Collected: The Podcast
Royal Literary Fund 36 episodes Nov 7, 2026
A fortnightly podcast from the Royal Literary Fund that explores the lives and creative processes of contemporary writers. Each episode features in-depth conversations with authors, poets, and playwrights, offering honest insights into the triumphs and challenges of writing. Guests include Kate Mosse, Ella Frears, Ishy Din, Colin Grant, and Deepa Anappara. The podcast aims to provide solidarity and inspiration for readers and writers alike.
Episodes
#519: Donal Ryan, veteran Booker nominee and international bestseller
As the 2026 Booker Prize winner is revealed, twice-Booker nominee and international bestseller Donal Ryan shares an inside view of the realities of media attention and awards with host Doug Johnstone. The pair also discuss the pitfalls of paddywackery when writing Irish voices, the thorny topic of handling bad reviews and Ryan's experience teaching creative writing. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.o
#518: Dipo Agboluaje, satirical playwright and academic
As institutional racism dominates the headlines once more, playwright Oladipo 'Dipo' Agboluaje talks frankly about the way he has tackled this and related political matters in his work. His play The Hounding of David Oluwale (based on the true story of the hounding to death of a homeless Nigerian man by police in Leeds in the 1960s) has uncanny echoes of some of the issues that have lately come to
Bonus Episode: Her Majesty The Queen visits the home of Winnie-the-Pooh
Celebrating 100 years of Winnie-the-Pooh with Her Majesty The Queen Recorded at a special event attended by the Royal Literary Fund's patron Her Majesty The Queen in Ashdown Forest, home of the Hundred Acre Wood, this bonus episode celebrates the legacy of Winnie-the-Pooh and the bequest author AA Milne left the RLF. Highlights include broadcaster and writer Gyles Brandreth on his friendship with
#517: Jay Griffiths, celebrated nature writer and climate activist
After a summer of heatwaves and with 2027 set to be another record-breaking year for temperatures, Jay Griffiths joins host Jonathan Tulloch for a very timely discussion about nature writing and its role in combatting the climate crisis. The conversation touches on the importance of libraries, how we can foster a love of the environment in children, the bravery that investigative journalism requir
#516: Hanna Komar, Belarusian poet, translator and chronicler
Tying in with International Translation Day, the Belarusian writer joins host Julia Copus to discuss the joys and sensitivities of bringing poetry into English, and the challenges of writing in the face of authoritarianism, sharing how her time in prison following the 2020 Belarusian uprising laid the foundations for her latest book. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#515: Cathy Rentzenbrink, bestselling memoirist and reading champion
Celebrated memoirist and novelist Cathy Rentzenbrink talks about how she exorcised the ghost of her brother from her novels by writing The Last Act of Love, why writing can be a struggle, the healing power of reading projects, and why she loves talking to strangers on trains. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#514: Lauren J Joseph, novelist and playwright
Critically acclaimed writer Lauren J Joseph joins Ann Morgan to discuss how acting informs her writing process, why the time after you finish a manuscript can be so difficult, how generative failure can be and the publishing industry's treatment of marginalised communities. The pair also celebrate their shared love of Iris Murdoch's The Bell and talk about the overlooked intellect of Muriel Spark.
