Show Notes
This is a bonus episode with a writer who, in a way, has carved out a bonus career: Graham Norton. Long-established as a hugely successful presenter and comedian in the UK, he published his first novel, Holding, in 2016, and has followed that with 2018's A Keeper, and most recently last year's Home Stretch. They are well-plotted, sensitively written novels that turn the spotlight on small-town Ireland. I spoke to Graham in April, when he was at his home in London, and we discussed how fear of the first book's reception stopped him from over-writing it; why he has tried to keep his two careers apart; and how he's learning to trust the reader.
Home Stretch is now out in paperback, and I would also highly recommend Graham's second memoir, The Life and Loves of a He Devil. You can find his books and those of other guests of the podcast here, along with a selection of books on writing that I've found helpful: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/in-writing
This episode of In Writing is sponsored by Curtis Brown Creative. Use code INWRITING20 for £20 off one of their four, six, or ten-week online writing courses. Go to http://curtisbrowncreative.co.uk to find out more.
More from In Writing with Hattie Crisell
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This week I'm talking to Tom Crewe, author of 2023's The New Life, contributing editor of the London Review of Books and winner of the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. I visited Tom in September at his London office, which is really more of a nest of books, and we talked about the strange emotional journey of publication; the wrangling of structure; the role of sex scenes and much more.
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