Writing Worlds: Conversations About World Building
Writing Worlds is a fortnightly podcast hosted by audio drama makers Chris Gregory and Emily Inkpen. Each episode features conversations with science fiction and fantasy writers about how they build fictional worlds. Guests discuss the creative choices behind their settings, societies, and rules. The show explores how those imagined worlds come to life in stories.
Episodes
Season 2 Review And Awards
Welcome to our end-of-season 2 review episode. Join Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory for a look back at our guests and world building topics for the season and the announcement of our overall winners in our stoically fun games The Name Game and Would You Rather?
We would like to thank all of our brilliant guests for giving us their time and expertise in all the episodes of season 2. If you enjoye
Claire North: The Ethics Of World Building
Our guest on Writing Worlds today is the brilliant and acclaimed science fiction author Claire North. An incredibly prolific and imaginative writer Claire's novel 'The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August' was nominated for the Arthur C Clarke award and won the John W Campbell memorial award for best science fiction. Topically, given the recent release of a certain movie, Claire h
Stephen Aryan: Races
Our guest on Writing Worlds today is the award winning fantasy author Stephen Aryan. With two trilogies: the Age of Darkness, and the Age of Dread set in his world of Mordana to his name , alongside his Persian inspired The Nightingale and The Falcon trilogy. Stephen is not only a prolific author but he has also been prolific in supporting and offering advice to other writers.
You can find out
Ren Hutchings: Liminal Spaces
On the writing worlds podcast today we are chatting with a speculative fiction author, editor, writing mentor and a dedicated fan of science fiction and fantasy literature. Last year Ren Hutchings released 2 books in an indecently short period of time, The Legend Liminal and An Unbreakable World, a sequel to their 2022 time travelling space opera, Under Fortunate Stars. Ren also writes short fic
Peter F. Hamilton: Writing Game Worlds
Our guest on writing worlds this week is one of the biggest names in science fiction. Peter F. Hamilton is the author of many bestselling novels and series , including the Greg Mandel series, the Night’s Dawn trilogy, the Commonwealth Saga, the Void trilogy, the Chronicle of the Fallers and the Salvation Sequence, as well as short-story collections and several standalone titles.
You can follow Pe
M.J. Kuhn: Belief Systems
This week on Writing Worlds we are chatting about belief systems with novelist and podcaster MJ Kuhn
M.J. Kuhn is a fantasy writer by night and a mild-mannered marketer by day. She is the internationally bestselling author of Among Thieves and Thick as Thieves and the upcoming Killswitch Protocol, cohost of SFF Addicts podcast and the FanFiAddict Book Club, and she lives in the metro Detroit area
Bonus: More On Spaceships With Gareth L. Powell
Welcome to this bonus episode of Writing Worlds, the podcast about the art of world building with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory. For this episode, we're continuing our chat with award-winning novelist Gareth L. Powell about spaceships in world building.
Gareth is a double winner of the BSFA award for best novel and shortlisted for awards including the Locus awards and the British Fantasy Awards.
Jeremy Szal: Species
Our guest on the Writing Worlds podcast this week is novelist and short fiction writer Jeremy Szal. An author of space opera, fantasy and a genre he calls ‘Space Punk’ , Jeremy is the writer of the three book “Common Saga” , a host of short fiction and From 2014 to 2020, he was the fiction editor and audio producer for the Hugo-winning podcast StarShipSofa where he worked with the likes of George
Frasier Armitage: Dyson Spheres
Our guest on the Writing Worlds Podcast today is a novelist, short story writer, prize winning audio dramatist, presenter of the Spotlight Indie YouTube channel and a part time robot. Frasier Armitage is the author of several novels including "Cage of Stars' which will be the inspiration for today's discussion but we may also reference his previous novels including "Time's Elipse" and "New Yeste
C.J.Cooke: Gothic World Building
Our guest on the Writing Worlds Podcast today is the bestselling and award winning novelist, poet and academic C.J. Cooke. C.J.'s novels including the acclaimed 'The Lighthouse Witches'
'The Nesting' and 'The Ghost Woods' lean on the gothic tradition. Carolyn has built a huge and devoted international following and it is often the sense of world and place in her books that immerse readers so
Stewart Hotston: Politics And Governance
Our guest on the Writing Worlds podcast this week is novelist, short story author, game writer and live action role playing game organiser and player, Stewart Hotston. Stewart’s novel 'The Entropy of Loss' was a finalist for both the BSFA and Subjective Chaos awards and it’s one of 7 novels Stewart has published. As well as writing for the page Stewart has also written for 'Age of Ascent', the c
Alexandra Beaumont: Coasts and Shorelines
Our guest on the Writing Worlds podcast this week is novelist and musician Alexandra Beaumont. Alex’s fantasy is inspired by folklore, mythology, history and the coastline of Cornwall in the far south west of England. Her novels Dissonance of Birdsong and Ballad of River Bones (together known as the Myst Cycle) tell the story of a young woman, Eseld on a mission to cure the sacred birds her peo
Gareth L. Powell: Spaceships
Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.