#513: Val McDermid, queen of crime writing
The internationally acclaimed author of more than 40 books joins fellow crime writer and band mate Doug Johnstone to discuss how the publishing industry has changed, the novel she had to run away to write, becoming lead singer of The Fun Lovin' Crime Writers in her sixties, and why she's having more fun with more genres than ever. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#512: Davina Quinlivan, memoirist, cultural producer and ecological storyteller
RLF beneficiary Davina Quinlivan shares her journey writing Possessions, her memoir exploring decolonisation, academia and identity from the standpoint of growing up the child of Anglo-Burmese parents in Britain. She also talks about featuring elements of the fantastic in non-fiction, how class affects access to books, and shifting attitudes to Englishness in the work of writers with migrant herit
#511: Daisy Buchanan, author, journalist and host of hit podcast You're Booked
The author of Read Yourself Happy joins host Ann Morgan to discuss the National Year of Reading and how spending time with books can help ease anxiety, as well as her new novel, All Grown Up, a modern-day retelling of Little Women. In addition, the conversation touches on Daisy's journey to sobriety, the influence of the sea on the writing process, and managing the requirement for authors to marke
#510: Sally Kindberg, comic strip artist, writer, journalist and curator
In this special episode to mark the centenary of Winnie-the-Pooh, comic strip artist and author Sally Kindberg and host Jonathan Tulloch explore the legacy of AA Milne, and discuss Kindberg's experiences as an accidental travel journalist, a reluctant mudlarker, and the curator of a museum of dust. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#509: Daniel Hahn, award-winning translator, author and editor
Daniel Hahn discusses his latest book on translating Shakespeare, explains why books should be labelled if they're translated by AI and considers whether there's really such a thing as translator's block. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#508: John Aizlewood, music journalist and sports writer
Music journalist, rock biographer and sports writer John Aizlewood shares his insights into having tea with Peter Gabriel, travelling on Texas' tour bus and spending a year attending every game played by league one football club Stevenage accompanied by his teenage son. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#507: Hanif Kureishi, celebrated novelist, screenwriter and playwright
In this special interview, cult author and RLF beneficiary Hanif Kureishi tells Paul Dodgson about working with David Bowie, why he has given up listening to music except for one particular song, and how he has rebuilt his writing process after the fall that left him paralysed in 2022. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#506: Sara Shaarawi, playwright and producer
The Cairo-born scriptwriter joins host Ann Morgan to explore her accidental route into writing, what it means to speak English wrong, the challenges and opportunities of being a writer of migrant heritage and how she has blended Egypt and Scotland in her work. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#505: Hugo Williams, award-winning poet
The winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry joins host Julia Copus to discuss why he hardly reads novels, shifting literary fashions, building poems from snippets and growing up in a family of actors. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#504: Katharine Quarmby, novelist, journalist and non-fiction writer
The East Anglian writer tells Jonathan Tulloch what editing taught her about rejection and why ghosting is so damaging for writers. She also discusses investigating asbestos and hate speech, and discovering the spectres of places that used to exist through archival research. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#503: Pat Cumper MBE, playwright, producer, director and cultural commentator
Pat Cumper, the celebrated former artistic director of Talawa Theatre Company talks to fellow playwright Juliet Gilkes Romero about the survival of political theatre, her experience of racism at Cambridge University in the 1970s, adapting work by Toni Morrison and what it means to be in the writing zone. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#502: Emma John, journalist and memoirist
Emma John, chronicler of cricket, bluegrass music and singlehood, talks to presenter Paul Dodgson about creating a writing panic room, writing memoirs by accident and when it is acceptable to tweak facts in non-fiction. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#501: John Lewis-Stempel, celebrated nature writer and farmer
The celebrated nature writer and farmer delves into the Royal Literary Fund archive, reflecting on his singular creative processes, why rewilding may not always be a good thing and how he learnt to speak dog. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#500: Abigail Mann, comedy writer turned queen of erotic fiction
In her first conversation about her hotly anticipated new erotic novel Wet Ink, written under the pen name Abigail Avis, RLF Fellow Abigail Mann tells presenter Ann Morgan about the importance of portraying a diversity of experiences in sex scenes, the perils of the productivity mindset and the fear of combining writing and motherhood. Abigail will be writing a series of articles for Collected fol
#499: Vanessa Collingridge, broadcaster and non-fiction writer
