This week we speak to Patrick Langley, author of Arkady from Fitzcarraldo Editions.
With a background in art criticism and radio production, Paddy talks to us about drafting and structuring a work, finding inspiration from the urban backwaters of London and the problem with building elaborate memory palaces…
This week we speak to novelist, poet and teacher, Will Eaves.
Will was Arts Editor of the Times Literary Supplement from 1995 to 2011 and his work has been short-listed for the Goldsmiths Prize, the Ted Hughes Award for Poetry and the BBC National Short Story Award.
We discuss his approach to structuring a novel, turning notes into a finished work, working with a small press and capturing the dream-like state of the unconscious in prose.
Most recently he is author of the Murmur from CB Editions as well as:
The Oversight (Picador, 2001)
Nothing To Be Afraid Of (Picador, 2005)
Sound Houses (Carcanet, 2011)
This Is Paradise (Picador, 2012)
The Absent Therapist (CB Editions, 2014)
The Inevitable Gift Shop (CB Editions, 2016)
Daniel doesn’t consider himself primarily a fiction writer, but as a life-long member of the OuLiPo he is in the company (spiritually if not temporally) of writers such as Raymond Queneau, Georges Perec and Italo Calvino.
Daniel talks to us about the attraction of writing with constraints, his journey to France and the Oulipo and gives us a flavour of how the group operates (including a membership cancellation policy that Mark Zuckerberg can only dream of).
Daniel is the author of ‘Many Subtle Channels: In Praise of Potential Literature’ (http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674065772). You can read more about him and his work at his website: http://dinnerlunchbreakfast.com/ or follow him on twitter @dlb
Si vous parlez français, the Oulipo site is: http://oulipo.net/
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This week we speak to Alex Pheby about having different editing and writing persona, blending fiction with historical research when you are writing about real characters, hitting 3,000 words a day and whether it’s rational to have any faith in an external reality.
Alex’s novels include ‘Grace’ (Two Ravens Press), ‘Playthings’ and the forthcoming ‘Lucia’ (both Galley Beggar Press – https://www.galleybeggar.co.uk/alex-pheby)
Playthings is forthcoming in North America published by Biblioasis: http://biblioasis.com/shop/forthcoming/playthings/
You can follow Alex on Twitter @alexpheby
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This week we speak to Esther Kinsky, recent winner of the Leipziger Buchmesse Prize and author of River from Fitzcarraldo Editions.
We talk about the interplay between memory and writing, walking the river Lea and urban change in London and trying to apprehend the gap between sensation and the experience of language.
River is available in English: https://fitzcarraldoeditions.com/books/river
Follow Fitzcarraldo Editions on twitter: @FitzcarraldoEds
Details on the Leipziger Buchmesse Prize: http://www.preis-der-leipziger-buchmesse.de/de/Preistraeger/
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This week we speak to Michael Stewart.
We discuss performing plays in prisons, how dialogue decides form, the explosion of indie publishers in Northern England, and how to escape if you’re locked in a shop with a stranger…
Michael is the author of the novels ‘King Crow’ and ‘Cafe Assassin’ and the collections ‘Couples’ and ‘Mr Jolly’
Michael’s latest novel ‘Ill Will’ is published this month by HarperCollins imprint HQ Stories.
Ill Will – https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008248154/ill-will/
King Crow and Cafe Assassin are both published by Bluemoose Books – https://bluemoosebooks.com/books)’
Both collections by Valley Press – http://www.valleypressuk.com/author/51/michael_stewart)
You can follow Michael on Twitter @headspam
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This week we talk to Argentine author Iosi Havilio.
We speak about his upbringing in Paris and Buenos Aires, the links between music and literature and the process of creating and exploring a unique new universe with each progressive novel.
Open Door, Paradises and Petit Fleur are all published by And Other Stories, you can buy them here: http://www.andotherstories.org/book/petite-fleur/
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This week we speak to Megan Dunn, author of Tinderbox (Galley Beggar, 2017).
We cover the act of balancing fiction and non-fiction, wrestling with the estate of Ray Bradbury and writing the great mermaid novel of the Western canon.
You can find Megan’s website at: https://www.megandunn.org/
Follow her on Twitter: @MeganDunn90
Tinderbox is available from Galley Beggar Press: https://www.galleybeggar.co.uk/shop-1/z7du0g4kxeypqtatvaftcnxrjqil2d
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In this episode we speak to Neil Griffiths, author of the recent As A God Might Be published by Dodo Ink
Neil was winner of the Authors’ Club First Novel Award for his earlier novel Betrayal in Naples, and shortlisted for best novel in the Costa Book Awards for Saving Caravaggio.
Neil is also the founder of the Republic of Consciousness Prize which recognises independently published novels that combine ‘hardcore literary fiction and gorgeous prose’.
We discuss the ecosystem of fiction, the present golden age of indie publishing and the Republic of Consciousness prize, which Neil founded.
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Hosted by Jaimie Batchan and Lochlan Bloom.
Talking to contemporary writers of literary fiction about process, what makes fiction ‘real’ and the motivation to sit down in front of an empty page and make things up…
For suggestions, guests, interviewees contact