In this episode of The Writing Life, Singapore-based writer Choo Yi Feng shares his approach to writing speculative fiction.

Choo Yi Feng is an intertidal explorer, climate activist, ecologist and fiction writer. The Waiting Room is his debut short story collection. Elsewhere, his short stories have previously been published in Foglifter Journal, Anathema: Spec from the Margins, Queer Southeast Asia and Alluvium, the journal of Literary Shanghai. He was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2022. His residency in the Dragon Hall Cottage was supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore.

He sat down with writer and mentor Simon K Jones to discuss world building in speculative fiction, and how his work blends elements of science-fiction, horror, mythology, and more. Together, they touch on his month-long residency in Norwich UNESCO City of Literature, his method for developing mysterious, compelling characters, and how his interest in the sea and sea animals translates in his stories.

In this episode of The Writing Life Podcast, writers and performers John Osborne and Lewis Buxton share insights on writing poetry for page and performance, and reflect on their lives as poets living and working in Norwich City of Literature.

John Osborne is a poet, scriptwriter, broadcaster and theatre-maker. He began writing whilst studying at the University of East Anglia and has never stopped, producing an eclectic mix of poetry, storytelling theatre shows, non-fictional explorations of everything from radio to the charms of the seaside and even a Sky One sitcom, After Hours. His latest collection of poems To Make People Happy was published in June 2025, and looks at happiness.

Lewis Buxton is a writer and theatre maker. His work has appeared in The Independent, Poetry Review, The Rialto, Ambit and Magma amongst others. He has won the Winchester Poetry Prize, received the UEA Literary Festival Bursary and is the Co-Director of TOAST. His first collection Boy in Various Poses was published by Nine Arches Press in 2021. His second collection Mate Arias was published in July 2025, and is a unique celebration of the tenderness and love that can be communicated by men.

Together, they discuss their poetry collections To Make People Happy and Mate Arias, and their themes of happiness, connection, and communication. Touching on everything from Norwich’s influence on their writing to how their performances subvert and expand expectations of what poetry is, this is an open conversation about finding inspiration, writing the absurd and surreal, and experimenting with form, rhythm, and structure.

In this episode of The Writing Life Podcast, crime writer and NCW tutor Julia Crouch welcomes the New Year with us and shares her advice and encouragement for the writing year ahead.

Julia is the author of ten internationally published crime novels, including Cuckoo, Tarnished, The Long Fall, and Her Husband’s Lover. Unable to find a sub-genre of crime writing that neatly described her work, she came up with the term Domestic Noir, which is now widely accepted as the label for one of the most popular crime genres today.

Julia has been a Visiting Fellow on the UEA MA Creative Writing Crime Fiction and teaches online for Faber Academy and the National Centre for Writing. She co-runs the Brighton Crime Wave, a bi-monthly crime fiction night.

She sat down with NCW’s Holly Ainley to discuss the different ways to be a writer, and to share her advice for getting started and staying motivated. Together, they discuss the benefits of cultivating a daily writing habit, finding inspiration in unexpected places, and being kind to yourself in the pursuit of your goals.

Get a head start on your writing goals with NCW Academy, the home for creative writers. You can find out more about our workshops, courses, free resources, and more at nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/academy.

In this festive episode of The Writing Life Podcast, crime writer Nicola Upson delves into the themes and appeal of crime novels set at Christmas.

Nicola Upson’s debut, An Expert in Murder, was the first in a series of crime novels to feature Josephine Tey — one of Britain’s finest Golden Age crime writers – and was dramatised for BBC Radio 4. Several of Nicola’s novels have been listed for the CWA Gold and Historical Daggers, and Sorry for the Dead was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month. Praised as a ‘perfect Christmas crime story’ by Elly Griffiths, her latest novel The Christmas Clue was published in September 2025.

She sat down with NCW’s Caitlin Evans to discuss The Christmas Clue, and how she tackled balancing festive cheer with page-turning twists and deceptive characters. Together, they touch on writing fiction inspired by real people, what drew her to writing a Christmas crime novel, and how to develop the ideal festive setting for a murder mystery.

Clara Chow works across genres of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Her strange experiments under Hermit Press include obscure prose chapbooks such as The Melancholy of Broken Bollards. She has been a resident at the University of Iowa, Toji Cultural Center, Asean Literary Festival and Shanghai Writers’ Programme. Her residency in the Dragon Hall Cottage was supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore.

She sits down with writer and mentor Megan Bradbury to discuss how she defines ‘experimental fiction’, and the importance of prioritising fun with your creative writing. Together, they touch on her month-long residency in Norwich UNESCO City of Literature, writing as a collaborative project, and the role bilingualism plays in her creative work.