Collected's Caroline Sanderson is joined by author and broadcaster Vanessa Collingridge to discuss writing about neurodiversity, chronicling the adventures of her distant relative Captain Cook, tackling fake news and democratising knowledge, and a career that has spanned seven continents. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#498: Paula Hawkins, internationally bestselling novelist
International bestseller and RLF trustee Paula Hawkins joins Collected host Sonia Faleiro to reflect on her journey to success, how she deals with criticism, and the way each book comes to her differently. Paula's renowned thrillers include The Girl on the Train, A Slow Fire Burning and Into the Water. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#497: Satinder Chohan, playwright and dramastorian
Presenter Juliet Gilkes Romero is joined by playwright Satinder Chohan to discuss what it means to be a dramastorian, how telling more stories about the dark side of empire would improve our understanding of immigration, and how you balance writing and caring for family members. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#496: Elif Shafak, award-winning & international best-selling novelist, essayist and activist
Elif Shafak, the internationally acclaimed Turkish-British author of 21 books joins host Doug Johnstone on a deep dive into the RLF sound archive. Responding to other writers' observations, she reflects on her approach to structure, the role of activism in her writing, what it means to write a book that won't be read for 100 years, and her love of heavy metal music. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.o
#495: Matt Carr, fiction and non-fiction writer, journalist and podcaster
Presenter Paul Dodgson is joined by Matt Carr, whose wide-ranging curiosity has led him to write books on topics as diverse as the history of terrorism, the conquest of Patagonia and Charles Darwin. As a lifelong Hispanophile, Matt also writes fiction and nonfiction often focused on themes from Spanish and Latin American culture, history, and politics. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#494: Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse, author and genocide survivor
French-Rwandan writer Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse joins host Sonia Faleiro and responds to clips from the RLF archives, using them as ways into her creative process. This moving discussion, which features frank descriptions of violence, reveals how the will to survive can inspire storytelling, the importance of sharing survivors' accounts, and how this can build fellowship and community in the wake of
#493: Ian Seed, translator, short-story writer and prose poet
Host Jonathan Tulloch is joined by award-winning poet, translator, short-story writer, essayist and editor Ian Seed, to explore what makes a prose poem, how translating can influence writing and the power of redrafting. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#492: Blake Morrison, poet, memoirist and critic
Blake Morrison joins Julia Copus to respond to material from the RLF archives, and reflect on his work and process. They discuss how he grew into being more confessional in his writing, how he encourages students to overcome their fears when writing memoir and how he has come to write in such an extraordinary range of genres. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#491: Marianne Colbran, TV scriptwriter turned criminologist
Presenter Doug Johnstone is joined by Marianne Colbran, whose work explores how media presentations of crime and the police differ from reality. They discuss finding your voice in academic writing, the pressures of TV writers' rooms and how an unexpected stint as a magazine sex expert launched Marianne's writing career. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#490: Pragya Agarwal, behavioural and data scientist, and founder of The 50 Percent Project
Academic Pragya Agarwal joins host Sonia Faleiro on a deep dive into the Royal Literary Fund archives, using the recordings to reflect on her work drawing attention to the spaces where women have been rendered invisible, the role that science writing can play in combatting climate change and the inequalities embedded in the publishing industry. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#489: Caroline Sanderson, Associate Editor of The Bookseller, critic, non-fiction author
Ann Morgan is joined by Associate Editor of The Bookseller, critic, non-fiction author and regular Collected presenter Caroline Sanderson, whose new book Listen With Father has just hit the bookshop shelves. Together, they discuss programming literary festivals, finding a new way of writing about music and bereavement, and how books journalism has changed over the past 25 years. © Royal Literary F
#488: Jonathan Edwards, Award-winning poet on why rejection hits writers so hard
Award-winning poet Jonathan Edwards delves into the Royal Literary Fund's sound archives with host Julia Copus, using other writers' reflections to explore his views on the role of teachers, what happens when a poem really lives and why rejection hits writers so hard. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#487: Rosemary Jenkinson, writer, playwright, poet, essayist, memoirist and cultural commentator