Today on Writing Worlds we are honoured to be joined by novelist, short story writer and publisher Gareth L Powell. Gareth is a double winner of the BSFA award for best novel and shortlisted for awards including the Locus awards and the British Fantasy Awards. Gareth's work includes the epic "Embers o
Season One Review with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory
Thank you for joining us for this review of season one of Writing Worlds with hosts Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.
To hear our bonus content please join us on Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/AltStories
You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store.
Writing Worlds is c
Chris Beckett: Climate Crises
Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.
In this episode we feature Arthur C. Clarke Award winning novelist, Chris Beckett. The author of 9 critically acclaimed novels and a number of short stories which have featured in publications such as Interzone and Asimov's Science Fiction, Chris has also written an audio drama adaptation of his novel "Two
Adrian M. Gibson: Fungi
Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.
In this episode we feature author illustrator and podcaster Adrian M Gibson. Adrian's novel "Mushroom Blues' explores a world in the wake of a devastating war in which the fungal inhabitants of the island nation of Hoppon and its capital city of Neo Kinoko are in dire straits, wracked by food shortages, po
Tim Hardie and RJ Bayley: Voicing Vikings
Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.
In this episode we feature author Tim Hardie and voice actor and audio book reader RJ Bayley. Tim and RJ talk about the creation of the audio book version of Tim’s novel Hall of Bones and we discuss the reasons why an author might consider producing an audio book and the economics and practicalities of
Arkady Martine: Language
Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.
In this episode we feature multi-award-winning novelist, poet and academic Arkady Martine.
You can find out more about Arkady by visiting her website https://www.arkadymartine.net/
Follow Arkady on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/byzantienne.bsky.social
And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.
Joanne Harris: Smells and Sounds
Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory. Join our Patreon here
https://www.patreon.com/AltStories
In this episode we feature multi-award-winning novelist Joanne Harris. We would like to offer our thanks and appreciation to Joanne for taking the time to record this episode with us.
You can find out more about Joanne by visiting her website h
Kaitlin Felix And Joshua Gillingham: Nordic Inspiration
Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.
Join the Alternative Stories Patreon for exclusive, early release and ad-free Writing Worlds content. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories
In this episode we feature authors Kaitlin Felix and Joshua Gillingham for a conversation about Norse-inspired writing and world-building.
You can find out more abo
Ben Aaronovitch: Urban Fantasy
Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.
Join the Alternative Stories Patreon for exclusive, early release and ad-free Writing Worlds content. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories
In this episode we feature the author of the urban fantasy Rivers of London series Ben Aaronovitch
You can find out more about Ben and his world by visiting his web
Premee Mohamed: Terraforming
In this episode Chris and Emily chat with novelist and short fiction author Premee Mohamed about the concept and processes of terraforming.
Visit Premee's website here https://premeemohamed.com/
Follow Premee on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/premeesaurus/
And on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/premeemohamed.com
Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and
Zoe Gilbert: Folklore And Landscape
Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.
In this episode we chat with novelist, short story writer and teacher Zoe Gilbert about her magical realist worlds in her acclaimed novels ‘Folk’ and ‘Mischief Acts’.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iyXLmA6ePQ0WKTpX6kqeDHwD5IrsvzCf/edit?usp=sharing
Nicholas Briggs: Daleks and The Whoniverse
In this episode we chat with actor, writer, director Nicholas Briggs about his work on Doctor Who both on BBC TV and in audio drama versions published by Big Finish.
You can read a transcript of this episode here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_etg3gGotMSEAwfhlscQB85tOhELaoDn/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115587715767862763681&rtpof=true&sd=true
Find out more about Nicholas Briggs and his wor
Adrian Tchaikovsky: Deep Time
Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.
In this episode Emily and Chris are in conversation with Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Find out more about Adrian and order copies of his books by
visiting his website here https://adriantchaikovsky.com/
Follow Adrian on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/aptshadow.bsky.social
If you'd like to hear more
Lyndsey Croal: World building inspired by Scottish Folklore recorded live at Cymera 2025
Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with
Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.
In this episode, recorded live at the Cymera Festival in
Edinburgh we speak to speculative fiction writer Lyndsey Croal about her approaches to world building in her short fiction, novels and audio drama.
We would like to thank Lyndsey Croal for being our guest on
this episode, Ann Landmann and her
Welcome to Writing Worlds
Welcome to the first episode of The Writing World Podcast with our regular presenters Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.
Writing Worlds is aimed at writers and those who love to hear about the process of designing and describing imaginary worlds in fiction. We'll talk to writers, drama makers and those on the periphery of world building who bring these worlds to life. Each week we'll introduce
Writing Worlds Trailer
Welcome to Writing Worlds, a podcast about the art of writing worlds and settings in sci-fi, fantasy and horror.
In this short trailer you can hear our presenters Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory introducing the show. Listen out for a full-length preview episode coming soon.
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