Podcasts about bare fiction

In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Programme Officer Vicki is joined by novelist and NCW Academy tutor Melissa Fu to discuss the difficult task of writing your second novel. Melissa's writing appears in several publications including The Lonely Crowd, International Literature Showcase, Bare Fiction, Wasafiri Online, and The Willowherb Review. In 2019, her debut poetry pamphlet was published by the Hedgehog Poetry Press. Her first novel, Peach Blossom Spring, was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick in the UK and a 2022 Indies Introduce title for the American Booksellers Association. It has also been nominated as 2022 Book of the Year by the Book of the Month Club. Melissa will be teaching on our 12-week beginners' online tutored course ‘How to Write Fiction', which begins on Monday 23 September 2024. This podcast is an excellent sneak peek into the practical advice and guidance Melissa offers on this course, and a great introduction to her writing and teaching style. If you listen to this podcast and would like the opportunity to learn more from Melissa, you can go to nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/academy/tutored-courses/ to find out more. Together, Vicki and Melissa discuss the writing process for the ‘difficult second novel', and how writing her debut novel Peach Blossom Spring has differed from her experience working on her second book. They also touch on Melissa's journey into writing, her daily writing routine, and the challenges she has faced since publication.

The year is 1985. Durga is visiting her grandmother Mary in rural Malaysia. It's not a particularly happy occasion: Mary is tough and sharp-tongued, and “home” sparks bad memories for Durga. But a fireworks accident that sends Mary to hospital begins to unravel family secrets that had been building over generations, built by both Mary and Durga. Fragile Monsters, the debut novel by Catherine Menon (Viking, 2021), jumps between the Malaysian Emergency and the Eighties to explore themes of gender, class, and ethnicity in telling a story about a dark family history.  In this interview, Catherine and I discuss the historical setting of Fragile Monsters: a time period that normally doesn't feature in mainstream English-language fiction. We talk about how she explores memory and shame, gender and race.  Catherine Menon is Australian-British, has Malaysian heritage and lives in London. She is a University lecturer in robotics and has both a PhD in pure mathematics and an MA in Creative Writing. Her short story collection, Subjunctive Moods, was published by Dahlia Publishing in 2018. Her short stories have won or been placed in a number of competitions, including the Fish, Bridport, Bare Fiction and Short Fiction Journal awards. Her work has been broadcast on radio, and she's been a judge for several international short fiction competitions. Her website can be found here, and she can be followed on Twitter at @cg_menon. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of Fragile Monsters. Follow on Facebook or on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an associate editor for a global magazine and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He is also a print and broadcast commentator on local and regional politics. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-review

The year is 1985. Durga is visiting her grandmother Mary in rural Malaysia. It’s not a particularly happy occasion: Mary is tough and sharp-tongued, and “home” sparks bad memories for Durga. But a fireworks accident that sends Mary to hospital begins to unravel family secrets that had been building over generations, built by both Mary and Durga. Fragile Monsters, the debut novel by Catherine Menon (Viking, 2021), jumps between the Malaysian Emergency and the Eighties to explore themes of gender, class, and ethnicity in telling a story about a dark family history.  In this interview, Catherine and I discuss the historical setting of Fragile Monsters: a time period that normally doesn’t feature in mainstream English-language fiction. We talk about how she explores memory and shame, gender and race.  Catherine Menon is Australian-British, has Malaysian heritage and lives in London. She is a University lecturer in robotics and has both a PhD in pure mathematics and an MA in Creative Writing. Her short story collection, Subjunctive Moods, was published by Dahlia Publishing in 2018. Her short stories have won or been placed in a number of competitions, including the Fish, Bridport, Bare Fiction and Short Fiction Journal awards. Her work has been broadcast on radio, and she’s been a judge for several international short fiction competitions. Her website can be found here, and she can be followed on Twitter at @cg_menon. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of Fragile Monsters. Follow on Facebook or on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an associate editor for a global magazine and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He is also a print and broadcast commentator on local and regional politics. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

The year is 1985. Durga is visiting her grandmother Mary in rural Malaysia. It’s not a particularly happy occasion: Mary is tough and sharp-tongued, and “home” sparks bad memories for Durga. But a fireworks accident that sends Mary to hospital begins to unravel family secrets that had been building over generations, built by both Mary and Durga. Fragile Monsters, the debut novel by Catherine Menon (Viking, 2021), jumps between the Malaysian Emergency and the Eighties to explore themes of gender, class, and ethnicity in telling a story about a dark family history.  In this interview, Catherine and I discuss the historical setting of Fragile Monsters: a time period that normally doesn’t feature in mainstream English-language fiction. We talk about how she explores memory and shame, gender and race.  Catherine Menon is Australian-British, has Malaysian heritage and lives in London. She is a University lecturer in robotics and has both a PhD in pure mathematics and an MA in Creative Writing. Her short story collection, Subjunctive Moods, was published by Dahlia Publishing in 2018. Her short stories have won or been placed in a number of competitions, including the Fish, Bridport, Bare Fiction and Short Fiction Journal awards. Her work has been broadcast on radio, and she’s been a judge for several international short fiction competitions. Her website can be found here, and she can be followed on Twitter at @cg_menon. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of Fragile Monsters. Follow on Facebook or on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an associate editor for a global magazine and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He is also a print and broadcast commentator on local and regional politics. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