Host Jonathan Tulloch is joined by short-story writer, playwright, poet, essayist, memoirist and cultural commentator Rosemary Jenkinson, who writes edgy work often based on people she meets in the pub, and has braved intimidating situations to record untold stories from the Northern Irish Troubles. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#486: Tessa Hadley, author of novels, short stories and non-fiction
Celebrated author Tessa Hadley, in conversation with presenter Caroline Sanderson, delves into the Royal Literary Fund's sound archives, using the recordings to reflect on the challenges of the writing life and her work spinning psychologically astute domestic dramas. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#485: Alex Wong, literary critic and poet
Julia Copus is joined in the studio by Alex Wong, a literary critic and poet who writes without being able to visualise images. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#484: Laura Barnett, bestselling novelist and writing teacher
Internationally bestselling author Laura Barnett delves into the Royal Literary Fund's sound archives with presenter Ann Morgan, exploring writer's block, the perils and perks of publication day, and how swapping the city for the countryside affects writing. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#483: Howard Linskey, crime writer
Presenter Doug Johnstone is joined in the studio by fellow crime writer Howard Linskey to chew the fat about the writing life and share his surprising, non-linear approach to storytelling. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
#482: Deepa Anappara, award-winning novelist and journalist
Edgar award-winner Deepa Anappara delves into the Royal Literary Fund archives with presenter Sonia Faleiro, and shares how she battled self-doubt, discrimination and grief on the journey to and through publication. © Royal Literary Fund. All rights reserved. www.rlf.org.uk
#481: Ishy Din, playwright and screenwriter
Presenter Juliet Gilkes Romero is joined by playwright and screenwriter Ishy Din, who reflects on how his upbringing on Teesside and work as a cab driver shaped his instinct for storytelling. You can find more of Ishy's work on WritersMosaic. © Royal Literary Fund. All rights reserved. www.rlf.org.uk
Bonus Episode: The RLF Dramatic Writers Discussion
In this bonus episode, RLF trustee Mark Lawson explores the challenges new and established dramatic writers face today as the Royal Literary Fund celebrates the announcement of the first recipient of the Robert Holman Award this #WorldTheatreDay. The discussion features the award-winning playwrights and founder of The Friends of Robert Holman, David Eldridge (Festen, Market Boy, Under the Blue Sky
#480: Ella Frears, genre-busting poet and visual artist
Poet and artist Ella Frears delves into the Royal Literary Fund's sound archives, using other writers' reflections to explore her craft and career, and discuss the creation of her latest hit work: a page-turning, book-length poem in the form of an email to an estate agent. With RLF Collected host, Julia Copus. © Royal Literary Fund. All rights reserved. www.rlf.org.uk
#479: Holly Race, novelist and screenwriter
Presenter Jonathan Tulloch is joined in the studio by novelist and screenwriter Holly Race, who uses fantasy and historical inspiration to interrogate issues of class, privilege, gender bias and political extremism. She shares the extraordinary success story behind her latest novel. © Royal Literary Fund. All rights reserved. www.rlf.org.uk
#478: Colin Grant, author, Writers Mosaic director and historian
Presenter Juliet Gilkes Romero is joined in the studio by WritersMosaic director, author, historian and former BBC radio producer Colin Grant. They delve into the RLF archives and explore one of Grant's favourite clips from Collected's sister platform. Music by Andy Glen. Research by Nicola Baldwin. Post-production by James Robertson. Produced by Ann Morgan. © Royal Literary Fund. All rights reser
#477: Paul Dodgson, memoirist, and song and scriptwriter
Presenter Sonia Faleiro is joined in the studio by Paul Dodgson, a writer, radio producer, musician and teacher with a special interest in life-writing and scriptwriting. Music by Andy Glen. Research by Nicola Baldwin. Post-production by James Robertson. Produced by Ann Morgan. © Royal Literary Fund. All rights reserved. www.rlf.org.uk
#476: Kate Mosse, founder of Women's Prizes and bestselling author with Caroline Sanderson
The internationally bestselling author and co-founder of what is now the Women's Prize for Fiction delves into the Royal Literary Fund's sound archives, using the recordings to reflect on the highs and lows of her career. The Map of Bones by Kate Mosse is published on 10 Oct by Mantle (Pan Macmillan) and is available as a hardback, ebook and audio recording. Kate's live one-woman stage show, Labyr
#475: Sylvia Patterson, award-winning author and music journalist
Presenter Doug Johnstone launches the new Collected podcast in the company of award-winning author and music journalist Sylvia Patterson. www.rlf.org.uk © Royal Literary Fund. All rights reserved. Music by Andy Glen. Research by Nicola Baldwin. Post-production by James Robertson. Produced by Ann Morgan.
Trailer - Collected: The Podcast from the Royal Literary Fund is back!
Welcome to our fortnightly podcast, where we delve into the vibrant world of contemporary writers. New episodes of Collected from the Royal Literary Fund launch on 19 January. Subscribe now and explore the world of writers today. Available wherever you get your podcasts. www.rlf.org.uk © Royal Literary Fund. All rights reserved. Music by Andy Glen. Research by Nicola Baldwin. Post-production by Ja
