In this final episode of the season, recorded in February 2023, I'm joined by the beloved poet and author Michael Rosen. Known equally for humorous children's verse and his poetry and prose for adults, Michael's books for kids include We're Going on a Bear Hunt, Chocolate Cake, Michael Rosen's Sad Book and Jelly Boots, Smelly Boots. He's also writt…

This week's guest is the beloved novelist Barbara Trapido, who I met at her home in Oxford in March 2023. Barbara's first novel was 1982's Brother of the More Famous Jack, which was published when she was 41; she followed it with Noah's Ark (1984), Temples of Delight (1990), Juggling (1994), The Travelling Hornplayer (1998), Frankie & Stankie (2003…

A little detour into death this week – or life, depending on how you look at it. Nigel Williamson, obituary writer for The Times newspaper, joins me to talk about the art of summing up a person one final time, over 1600 words or so, for the permanent record. I met Nigel in March at the News Building in London to talk about researching a biography, …

This week's guest is my friend Tor Freeman, who writes and illustrates comics and children's picture books. Tor is a hugely imaginative person, a smart observer of human nature, and a very funny writer. Her comics include Sister Clawdetta: Murder at the Monastery and Welcome to Oddleigh, while her children's books include The Toucan Brothers and Ol…

Geoff 'genre-defying' Dyer, whose career moves between fiction, non-fiction and a grey area in between, joins me this week from California. Geoff published his first book in 1986 and is highly prolific. Some of his best-known works include Out of Sheer Rage; Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi; and Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It. Last…

This week, the Guardian journalist Zoe Williams joins me on In Writing. I recorded with Zoe at her home in London just before Christmas. She's well-known in the UK as a prolific writer of features, confessional columns and political opinion, and she was as outspoken and entertaining in person as she is in print. She talked me through her ability to…

Hallå! My guest this week is Swedish screenwriter and director Ruben Östlund, who I met in London in December. Ruben's feature films include 2014's Force Majeure, 2017's The Square, and 2022's Triangle of Sadness, which is nominated for three Oscars including Best Original Screenplay. He has a unique way of writing, doing a lot of talking before he…

This week's guest is Sophie Mackintosh, author of books including the Booker Prize-longlisted The Water Cure, and new novel Cursed Bread. Sophie talks to me about the optimum balance of social life and writing life; how playlists help her get into the worlds of her novels; and how she powers her work with 'little treats'. Browse Sophie's books in t…

The fifth season of In Writing continues with Vogue columnist Raven Smith, who's known for his witty takes on pop culture, modern life and masculinity. Raven is the author of two collections of personal essays: Raven Smith's Trivial Pursuits and Raven Smith's Men, which has just come out in paperback (buy it here https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/in-wri…

I'm back! And very happy about it. This week, Nigerian novelist Ayobami Adebayo speaks to me from her home in Lagos. Ayobami is the author of 2017's Stay With Me, and A Spell of Good Things, which was published in the UK last week. Stay With Me was a hugely successful debut; it won the 9mobile Prize for Literature, and was shortlisted for the Baile…

Introducing the In Writing newsletter, a life raft for writers at sea. Sign up at https://inwriting.substack.comOleh Hattie Crisell

For the last episode of the fourth series of In Writing, Rumaan Alam joins me remotely from his house in Brooklyn, New York. Rumaan is the author of Rich and Pretty, That Kind of Mother, and most recently Leave the World Behind – a literary thriller about a family holiday that takes a sinister twist. (Leave the World Behind is set to become a Netfl…

Georgia Pritchett is my very funny guest this week. She's been writing for TV since the early Nineties and has worked on Smack the Pony, The Thick of It, Veep, Succession and, importantly, Spice World. She's also the creator of the new Apple TV series The Shrink Next Door, starring Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd and Kathryn Hahn – and she has recently pub…

The 40th episode of In Writing focuses on the art of letter-writing. Shaun Usher, who spoke to me last week from his home in Manchester, is the founder of Letters of Note, a blog that led to several very successful books and a star-studded live event (Letters Live). He has dedicated his career to finding the most brilliant, funny, insightful or poi…

Australian writer Liane Moriarty joins me this week from her family home in Sydney. Liane has written nine novels, including her latest mystery Apples Never Fall, and has sold over 20 million books worldwide. She is perhaps best known as the author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, which were adapted into glossy TV series starring Nico…

Today's interview is with the writer and editor Craig Taylor, who dials in from an island shack off the coast of western Canada. Once a Guardian contributor, with his column One Million Tiny Plays About Britain (which became a book and a play), Craig has since become known for oral histories including 2006's Return to Akenfield and 2011's Londoners…

It's wonderful to have novelist Meg Mason on the podcast this week. On holiday in June, I got more hooked on her novel Sorrow and Bliss than I have been on perhaps any other book of this year. Speaking to me from Sydney in August, Meg talked about her complicated feelings about the memoir she published in 2012 and the unpublished novel she complete…

Not a normal In Writing episode today, but a wholehearted recommendation for something new. This is a guest episode of the excellent podcast The Offcuts Drawer with Laura Shavin, on which successful writers share the contents of their bottom drawer – the bits of writing they never finished, had rejected or just like to hold on to for nostalgic reas…

This week's guest is The Guardian's John Crace, writer of satirical parliamentary sketches, as well as a personal diary column. For a long time John also wrote the paper's Digested Read, in which each week, he summed up a new book in a few funny paragraphs. He's published several books himself, on topics as varied as football, cricket and Shakespea…

This week I sit down with Christine Rose at her home in London, to find out all about a job that most people aren't aware exists. Christine works behind the scenes in comedy and entertainment, writing jokes for shows including Have I Got News for You and 8 out of 10 Cats; chat-show monologues for the likes of Graham Norton and Alan Carr; and funny …

This week, armed with tea and Jaffa cakes, I speak to the writer Amer Anwar at his home in west London. Amer is the author of Brothers in Blood and Stone Cold Trouble – crime thrillers set in Southall, populated by British Asian gangsters, and peppered with punch-ups, Punjabi swear words, and cunning plans. Before Amer had even finished a draft of …

I'm thrilled to be back for a fourth series, and to be kicking it off with such an interesting guest. Elif Shafak is a British-Turkish novelist who has published 19 books including 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World, The Forty Rules of Love and Three Daughters of Eve. Her most recent book is The Island of Missing Trees, which is a twisty t…

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 writte…

In the final episode of the third series (thank you for listening!), Maggie O'Farrell joins me from her home in Edinburgh. Maggie is the author of eight novels, including After You'd Gone, This Must Be The Place and Hamnet, which last year won the Women's Prize for Fiction. She also wrote the unsettling 2017 memoir I Am I Am I Am: Seventeen Brushes…

James Acaster joins me this week to talk about writing stand-up comedy. James has filmed five stand-up specials – the first four make up the series Repertoire, available on Netflix, while the most recent, Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999, arrived on Vimeo earlier this month. He was also nominated a record-breaking five years in a row for Best Comedy S…