Collected: The Podcast

Afleveringen

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  #515: Cathy Rentzenbrink, bestselling memoirist and reading champion 12.09.2026 46min

  Celebrated memoirist and novelist Cathy Rentzenbrink talks about how she exorcised the ghost of her brother from her novels by writing The Last Act of Love, why writing can be a struggle, the healing power of reading projects, and why she loves talking to strangers on trains. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #514: Lauren J Joseph, novelist and playwright 29.08.2026 55min

  Critically acclaimed writer Lauren J Joseph joins Ann Morgan to discuss how acting informs her writing process, why the time after you finish a manuscript can be so difficult, how generative failure can be and the publishing industry's treatment of marginalised communities. The pair also celebrate their shared love of Iris Murdoch's The Bell and talk about the overlooked intellect of Muriel Spark. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #513 Val McDermid, queen of crime writing 15.08.2026 1u

  The internationally acclaimed author of more than 40 books joins fellow crime writer and band mate Doug Johnstone to discuss how the publishing industry has changed, the novel she had to run away to write, becoming lead singer of The Fun Lovin' Crime Writers in her sixties, and why she's having more fun with more genres than ever. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #512 Davina Quinlivan, memoirist, cultural producer and ecological storyteller 01.08.2026 50min

  RLF beneficiary Davina Quinlivan shares her journey writing Possessions, her memoir exploring decolonisation, academia and identity from the standpoint of growing up the child of Anglo-Burmese parents in Britain. She also talks about featuring elements of the fantastic in non-fiction, how class affects access to books, and shifting attitudes to Englishness in the work of writers with migrant heritage. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #511 Daisy Buchanan, author, journalist and host of hit podcast You're Booked 18.07.2026 52min

  The author of Read Yourself Happy joins host Ann Morgan to discuss the National Year of Reading and how spending time with books can help ease anxiety, as well as her new novel, All Grown Up, a modern-day retelling of Little Women. In addition, the conversation touches on Daisy's journey to sobriety, the influence of the sea on the writing process, and managing the requirement for authors to market themselves on social media. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #510: Sally Kindberg, comic strip artist, writer, journalist and curator 04.07.2026 41min

  In this special episode to mark the centenary of Winnie-the-Pooh, comic strip artist and author Sally Kindberg and host Jonathan Tulloch explore the legacy of AA Milne, and discuss Kindberg's experiences as an accidental travel journalist, a reluctant mudlarker, and the curator of a museum of dust. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #509: Daniel Hahn, award-winning translator, author and editor 20.06.2026 35min

  Daniel Hahn discusses his latest book on translating Shakespeare, explains why books should be labelled if they're translated by AI and considers whether there's really such a thing as translator's block. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #508: John Aizlewood, music journalist and sports writer 06.06.2026 53min

  Music journalist, rock biographer and sports writer John Aizlewood shares his insights into having tea with Peter Gabriel, travelling on Texas' tour bus and spending a year attending every game played by league one football club Stevenage accompanied by his teenage son. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #507: Hanif Kureishi, celebrated novelist, screenwriter and playwright 25.04.2026 36min

  In this special interview, cult author and RLF beneficiary Hanif Kureishi tells Paul Dodgson about working with David Bowie, why he has given up listening to music except for one particular song, and how he has rebuilt his writing process after the fall that left him paralysed in 2022. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #506: Sara Shaarawi, playwright and producer 11.04.2026 47min

  The Cairo-born scriptwriter joins host Ann Morgan to explore her accidental route into writing, what it means to speak English wrong, the challenges and opportunities of being a writer of migrant heritage and how she has blended Egypt and Scotland in her work. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #505: Hugo Williams, award-winning poet 29.03.2026 50min

  The winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry joins host Julia Copus to discuss why he hardly reads novels, shifting literary fashions, building poems from snippets and growing up in a family of actors. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #504: Katharine Quarmby, novelist, journalist and non-fiction writer 15.03.2026 42min

  The East Anglian writer tells Jonathan Tulloch what editing taught her about rejection and why ghosting is so damaging for writers. She also discusses investigating asbestos and hate speech, and discovering the spectres of places that used to exist through archival research. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #503: Pat Cumper MBE, playwright, producer, director and cultural commentator 01.03.2026 58min

  Pat Cumper, the celebrated former artistic director of Talawa Theatre Company talks to fellow playwright Juliet Gilkes Romero about the survival of political theatre, her experience of racism at Cambridge University in the 1970s, adapting work by Toni Morrison and what it means to be in the writing zone. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #502: Emma John, journalist and memoirist 15.02.2026 48min

  Emma John, chronicler of cricket, bluegrass music and singlehood, talks to presenter Paul Dodgson about creating a writing panic room, writing memoirs by accident and when it is acceptable to tweak facts in non-fiction. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #501: John Lewis-Stempel, celebrated nature writer and farmer 01.02.2026 53min

  The celebrated nature writer and farmer delves into the Royal Literary Fund archive, reflecting on his singular creative processes, why rewilding may not always be a good thing and how he learnt to speak dog. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #500: Abigail Mann, comedy writer turned queen of erotic fiction 18.01.2026 52min

  In her first conversation about her hotly anticipated new erotic novel Wet Ink, written under the pen name Abigail Avis, RLF Fellow Abigail Mann tells presenter Ann Morgan about the importance of portraying a diversity of experiences in sex scenes, the perils of the productivity mindset and the fear of combining writing and motherhood. Abigail will be writing a series of articles for Collected following the process of Wet Ink's publication this year. Follow her journey on the RLF's Substack: https://royalliteraryfund.substack.com  © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #499: Vanessa Collingridge, broadcaster and non-fiction writer 21.12.2025 41min

  Collected's Caroline Sanderson is joined by author and broadcaster Vanessa Collingridge to discuss writing about neurodiversity, chronicling the adventures of her distant relative Captain Cook, tackling fake news and democratising knowledge, and a career that has spanned seven continents. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #498: Paula Hawkins, internationally bestselling novelist 07.12.2025 46min

  International bestseller and RLF trustee Paula Hawkins joins Collected host Sonia Faleiro to reflect on her journey to success, how she deals with criticism, and the way each book comes to her differently. Paula's renowned thrillers include The Girl on the Train, A Slow Fire Burning and Into the Water. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #497: Satinder Chohan, playwright and dramastorian 23.11.2025 44min

  Presenter Juliet Gilkes Romero is joined by playwright Satinder Chohan to discuss what it means to be a dramastorian, how telling more stories about the dark side of empire would improve our understanding of immigration, and how you balance writing and caring for family members. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk
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  #496: Elif Shafak, award-winning & international best-selling novelist, essayist and activist 09.11.2025 59min

  Elif Shafak, the internationally acclaimed Turkish-British author of 21 books joins host Doug Johnstone on a deep dive into the RLF sound archive. Responding to other writers' observations, she reflects on her approach to structure, the role of activism in her writing, what it means to write a book that won't be read for 100 years, and her love of heavy metal music. © Royal Literary Fund www.rlf.org.uk