The Writing Life
We're a weekly podcast for anyone who writes. We talk to writers about their writing journeys and techniques, from early career debuts to self-publishers and narrative designers. We've featured Margaret Atwood, Jackie Kay, Sara Collins, Antti Tuomainen, Val McDermid, Sarah Perry, Elif Shafak and many more!
The Writing Life is produced by the National Centre for Writing at Dragon Hall in Norwich.
Latest Episode
Writing contemporary crime fiction: Val McDermid on Past Lying (11.08.2025)
Previous Episodes
- Becoming a published author: Wen-Yi Lee on representation, writing residencies, and building a readership 28.07.2025
- Writing between genres: Michael Pedersen on Muckle Flugga 14.07.2025
- World building in horror fiction: Julia Armfield on Private Rites 30.06.2025
- The world of Substack: Eleanor Anstruther & Simon K Jones on serial fiction 16.06.2025
- Writing love stories: André Aciman on Room on the Sea 02.06.2025
- The power of language: Eimear McBride on The City Changes Its Face 19.05.2025
- Writing strong female characters: Joanna Miller on The Eights 05.05.2025
- The rise of romantasy with Sangu Mandanna 14.04.2025
- Writing about sports and masculinity with George Harrison, Alex Allison, and Ashley Hickson-Lovence 17.03.2025
- Developing your creative practice with Julia Bird 10.02.2025
- Writing about nature with Chloe Dalton 13.01.2025
- Writing a festive bestseller with Abiola Bello 16.12.2024
- Writing about music with Aniefiok Ekpoudom 02.12.2024
- Researching for crime novels with Peter James 18.11.2024
- Routes into writing with S G Bell 04.11.2024
- Writing dialect in fiction with Ferdia Lennon 21.10.2024
- Writing through place: Heidi Williamson & Rebecca Goss on poetry, memory and healing 07.10.2024
- Structuring non-fiction with Nick Acheson 23.09.2024
- Writing collaboratively with Maarja Pärtna & Penny Boxall 09.09.2024
- Advice for emerging writers with Benjamin Johncock & Megan Bradbury 26.08.2024
