Secrets from the Green Room Irma Gold & Karen Viggers

Irma tries to convert Karen to writing program Scrivener. Then Irma chats to children’s creators Anna Walker and Andrea Rowe about how authors and illustrators work together (or don’t!), why illustrator notes are a no-no, the profound impact of picture books on both adults and children, the biggest mistakes that new writers and illustrators make, what to expect from the editing and publishing process, how to network and build connections in the industry, the effects of crippling self-doubt, w...

Irma and Karen discuss author websites. Then Karen chats with Kris Kneen about writing into deeply uncomfortable spaces and confronting issues like fatness and identity, how to write sex well, why they’re always switching up genres, how to deal with disappointment over missing out on awards, why they almost gave up writing entirely, and the moment that changed their life.About KrisKris Kneen has written erotica, fiction, short-stories, poetry, memoir, non-fiction and scripts for film and docu...

Irma and Karen talk about prepping for radio interviews. Then Karen chats to Diana Reid about how writing scripts has informed the way she works as a novelist and her approach to being edited, what it was like to be thrown into the spotlight with her bestselling debut novel, how its extraordinary success affected her, advice on how to handle publicity interviews, why writing her second novel was so much harder, how she feels about being called Australia’s Sally Rooney, why COVID was such...

Karen and Irma chat about point of view and writing from multiple perspectives. Then Irma talks to Peter Papathanasiou about his very long and convoluted journey to publication, how his debut was rejected by 100 agents and took 10 years to get published, why his goal was to get published in the UK first and advice for other writers about how to do the same, how he successfully pitched his own book for screen, the challenges of the book-to-screen process, the devastating impact of being droppe...

'Irma and Karen talk about the ins and out of book marketing. Then Karen chats with Melinda Smith about winning the Prime Ministers Literary Award for poetry, the potential of TikTok for poets, how arts grants have sustained her writing and how to write a good application (all the details), how form (or lack thereof) influences the writing of a poem, why poets are not featured much in festival line-ups, sources of inspiration, the important art of poetry editing, and advice for how to get pub...

Irma and Karen chat about the highs and lows of podcasting. Then Irma talks to Niq Mhlongo about what it was like growing up in Soweto, South Africa, how sleeping in a tiny room with seven brothers got him hooked on reading, why he ditched law to become a writer, how Dan Brown made him think he’d become a millionaire from writing, how his debut novel went from being deemed ‘unpublishable’ to being accepted by the same publisher, why he is sceptical about literary prizes, why living from Berli...