Heather Parry is a Glasgow-based writer and editor, originally from South Yorkshire. Her debut novel, Orpheus Builds a Girl, was shortlisted for the Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year Award and longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. She is also the author of a short story collection, This Is My Body, Given For You, and her first nonfiction book, Electric Dreams: On Sex Robots and the Failed Promises of Capitalism, was released in 2024 as part of 404 Ink’s Inklings series.

Lisabelle Tay is the author of Pilgrim (The Emma Press, 2021). She writes poetry, fiction, and screenplays. Her work appears in Bad Lilies, Sine Theta Magazine, and elsewhere, and she was part of the 2023 Black List Feature Lab.

They sit down with Yan Ge, author of Strange Beasts of China, to explore how the body and the bodily serve as powerful lenses for examining trauma, grief, and the experience of inhabiting perspectives and bodies beyond our own.

This event, supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore, was recorded in May 2025 for The Global Page. The Global Page is a unique series of online global conversations featuring internationally acclaimed and emerging writers and translators. You can find more conversations like this on our website at nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk

In this episode of The Writing Life, acclaimed British author and academic Sarah Moss (known for Ghost Wall and Summerwater) joins us to discuss her latest novel, Ripeness, ‘a breathtaking story of love and the search for belonging, from 1960s Italy to present-day Ireland.’

Sarah reflects on the novel’s dual structure, which follows Edith both as a young girl and as an older woman, and explores how dance, movement, and the body shape the story’s emotional core. She also talks about her fascination with flawed characters and considers what it means (or doesn’t mean!) to be a ‘political’ writer.

Sarah Moss has written several novels including the Sunday Times top ten bestseller Summerwater (being adapted for television by Channel 4) and Ghost Wall, which was longlisted for the Women’s Prize. She has also written two works of memoir, Names for the Sea, an account of her year living in Iceland, and My Good Bright Wolf which will also be published in Spring 2025. Sarah Moss was born in Glasgow and grew up in the north of England. After moving between Oxford, Canterbury, Reykjavik, west Cornwall and the Midlands, she now lives in Dublin.

In this episode of The Writing Life, poets Erica Hesketh and Jenny Pagdin share insights into the poetry of motherhood, and how they each share their ‘emotional truth’ in their writing.

Erica Hesketh is a poet and editor, originally from Japan and Denmark, now based in London. Her poetry has been commissioned by the Royal Festival Hall, Spread the Word and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. From 2016 to 2024 she was Director of the Poetry Translation Centre. Her debut collection, In the Lily Room, is published by Nine Arches Press and explores early motherhood. Her poem ‘Night feed’ was highly commended in the 2025 Forward Prizes.

Jenny Pagdin wrote The Snow Globe (Nine Arches 2024) and Caldbeck (Eyewear, 2017), about postpartum psychosis. The Snow Globe won the East Anglian Book Awards poetry category in 2024, and her work has been shortlisted for the Mslexia pamphlet competition, highly commended and shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, and longlisted for the Rebecca Swift Foundation's 2018 Women's Poetry Prize.

Together, they reflect on how their experiences of motherhood have shaped their poetry and the creation of their debut collections. Touching on everything from how poetry fits into their lives as working mothers to the power of connecting with others by giving voice to experiences of illness and mental health, this is an honest and insightful conversation about recovery, language, and craft.

In this episode of The Writing Life, poet, editor, and literary activist Vanessa Bell discusses the journeys she has taken as a writer, both literally and figuratively, and her recent book tour around the UK.

Based in Quebec City of Literature, Vanessa Bell is co-director of CONTOURS and director of the poetry collection at Éditions du Quartz. Her debut collection of poetry, De rivières, was published by La Peuplade in 2019. She co-edited Anthology of contemporary poetry by women in Quebec 2000-2020 (Anthologie de la poésie actuelle des femmes au Québec 2000-2020) and MONUMENTS and won the 2021 Félix-Antoine-Savard Prize. She was selected as a 2022 Writers’ Trust Rising Star by Nicole Brossard.

She sits down with NCW’s Chief Executive Peggy Hughes to discuss how her travels have transformed her as a writer and as a person. Together, they touch on her work in Quebec, the many ways a project can evolve and change over time, and how professional mentoring has uplifted her work.

In this episode of The Writing Life, illustrator Hayley Wells delves into the importance of representation in children’s books.

Hayley Wells is an Essex-based illustrator with an MA in Children’s Book Illustration from Cambridge School of Art. Their work has been shortlisted for the World Illustration Awards, featured on television, and published worldwide.

They sit down with NCW’s Ellie Reeves to discuss The Spectacular Suit, a picture book which celebrates individuality, identity and self-expression. Together they touch on the relationship between writer and illustrator, their advice for people wanting to develop ideas for a children’s book, and the value of representing yourself and your experiences in your art.