Shows / Fictionable
Fictionable
Interviews, book chat and everything about the short stories and graphic fiction from all around the world appearing in Fictionable. "Storytellers, readers and creatives alike will love" – The Independent
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Episodes
FictionableMark Haddon: 'So much about writing, so much about art in general, is about solving a paradox'
The storms are barrelling across the Atlantic, the nights are drawing in, so it's time for some more exclusive short stories and another set of podcasts. We'll…
FictionableElaine Vilar Madruga: 'I’m always thinking about Kafka when I write'
This Summer series we've already heard from Will Boast, EC Osondu, Robin Munby and Zhenya Oliinyk. But we bring it to a close with Elaine Vilar Madruga and her…
FictionableZhenya Oliinyk: 'Drawing and writing comics is more like journalism to me'
We've heard from Will Boast, EC Osondu and Robin Munby already in this Summer series of podcasts, and Elaine Vilar Madruga is lined up next. But this week we…
FictionableRobin Munby: 'You're always writing in some sense for yourself'
This summer we've already heard from Will Boast and EC Osondu, and we'll be welcoming Elaine Vilar Madruga and Zhenya Oliinyk on to the podcast over the next…
FictionableEC Osondu: 'The writer is also a strange animal'
Will Boast kicked off this Summer series of podcasts, discussing the bureaucracy and hostility that immigrants face all around the world. We'll be hearing from…
FictionableWill Boast: 'You almost have to make your characters feel interestingly doomed'
The heat is on in London, so it's time for another set of exclusive short stories and another series of podcasts. Over the next few weeks we'll be hearing from…
FictionableTakiguchi Yūshō: 'When I’m writing fiction, I have very little sense I’m the one inventing the story'
We've already heard from Diana Evans, Bruna Martini, Joel Cox and Holly Edwards in this Spring series of podcasts. Now we bring it to a close with Takiguchi…
FictionableHolly Edwards: 'There's obviously something political about presenting trans characters'
Diana Evans, Bruna Martini and Joel Cox have already joined us on this Spring series of podcasts, and next time we'll be hearing from Takiguchi Yūshō and the…
FictionableJoel Cox: 'It's fine to have jerks in stories, but you have to have something that makes the reader keep reading'
We've heard from Diana Evans and Bruna Martini already in this Spring series of podcasts, and we'll be welcoming Takiguchi Yūshō and the translator Jesse…
FictionableBruna Martini: 'I have spent too many months without drawing'
This Spring series of podcasts began with Diana Evans, who took us back to the 1990s. We'll be hearing from Takiguchi Yūshō and the translator Jesse Kirkwood…
FictionableDiana Evans: 'Writing is an act of hope'
Spring is here and so is Fictionable, with another set of exclusive short stories and another series of podcasts where we meet our fantastic authors. During…
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Cynthia Banham: 'Writing is a dangerous act'
In this Winter series we've already welcomed Cynthia Zarin, Rodrigo Urquiola Flores and the translator Shaina Brassard, Tim Conley and Samuel Rigg. We bring…
- Fictionable
Samuel Rigg: 'Often I find I'm writing about people who are not me'
After hearing from Cynthia Zarin, Rodrigo Urquiola Flores and the translator Shaina Brassard, and Tim Conley, this Winter series of podcasts enters the final…
- Fictionable
Tim Conley: 'Short fiction is a lot more liberating'
We've already heard from Cynthia Zarin, Rodrigo Urquiola Flores and the translator Shaina Brassard in this Winter series – we'll be welcoming Cynthia Banham…
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Rodrigo Urquiola Flores: 'Everything in this short story is true'
We began this Winter series of podcasts with Cynthia Zarin, who suggested that every single one of us is torn in different ways. We'll be examining those…
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Cynthia Zarin: 'You write out of the world that you're living in'
It's cold, it's wet, it's January. Time for another series of exclusive short stories and another series of podcasts. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be hearing…
- Fictionable
Ephameron: 'My work is always at the crossroads between literature, graphic arts, painting, comics'
This Autumn series of podcasts has already brought us Helon Habila, Caroline Clark and Kasimma. We round it off with Ephameron and her graphic short story…
- Fictionable
Kasimma: 'Because I’m writing fiction, I can get away with anything'
We've already heard from Helon Habila and Caroline Clark in this Autumn series of podcasts, and we'll be rounding out the set with Ephameron in the next couple…
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Caroline Clark: 'This story completely surprised me'
This Autumn series of podcasts started with Helon Habila confronting the difficult legacy of slavery in the US. Over the next few weeks, we'll be talking with…
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Helon Habila: 'What fiction does is make you live the life of the other'
Here in the northern hemisphere it's getting misty and mellow all over again. Time for Autumn 2025 and another fruitful harvest of podcasts, ripened to the…