https://www.unamannion.com/ Una Mannion’s debut novel A Crooked Tree will be published by Faber and Faber in the UK and Ireland and by Harper Collins in the US in 2021. It will also be published in Germany with Steidl publishing house and in Italy by Astoria. Una has won numerous prizes for her short fiction and poetry including The Hennessy New Irish Writing Poetry Award, The Cúirt International Short Fiction Award, Doolin short story prize, Ambit fiction award, Allingham short fiction prize among others. Her work has been published in numerous journals such as Crannóg, The Lonely Crowd, Bare Fiction, Ambit and her stories have been included in recent collections: Galway Stories: 2020 edited by Lisa Frank and Alan McMonagle (April 2020) and The Art of the Glimpse: 100 Irish Short Stories edited by Sinéad Gleeson, (autumn 2020). Along with writers Louise Kennedy and Eoin McNamee, Una edits The Cormorant, a broadsheet of poetry and prose. She curates The Word, a monthly author series hosted by Sligo Central Library and the BA Writing + Literature at IT Sligo. Una is represented by Peter Straus at Rogers, Coleridge & White Thanks to Pam Stack - Executive Producer - Authors on the Air Global Radio Network www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsontheair Thanks to Roman Sirotin - Video/Audio Producer / Media Coordinator - Authors on the Air Global Radio Network www.romansirotin.com Thanks to our sponsor Mickey Mikkelson www.creative-edge.services @Copyrighted by Authors on the Air

Latest Spoken Label session features Natalie Crick. Natalie Crick, from Newcastle in the UK, has poems published or forthcoming in Stand, Poetry Salzburg Review, Orbis, The Moth, Banshee, Strix, Bare Fiction, New Welsh Review and elsewhere. She is studying for an MPhil in Creative Writing at Newcastle University. Her poetry has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize twice, shortlisted for The Anthony Cronin International Poetry Award 2018, commended in the 2019 Hippocrates Open Awards for Poetry and Medicine and one of her poems was a runner-up in the PBS & Mslexia Women's Poetry Competition 2018, judged by Carol Ann Duffy. This year one of Natalie's poems was commended in the Verve Poetry Festival Competition 2020 on the theme of diversity. She is currently a creative-practitioner-in-residence at the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research at Newcastle University. Some links for Natalie include: And there are a few links: www.ncl.ac.uk/elll/study/students/cricknatalie.html?fbclid=IwAR2VjsqLHykWwdaNnvEp-i6aI5FRdyW0_xith4QHmOEzmzbz3YZzWSbNDFU www.poetrybooks.co.uk/blogs/news/womens-poetry-competition-runner-up-natalie-crick Twitter; natalieiswriting999 Instragram: PoetryNatalie Facebook: fragmentedvoices Poems read out in this session include: 1.'I See You' (published in The Manchester Review) 2. 'Red' (published in Banshee) 3. 'In Remembrance' (published in New Welsh Review) 4. 'Acute Admissions Ward' (published in The Verve Anthology of Diversity Poems and commended in the Verve Poetry Festival Competition 2020) 5. '30 Days' (published in Orbis) 6. 'Baby's Breath' (published in The Interpreter's House.)

Michael Kras is a Hamilton-based playwright, actor, and director. His play #dirtygirl was recently the winner of the Audience Choice Award at the 2016 Hamilton Fringe, and he’s developing a new play with Theatre Aquarius. His work has been supported by Roseneath Theatre, Young People’s Theatre, and the Ontario Arts Council. Recent works include Teach Her My Name, which played to sold-out houses at the 2016 HamilTEN Festival; For Kiera, which is published internationally in Bare Fiction and was shortlisted for the HA&L Short Works Prize; and Places, winner of the 2014 Audience Choice Award at the Hamilton Fringe. This year, Michael was honoured with a nomination for a City of Hamilton Arts Award in recognition of his work as an emerging theatre artist. Michael is a graduate of Humber Theatre School, the artistic director of Broken Soil Theatre, and a member of the Theatre Aquarius Playwrights Unit.Twitter: @KrasMagicStageworthy:http://www.stageworthypodcast.com Twitter @stageworthyPod Facebook: http://facebook.com/stageworthyPod

