The Secret Life of Writers by Tablo

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Evie Wyld on the landscapes of her life, not tying things up neatly, trusting the subconscious, and our remaining monsters. Jun 09, 2021

Show notes

Since Evie Wyld was first published, her writing has been celebrated for its fine observations, and way of pinning down emotional nuance. Her first novel, After the Fire, A Still Small Voice, won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and a Betty Trask Award and Evie was listed as one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists. Her second novel, All the Birds Singing, won the Miles Franklin Award, the Encore Award, the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize, and was longlisted for the Stella Prize. Then with her third novel The Bass Rock she won the Stella Prize. It weaves together the lives of three women across different periods of time and explores male violence, in different guises. But Evie doesn’t just explore male violence, she gets in deep, and leaves you reeling from the cumulative impact of this age-old misogyny. It’s one of the most unsettling and artfully written novels of recent times. Evie’s also written a graphic novel with illustrator Joe Sumner called Everything Is Teeth, and she co-runs Review, an indie bookshop in Peckham London.

Jhumpa Lahiri on paring back, building bridges and her new book Whereabouts May 19, 2021

Show notes

Since Interpreter of Maladies was published in 1999, Jhumpa Lahiri has written three works of fiction in English, The Namesake, Unaccustomed Earth, and the Booker shortlisted, The Lowland. She has also written a work of nonfiction, In Other Words, which was the first book she wrote in Italian, translated into English by Ann Goldstein. In addition Jhumpa edited The Penguin Book of Short Italian Stories, highlighting a thrilling selection of Italian writers, some of whom hadn’t been seen in English before. She has also translated various books from Italian including Domenico Starnone’s Trick.

Jhumpa received the Pulitzer Prize for Interpreter of Maladies and numerous other awards for her writing including the PEN/Hemingway Award; the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award; and a National Humanities Medal, awarded by Barak Obama. She has been inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and received Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. Whereabouts is Jhumpa’s new book, her first novel written in Italian and this time, she also translated it into English. There’s a grace and a gentle precision to her pared back style as she looks at every day moments in specific places, and the solitude, frustrations and intimacies of being human.

Nikki Gemmell on writing with audacity, her new poetic thriller and surviving financially as a writer May 05, 2021

Show notes

Nikki Gemmell is one of Australia’s great writers. Since Les Murray printed Nikki’s first short story in Quadrant Magazine, she’s written thirteen novels. One of them, was the erotic blockbuster The Bride Stripped Bare which was published anonymously back in 2003. It was described as a ‘raw and unflinching’ look at sexuality – and it’s that raw and unflinching eye that makes her writing as a whole so engaging. Nikki’s books have been translated into 22 languages and in France, she's been described as a ‘female Jack Kerouac’. Nikki also writes books for children, is a columnist for the Weekend Australian Magazine and she’s published various non-fiction books, musing about life, love and death. In all of her work there’s a sort of sinewy energy that bristles on the page, and her fine observations and sensual descriptions are a joy to read in all of their guises. Her book After has the feel of a literary detective story as Nikki investigates her mother’s death, though at the heart, it’s a celebration of her life and their relationship in all of its wondrous complexity. Her new novel that’s just come out is called The Ripping Tree. It’s a poetic thriller that’s vividly imagined and confronting – a particularly Australian story, set in the time of white settlement.

You can find Nikki’s books at all good bookshops, and here's a Sydney-based one for starters: Kinokuniya Books https://australia.kinokuniya.com/productsis_searching=true&restrictBy%5Bauthor%5D=Gemmell+Nikki&taxon=2

Charles Yu on writers' rooms and Westworld, his National Book Award-winning novel Interior Chinatown and a love of short stories Apr 14, 2021

Show notes

Charles Yu writes playful and inventive novels and short stories, often with a kind of sly irreverence. There’s warmth and wisdom at their heart, he’s very funny. Charles has written two collection of stories, Third Class Superhero and Sorry Please Thank You and the novels How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe and his latest Interior Chinatown that won the National Book Award and Le Prix Médicis Étranger. Charles has also received the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 Award, been nominated for two Writers Guild of America awards for his work on the television series Westworld, and has written for shows on FX, AMC, Facebook Watch, and Adult Swim. He’s also written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine,The Atlantic and Wired.

Andy Griffiths on the wild ride from punk band to rockstar children's author Mar 31, 2021

Show notes

Andy Griffiths is one of the most loved authors in Australia. Andy and his partner in crime illustrator Terry Denton have collaborated on more than 33 bestselling books including the Treehouse series, all of which have sold over 10 million copies – which must make them some of bestselling Australian authors of all time. They’ve been published in over 35 countries and have had various books adapted for stage with sell out seasons at the Opera House. Andy is an ambassador for The Indigenous Literacy Foundation and the Pyjama Foundation and has received countless awards for his books and contribution to Children’s Literature.

* You might want to listen to this interview in a few sessions as it’s much longer than usual (everything Andy said was gold so I didn't edit it down). He’s incredibly humble, generous and funny (forgive my excessive laughter) and his life story is an inspiration. Enjoy.