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Sheyla Smanioto: 'It's a haunted story, where you know something is going to happen'
This summer series of podcasts has taken us from the snow and ice of AL Kennedy's Expedition Skills to the blunt heat of Ali McClary's Proper Magic, and from…
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Dafydd McKimm: 'I write this kind of story in a bit of a fever'
This summer, we've heard from AL Kennedy, Pete Segall and Ali McClary. We'll be bringing this series to a close with Sheyla Smanioto, but this time Dafydd…
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Ali McClary: 'This story started as a conversation between two young women'
We've already heard from AL Kennedy and Pete Segall in this summer series of podcasts, and we’ll be hearing from Sheyla Smanioto and Dafydd McKimm over the…
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Pete Segall: 'I don’t feel like it’s my job as a writer to answer questions'
We began this Summer series of podcasts with AL Kennedy arguing that the empathy which powers fiction makes writing it a political act. We'll be talking…
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AL Kennedy: 'It's all political, if you're writing fiction'
It's raining in London, but it's time for another issue – and another series of Fictionable podcasts. Over the next few weeks we'll be hearing from Sheyla…
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Susanna Clarke: 'You’ve got to play with things being very fantastical and also slightly humdrum'
This spring we've heard from Fríða Ísberg, Bronia Flett, Jeremy Wikeley and PR Woods already. But we bring this series to a close with Susanna Clarke and her…
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Jeremy Wikeley: 'I would always defend the notion of being able to write about a place called England'
We've already welcomed Fríða Ísberg, Bronia Flett and PR Woods in this Spring series, and Susanna Clarke will be joining us next time. But now we're hearing…
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PR Woods: 'I would never write anything against Wolf Hall'
We've already heard from Fríða Ísberg and Bronia Flett in this Spring series, and we'll be welcoming Susanna Clarke and Jeremy Wikeley on to the Fictionable…
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Bronia Flett: 'This is obviously all fiction'
Fríða Ísberg got this Spring series of podcasts started, with a dialogue on monologues and a reading from her short story Fingers, translated by Larissa Kyzer…
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Fríða Ísberg: 'We are always just looking for simple stories'
Everything is changing, but one thing you can rely on is a new set of stories and a new series of podcasts from Fictionable. Spring 2025 brings us stories from…
- Fictionable
Joanna Kavenna: 'We all make fictions about the future'
After hearing from Helga Schubert, Ben Sorgiovanni, Julian George and Rachida Lamrabet, we bring this Winter series of podcasts to a close with Joanna Kavenna…
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Rachida Lamrabet: 'Fiction gives me the opportunity to introduce another perspective'
In this Winter season we've already heard from Helga Schubert, Ben Sorgiovanni and Julian George. Joanna Kavenna will be rounding off the series next time, but…
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Julian George: 'Any word out of place, the whole thing is worthless'
So far we've heard from Helga Schubert and Ben Sorgiovanni in this Winter season. We'll be welcoming Joanna Kavenna and Rachida Lamrabet over the next couple…
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Ben Sorgiovanni: 'What fiction does really well is capture the nuance of human experience'
This Winter series of podcasts got underway with Helga Schubert, who told us how she put together her short story On Getting Up from pieces of her past. This…
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Helga Schubert: 'There's got to be distance between the writer and their story'
As the world lurches into 2025 we launch into another series of Fictionable podcasts. We'll be hearing from Joanna Kavenna, Rachida Lamrabet, Ben Sorgiovanni…
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Esther Karin Mngodo: 'I am more myself when I write in Swahili'
Last year we heard from Daisy Johnson, Judith Vanistendael, Scott Jacobs and Hannah Webb. We bring our Autumn series to a close – just in time for Winter –…
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Hannah Webb: 'I always seem to end up writing at the extremes'
We opened this Autumn season with Daisy Johnson and followed up with Judith Vanistendael and Scott Jacobs. We'll be sitting down with Esther Karin Mngodo over…
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Scott Jacobs: 'I made a few things up along the way'
This season we've already heard from Daisy Johnson and Judith Vanistendael. Over the next few weeks we'll be sitting down with Esther Karin Mngodo and Hannah…
- Fictionable
Judith Vanistendael: 'This first love has defined my storytelling'
In the first of our Autumn podcasts, Daisy Johnson told us how she was living on the edge when she was writing her collection The Hotel, and read from her…
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Daisy Johnson: 'Most of the things I write do have a twist'
The leaves are swirling, there's a nip in the air, so it's time for a whole new bunch of Fictionable podcasts. Over the next few weeks we'll be hearing from…