A short play by Matthew Bulgo, performed by Joanne Ferguson and directed by Alice Malin. In Matthew’s play 'On Hold' a woman’s routine falls into disarray as a tragedy besets her home life. The smallest things begin to take on whole new levels of significance and now that her schedule has been obliterated, she finds that the most agonising thing of all...is waiting. The recording you’re about to hear was made on September 24th 2013 at the Dogstar, Brixton during the launch of issue 3 of Bare Fiction magazine. The Bare Fiction Podcast is an occasional series highlighting the best in new poetry, fiction and plays. You can purchase the magazine in print and digital formats by visiting www.barefictionmagazine.co.uk The music for this podcast was "Sidewalk Shade" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Short story reading from Lindsay Waller-Wilkinson. This week Lindsay Waller-Wilkinson reads extracts from her short story Chiaroscuro which appeared in Issue 1 of the magazine. The recording you’re about to hear was made on December 19th 2013 at the Shrewsbury Coffeehouse during the launch of issue 1 of Bare Fiction magazine. Make sure you check back every Thursday for the best in new poetry, fiction and plays. You can purchase the magazine in print and digital formats by visiting www.barefictionmagazine.co.uk The music for this podcast was "Sidewalk Shade" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Short story reading from Carly Holmes. Carly Holmes reads her short story from Issue 2 of the magazine. The Black Night Long and shares an extract from her first novel, The Scrapbook (Parthian Books). Katherine Stansfield called The Scrapbook “A beautifully crafted novel... a bittersweet exploration of family - the ties that bind, and the ties that bite.” This recording was made on April 30th 2014 at the Gwdihw Cafe in Cardiff during the launch of issue 2 of Bare Fiction magazine. Make sure you check back every Thursday for the best in new poetry, fiction and plays. You can purchase the magazine in print and digital formats by visiting www.barefictionmagazine.co.uk The music for this podcast was "Sidewalk Shade" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Poetry reading by Jemma L. King. Jemma is a founding member of the Centre for Women’s Writing and Literary Culture and has read and published her work internationally. Her debut collection The Shape of a Forest (Parthian Books) was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2013. She was selected as a Scritture Giovanni Fellow in 2014 and she won The Terry Hetherington Award in 2011 for her poem on Amelia Earhart. Her new collection, The Undressed, is also published by Parthian Books. This recording was made on December 19th 2013 at the Shrewsbury Coffeehouse during the launch of issue 1 of Bare Fiction magazine. Make sure you check back every Thursday for the best in new poetry, fiction and plays. You can purchase the magazine in print and digital formats by visiting www.barefictionmagazine.co.uk The music for this podcast was "Sidewalk Shade" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Short story/flash fiction reading by Tania Hershman. Tania Hershman’s short fictions have won her many prizes. She is a consummate author of extraordinary brief fiction that for me, crosses the boundary between poetry and prose in a very exciting way. Now, as well as two collections of short fiction, My Mother Was an Upright Piano (Tangent Books) and The White Road (Salt), Tania is also co-author of a forthcoming book from Bloomsbury’s academic imprint, Writing Short stories, which is A Writers' and Artists' Companion that she has co-written with another critically acclaimed short story writer and novelist, Courttia Newland. The recording was made on April 30th 2014 at the Gwdihw Cafe Bar in Cardiff during the launch of issue 2 of Bare Fiction magazine. Tania Hershman, one of our judges for the inaugural Bare Fiction Prize. For more details visit: www.barefictionmagazine.co.uk/competitions/ Make sure you check back every Thursday for the best in new poetry, fiction and plays. You can purchase the magazine in print and digital formats by visiting www.barefictionmagazine.co.uk For more details about Tania Hershman visit: taniahershman.com The music for this podcast was "Sidewalk Shade" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Short story reading by May-Lan Tan from her collection Things To Make and Break (CB editions 2014) May-Lan is a Hong Kong-born writer who lives in London, where she studied for a BA in Fine Art and an MA in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths. As well as her short story collection she also has a chapbook called Girly (Future Tense Books). The Guardian called Things to Make and Break “an excellent debut”, PANK called it “mind-blowingly good”, and our own Lucy Jeynes in her review in Issue 2 of Bare Fiction Magazine said, “This kind of writing is a serious turn-on.” The recording was made on April 30th 2014 at the Gwdihw Cafe Bar in Cardiff during the launch of issue 2 of Bare Fiction magazine. May-Lan gives a reading from her story Legendary. For details of the Bare Fiction Prize visit: www.barefictionmagazine.co.uk/competitions/ Make sure you check back every Thursday for the best in new poetry, fiction and plays. You can purchase the magazine in print and digital formats by visiting www.barefictionmagazine.co.uk For more details about May-Lan Tan and her live tour dates visit: http://may-lan.com The music for this podcast was "Sidewalk Shade" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/