explored their UNESCO cities of literature, writing to each other and acting as each other’s eyes, looking at the familiar in new ways. Join us to hear about this process of collaboration and the commissions that came out of it, about Julian of Norwich, Marie de l’Incarnation, fortifications and castles, and what it’s like to haunt another’s creative project.The virtual residency exchange was made possible with the support of the Québec Government Office in London and l’Entente de développement culturel entre le gouvernement du Québec et la Ville de Québec.Share this video with your friends and colleagues: youtu.be/H93Zv7d-u8I Subscribe for more videos like this one!
The Martineau Lecture with Kit De Waal National Centre for Writing 2023-03-20 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-zfvyr-1332320As part of the annual Norfolk and Norwich Festival we run a series of events called City of Literature. A central part of our programme is the Harriett Martineau Lecture which celebrates the legacy of a remarkable, world-changing woman by inviting globally-renowned radical speakers to respond to her life and work.In 2022, we were excited to welcome bestselling novelist, memoirist and literary activist Kit de Waal - presenting the lecture in the beautiful environs of the Spiegeltent. Kit gave a thought-provoking lecture covering a range of topics, including human rights, equality, hunger and, as she calls it, ‘compassion without judgement’.Kit is a fantastic writer and speaker, and, in the course of the lecture, talks about social mobility and what it really takes; how smartphones are essential for some of the most marginalised people in society; as well as quoting Terry Pratchett as she explains what keeps the poorest in our society poor.This episode is that lecture - recorded at the event back in May - more relevant now than ever with inflation rampant, the cost of living impacting everyone in society, and the energy crisis hitting those with the least worst of all.
How to Develop Compelling Characters in Your Fiction - with Okechukwu Nzelu National Centre for Writing 2023-03-06 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-jivi8-1328c3cWe speak to writer and teacher Okechukwu Nzelu. Why? To discuss that greatest pillar of creative writing - character.Gill and Okechukwu discuss many aspects of character development, including those in his latest novel Here Again Now. Based in Manchecter, Okechukwu Nzelu was the recipient of a Northern Writers' Award from New Writing North in 2015. His debut novel, The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney won a Betty Trask Award. it was also shortlisted for our very own Desmond Elliott Prize among others. In 2021, it was selected for the Kingston University Big Read. His second novel, Here Again Now was published by Dialogue Books in March 2022. He is also a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Lancaster University so he is perfectly positioned to help us understand how we can write compelling characters.
Meet the World: Writing Queer Lives National Centre for Writing 2023-02-28 | Where does the political end and the personal begin? What can we learn from those writing at the intersection? Join novelists Huw Lemmey (Bad Gays: A Homosexual History) and Daryl Qilin Yam (Shantih Shanith Shantih) for an intimate exploration of how queer identities have shaped their writing and informed their cultural perspectives.Chaired by writer and filmmaker Juliet Jacques, this discussion bridges the personal and political to question how queer lives are presented in the social narrative and what can be gained from writing ourselves into it.We would like to thank the National Arts Council of Singapore for generously supporting this event.Share this video with your friends and colleagues: youtu.be/umaNv3IKepk Subscribe for more videos like this one!
Writer Insights with James Kinsley National Centre for Writing 2023-02-22 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-77nbb-1332273Earlier in the year, our very own Ellie Reeves spoke to local writer James Kinsley. James’s first novella, Playtime’s Over, was published by Propolis in 2021 - a love letter to his native Norwich.James Kinsley’s new book, Greyskin, will be published by Deixis Press on 27th April. Greyskin is a stylish collection of interconnected fantasy stories, inspired by the cinematic mythology of the Old West. On its first day of pre-order, the book topped the Amazon chart for Western Science Fiction Ellie sat down with James following the publication of Playtime's Over. They discuss his journey from self-publishing to traditional publishing, and offers an insight into the challenges of drawing personal experiences into fiction. They also discuss genre, mental health, and the ability of writing to move beyond the writer's intentions.
Meet the World: Rooted in Language National Centre for Writing 2023-02-21 | ‘Remnants, gestures, utterances.’In this Meet the World event, four poets excavate their own work to examine the connections between them and the roots of language woven beneath the surface. Crispin Rodrigues, Mary Jean Chan, Nina Mingya Powles and Will Harris will share their experiences of writing from a multilingual perspective, both through their journey to writing poetry and the themes that permeate their work. Their discussion will highlight the struggle to navigate and thread fragments of language when the page becomes a metonym for a coherent national or personal identity.We would like to thank the National Arts Council of Singapore for generously supporting this event.Share this video with your friends and colleagues: youtu.be/uNnNyXSci_0 Subscribe for more videos like this one!
Meet the World: Transforming the City National Centre for Writing 2023-02-14 | We’ve all fallen prey to the temptation of immediate gratification at one time or another. Akshita Nanda (Beauty Queens of Bishan) and Irenosen Okojie (Speak Gigantular) agree there is no sweeter lure than the completion of a short story. However, pushing that niggling novel to the side has its own benefits.Join our writers as they explore the true value of the short story and explain how this often overlooked form helped them claim space for marginalised voices. The panel will delve into the nature of inspiration, importance of research and question whether truth is stranger than fiction. This discussion of experimenting with the short story is chaired by Anjali Joseph (Saraswati Park).We would like to thank the National Arts Council of Singapore for generously supporting this event.Share this video with your friends and colleagues: youtu.be/y4TgGcoPimk Subscribe for more videos like this one!
The Life Cycle of a Translation National Centre for Writing 2023-02-04 | Literary translation is crucial way for stories and voices to cross geographical and cultural borders and reach diverse readerships. This event aims to demystify the process of publishing books in translation for debut authors and emerging translators — both from the perspective of selling international rights to your work and of embarking on a career in translation.Foreign rights agent Louisa Pritchard, bilingual author Laia Jufresa and literary scout Daniela Schlingmann provide an overview of the industry and the roles involved in bringing a book to the wider world. Their discussion will be chaired by NCW’s Head of Programmes & Creative Engagement, Holly Ainley.Share this video with your friends and colleagues: youtu.be/2SWQJMaZO60
From writing craft to witchcraft with Kirsty Logan National Centre for Writing 2023-01-02 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-xmhh6-133220eFor this episode, we speak to the wonderful Kirsty Logan. Kirsty is completely devoted to books: she is the award-winning author of several novels, including The Gloaming and The Gracekeepers, and short story collections including A Portable Shelter and The Rental Heart & Other Fairytales. She recently wrote the Audible Original The Sound at the End, an Arctic ghost story. She’s also a book reviewer, editor and mentor.Kirsty’s new novel, Now She is Witch, came out this month. It is a medieval witch revenge story unlike any other. We discuss the book as well as aspects of craft, including character, theme, structure, research, routine and inspiration.We talk about how to build complex characters within fairy tales, the difference between historical fiction and Medievalism and how witch stories reflect our feelings of being under threat in our world.We talk about identity, revenge and research beyond the internet. Kirsty also starts our conversation with a reading - a poem she wrote during a writing residency.