- Fictionable
Susan Muaddi Darraj: 'My writing has changed forever by what's happening in Gaza'
This Summer podcast series has brought us Samantha Harvey, Patrick Cash, Carolina Bruck – translated by Ellen Jones – and Jack Klausner. We bring it to a close…
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Jack Klausner: 'I write more on the darker end of the spectrum'
Already this summer we've heard from Samantha Harvey, Patrick Cash, Carolina Bruck and her translator Ellen Jones. This time we're getting under the surface of…
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Carolina Bruck: 'Fiction can transform the way we understand the world'
This summer series has already brought us Samantha Harvey and Patrick Cash. Now it's time for Carolina Bruck and her translator Ellen Jones, with Bruck's short…
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Patrick Cash: 'The coming out story has been told so many times'
Last time Samantha Harvey let the cat out of the bag, diving straight into the heart of her story Bona Fide Nihon-kitsch. This time Patrick Cash is a little…
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Samantha Harvey: 'This is what fiction can do'
The weather may be up the spout but it's still summer, so it's time for another batch of Fictionable podcasts. We'll be hearing from Susan Muaddi Darraj…
- Fictionable
Jakub Żulczyk: 'We're all two inches tall'
In this Spring series of podcasts we've heard from Jenny Erpenbeck, Grahame Williams, Lauren Caroline Smith and Rose Rahtz. We bring it to a close with Jakub…
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Rose Rahtz: 'What if you did have magical powers in a toddler?'
This spring we've already heard from Jenny Erpenbeck, Grahame Williams and Lauren Caroline Smith. This time we welcome Rose Rahtz and her short story Where…
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Lauren Caroline Smith: 'There is something countercultural in Christianity'
In this Spring series of podcasts we've already heard from Jenny Erpenbeck and Grahame Williams. Now it's time for Lauren Caroline Smith and her short story…
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Grahame Williams: 'Random acts of violence could happen at any time'
Last time we heard from Jenny Erpenbeck, who told us that before her latest novel Kairos she'd "never written a love story". This time we welcome Grahame…
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Jenny Erpenbeck: 'What you write down can be made to hide something'
Spring has finally sprung and with it another series of Fictionable podcasts. Over the next few weeks we'll be hearing from Jakub Żulczyk, Grahame Williams…
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Liam Hogan: 'I want to be entertained'
We've already heard from Linda Mannheim, Richard Smyth, Ariel Marken Jack. and Robert Neuwirth in this Winter series of podcasts. Now we bring it to a close…
- Fictionable
Robert Neuwirth: 'I wanted it to be plausible as a machine thinking'
In this Winter series of podcasts we've heard from Linda Mannheim, Richard Smyth and Ariel Marken Jack. This time we welcome Robert Neuwirth and his short…
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Ariel Marken Jack: 'The way I fight back is through my writing'
We've already heard from Linda Mannheim and Richard Smyth in this Winter series, and now it's time for Ariel Marken Jack and their story The Bread Boy. Marken…
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Richard Smyth: 'We all need an Otherland'
Last week we heard from Linda Mannheim, who told us that the only way she can go back to the neighbourhood where she grew up is in fiction. This time we…
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Linda Mannheim: 'What is a happy ending?'
In this Winter series of podcasts, we'll be hearing from Richard Smyth, Ariel Marken Jack, Robert Neuwirth and Liam Hogan. We start off with Linda Mannheim…
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Catriona Bolt: 'Everyone in the story associates mushrooms with death'
We've already heard from M John Harrison, Irena Karpa, Seán Padraic Birnie and Shauna Mackay on the Fictionable podcast. Now we bring this autumn series to a…
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Shauna Mackay: 'It's listening to the characters and letting them take the lead'
In this autumn series of podcasts we've heard from M John Harrison, Irena Karpa and Seán Padraic Birnie. This week we welcome Shauna Mackay to discuss her…
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Seán Padraic Birnie: 'I was quite depressed and pissed off with work'
This autumn we've already heard from M John Harrison, Irena Karpa and her band, Qarpa. This week we have an appointment with Seán Padraic Birnie and his story…
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Irena Karpa: 'Literature must entertain, especially in dark times'
After hearing last week from M John Harrison, who discussed how he makes fiction from fragments of reality, this week we turn it up to eleven as we welcome…
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M John Harrison: 'How do you know who’s alive and who’s the ghost?'
Over the next few weeks, we'll be hearing from Irena Karpa, Seán Padraic Birnie, Shauna Mackay and Catriona Bolt. But we launch this autumn podcast series with…