Episodes

  • S03 E10 Ivan Vladislavic

    S03 E10 Ivan Vladislavic
    May 20 2024
    Ivan Vladislavic is a multi-award winning author, editor, and professor of creative writing. His new memoir The Near North is available now.

    Ivan joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how not having grown up in Johannesburg has made him more curious about the city and how the words of other authors are the constant backdrop to his life.

    Ivan discusses the narrative choices one has to make as a memoirist and gives credit to his trusted early readers for helping his decide how to structure The Near North.

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    Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you! Please join the conversation here:
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • S03 E09 Lynn Joffe

    S03 E09 Lynn Joffe
    May 13 2024
    Lynn Joffe is a copywriter, a novelist, a short story writer, and an author of children's books. She is the author of the critically acclaimed picaresque novel, The Gospel According to Wanda B. Lazarus, published by Modjaji Books.

    Lynn joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how she came to write a feminist reimagining of the antisemitic Medieval myth of the Wandering Jew.
    Describing antisemitism as a 'light sleeper', Lynn talks about how this myth was reverse engineered into scripture centuries afterwards.

    Lynn describes how losing her sister to cancer plunged her into a state of deep grief and how she is only now able to find her writing voice again.

    Fiona and Gail ask Lynn the secrets every writer should know about keeping their work at the forefront of the public's mind.

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    Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you! Please join the conversation here:
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    55 mins
  • S03 E08 Margie Orford

    S03 E08 Margie Orford
    May 6 2024
    Margie Orford is a writer, academic, activist, and award-winning journalist. She is the author of the acclaimed Clare Hart series of crime novels. Her most recent work is a much-anticipated memoir, Love And Fury.

    Margie joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about the narrative choices one makes for memoir rather than fiction, and how second-wave feminism influenced her life at every step.

    Margie discusses how she handles sexual violence on the page and how talking about one's own life is different to talking about fictional constructs.

    For more details about the books, movies, series, and podcasts that are discussed on the show, sign up here for our weekly newsletter:
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    Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you! Please join the conversation here:
    Email: hiddenlivesofwriters@gmail.com
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    Twitter: @hiddenwriterpod
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    Threads: @thehiddenlivesofwriters
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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • S03 E07 Fiona Snyckers - The Hidden

    S03 E07 Fiona Snyckers - The Hidden
    Apr 29 2024
    In this special episode of The Hidden Lives of Writers, Fiona Snyckers sits down with author, reviewer, and journalist Gus Silber to talk about her new novel THE HIDDEN, which is published by Pan Macmillan.

    Gus grills Fiona about her secret past as a child writer and whether her own children find her books difficult to read, and Gus does a deep dive into the culture wars and the historical and cultural antecedents of Fiona's new book.

    Watch the full video on YouTube, or listen to the audio version on all podcasting platforms.

    For more details about the books, movies, series, and podcasts that are discussed on the show, sign up here for our weekly newsletter.

    Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you! Please join the conversation:
    Email: hiddenlivesofwriters@gmail.com
    Instagram: @thehiddenlivesofwriterspod
    Twitter: @hiddenwriterpod
    YouTube: The Hidden Lives of Writers
    Threads: @thehiddenlivesofwriters
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    41 mins
  • S03 E06 Helen Moffett

    S03 E06 Helen Moffett
    Apr 22 2024
    Helen Moffett is a writer, an editor, and an award-winning poet. Her novel 'Charlotte' was released internationally to great acclaim.
    Helen joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how every writer needs to be edited and why the business of editing has remained untransformed for so long.
    Helen describes her writing process for 'Charlotte', much to the envy of Fiona and Gail, and explains why writing poems is very different.

    For more details about the books, movies, series, and podcasts that are discussed on the show, sign up here for our weekly newsletter https://mailchi.mp/icon/the-hidden-lives-of-writers-newsletter-signup

    Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you! Please join the conversation:
    Email: hiddenlivesofwriters@gmail.com
    Instagram: @thehiddenlivesofwriterspod
    Twitter: @hiddenwriterpod
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    Threads: @thehiddenlivesofwriters
    Facebook discussion group: The Hidden Lives of Writers Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube · Join our newsletter
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • S03 E05 Diane Awerbuck

    S03 E05 Diane Awerbuck
    Apr 15 2024
    Diane Awerbuck is the award-winning author of multiple novels and short story collections. Her latest book is Inside Your Body There Are Flowers published by Karavan Press.

    Diane joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about being published at a young age and what a young writer brings to the table.
    Diane talks about why she believes that a writer's process shouldn't always be revealed to the world. She describes how her own process has changed since becoming a parent, and how parenthood has supplied her with new inspiration.

    For more details about the books, movies, series, and podcasts that are discussed on the show, sign up for our weekly newsletter.

    Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you! Please join the conversation here:
    Email: hiddenlivesofwriters@gmail.com
    Instagram: @thehiddenlivesofwriterspod
    Twitter: @hiddenwriterpod
    YouTube: The Hidden Lives of Writers
    Threads: @thehiddenlivesofwriters
    Facebook discussion group: The Hidden Lives of Writers Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube · Join our newsletter
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    55 mins
  • S03 E04 Ron Irwin

    S03 E04 Ron Irwin
    Apr 8 2024
    Ron Irwin is the acclaimed author of Flat Water Tuesday and My Side of the Ocean, which was recently published by Pan Macmillan. He is a senior lecturer in Media Studies at UCT and teaches in the UCT Creative Writing Masters programme.

    Ron joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how deciding to write a book that he would give an A to instead of a D, transformed his writing career years ago.

    Ron shares what it is like to have a novel in script development in Hollywood, and tells us why his latest book features a female protagonist who makes choices that readers may choose to judge.

    Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you! Please join the conversation on any of our socials. Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube · Join our newsletter
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • S03 E03 Shafinaaz Hassim

    S03 E03 Shafinaaz Hassim
    Apr 1 2024
    Shafinaaz Hassim is an author, activist, and sociologist. She has written extensively about GBV, human trafficking, and women's issues. Her latest novel, Darlings of Durban, has everyone talking.

    Shafinaaz joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how she built her literary career from the ground up and developed a network of loyal readers and reviewers. Shafinaaz describes how her use of domestic oral lore in her Nisa Qamar series for children has won her fans among their parents too.

    Shafinaaz hosts the Book Bytes radio slot on Salaamedia and has started her own publishing imprint.

    For more details about the books, movies, series, and podcasts that are discussed on the show, sign up here for our weekly newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/r4a9m8

    Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you! Please join the conversation on any of our social platforms. Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube · Join our newsletter
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    1 hr and 6 mins