Melissa Harrison on nature writing, taking risks, advice for new writers and learning birdsongs Mar 17, 2021

Show notes

Melissa Harrison is an award-winning novelist, nature writer and podcaster. Melissa’s podcast The Stubborn Light of Things has the same title as her book that was named the Sunday Times Nature Book of the Year. In the book it feels like she’s taking us by her side as she walks through the greens of London and the English countryside, sharing warm and poetic observations of the natural world. There’s a joy in her lush descriptions, with the magic of frogspawn, seahorses in the Thames, murmurations of starlings, elfin dog violets and more. Melissa’s writing is finely observed, musical and intimate and she echoes this in her podcast with her soothing voice and recordings of the fields and birds.

Melissa also contributes a monthly nature column to The Times, which the book was based on, and writes for various other publications. Her most recent novel, All Among the Barley, was described by Jon McGregor as “a masterpiece”. Her other novels are Clay and At Hawthorn Time and she’s written a non-fiction meditation called Rain: Four Walks in English Weather, and edited four anthologies of the seasons.

Janine di Giovanni on reporting war, love, responsibility and her calling to write Mar 03, 2021

Show notes

Janine di Giovanni is an author of various award-winning books and one of the world’s great foreign correspondents. She has had a thirty year career in war zones, reporting on conflicts from the first Palestinian intifadato the siege of Sarajevo, the Rwandan genocide and many other wars across the world. She was a long-time Senior Foreign Correspondent for The Times of London and a Contributing Editor at Vanity Fair, and now writes for the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Guardian, The New York Review of Books, Harpers and more. Janine has received countless awards for her work including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Magazine Award, the Courage in Journalism award, and the Blake Dodd, from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She’s also a Senior Fellow and lecturer at Yale University.

Janine has written nine books including Ghosts by Daylight: A Memoir of War and Love and more recently The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria. Each book of hers should be required reading. In addition to contextualising the conflicts, Janine shares the human stories – and in a way, she sheds light on what many people choose to remain in the dark about. She exposes what we find so hard to confront about humanity and ourselves. Follow Janine on twitter @janinedigi.

Jenny Hewson on her role as a literary agent, looking for a distinctive voice and how rejection is often part of the process Feb 17, 2021

Show notes

Jenny Hewson is a literary agent based in London. She worked for 13 years as an agent at one of England’s best agencies, Rogers Coleridge and White or RCW as it’s known, representing authors across fiction and non-fiction. A year ago she joined the prestigious Lutyens & Rubinstein agency, bringing her list of authors with her, including Sarah Perry, Melissa Harrison, Amy Sackville and Alexander Macleod.
Lutyens and Rubinstein was the first literary agency to own an independent bookshop when they opened their doors in Notting Hill in 2009. The bookshop itself has a beautifully curated selection which makes it a pleasure to browse – and of course having a bookshop means the agents can witness the appetite of readers daily.

Lang Leav on poetry as emotion, September Love and finding her tribe. Feb 03, 2021

Show notes

Lang Leav is a poet and novelist whose work has a rare and powerful way of connecting with readers. Lang was born in a refugee camp, grew up in Sydney’s Cabramatta and now lives in New Zealand. She has received various accolades including a Churchill fellowship and a Goodreads Readers’ Choice Award. Her first book, 'Love & Misadventure' was self-published and became a runaway success. Her following poetry books and novels have all been international bestsellers. Lang also shares her writing on Instagram and other social networks to a combined audience of over 2 million people. There’s something intimate, even diary-like in her tone as though she’s sharing her innermost thoughts, exploring themes from love and loss to feminism and the nature of writing. She celebrates the female spirit, her heritage and craft. Lang’s new book is 'September Love'. In the forward Lili Reinhart describes her words as ‘individually plucked with precision and purpose’ and ‘like looking straight into her heart and seeing my own heart silhouetted underneath’.

James Rebanks on his life’s work, the surprising path to bestselling writer, an urgency to rethink modern farming and how we can change the world. Nov 25, 2020

Show notes

James is an old-fashioned farmer based in England’s The Lake District where his family have lived and worked for over 600 years. He’s the author of the bestselling memoir The Shephard’s Life which won the Lake District book of the year, was shortlisted for the Wainwright and Ondaatje prizes and translated into sixteen languages. It speaks of his life’s work and his profound connection to the land. It resonated around the world, as have his photos and words on social media where he’s become a sensation.
James’ new book is called English Pastoral and as with the first, it feels like a kind of love song to his father and grandfather. It continues the conversation from The Shephard’s Life sharing personal anecdotes and observations but also looks at the big picture and the consequences of large scale industrial farming and the loss of ancient rhythms of work. It’s about what farming was like in James’ childhood and what it has become, not just in England but across the world. It’s devastating to read about this ‘total war on nature’ and while there’s a lot of grief about what has been lost, there’s also hope, showing what we can learn from the old ways to reinvigorate our natural landscapes. And James’ writing, his descriptions of the wilds, the animals and his farm is luminous – the book really is a revelation.

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