A Thread of One's Own with Theo Clarke

Theo Clarke
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'A Thread of One's Own' is a monthly podcast on writing, creativity and living. Host Theo Clarke interviews a guest author to talk about their work and the stories behind them. For more content, make sure to subscribe to her Substack page and join the conversation. https://theodoraclarke.substack.com/ theodoraclarke.substack.com

  1. 4d ago

    S2, E5: Sunday Times Bestselling Author Anna Bailey on Writing Fiction

    This month our host, Theo Clarke, is joined by Sunday Times bestselling author Anna Bailey to discuss her new novel, Our Last Wild Days, a Southern Gothic story set in the Louisiana bayou. Anna discusses the inspiration behind her book and how her experiences living in the American South shaped its characters and setting. She also reflects on her unconventional path to publication, the setbacks along the way and what she has learned about building a career as a fiction writer.Topics discussed on the show include: creating a sense of place; character, dialogue and point of view; plotting versus writing instinctively; finding a literary agent; rejection and unpublished manuscripts; writing short stories; editorial feedback; writing routines; and advice for aspiring authors. About Anna Bailey Anna Bailey is a Sunday Times bestselling author from Gloucestershire. Her debut novel Tall Bones was nominated for the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year and Goldsboro Glass Bell awards, as well as the Prix Nouvelles Voix du Polar. Her second novel Our Last Wild Days was also published to great acclaim. Her short stories have been dramatised for BBC Radio 4, including ‘Long Way to Come For a Sip of Water,’ which was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. They live in Bordeaux with their wife. About the Host Theo Clarke is a bestselling author, podcaster and former Member of Parliament. She is the author of Breaking the Taboo: Why We Need to Talk About Birth Trauma and is currently writing her first historical novel. www.theo-clarke.org.uk Instagram: @theoclarkemp Producer: Adam Woodward Research: Kate Kenyon Designer: Emily Ryder Social media: Eleanor Flavin This episode of A Thread of One’s Own is brought to you in association with the Sandon Literature Festival. Find out more about the festival and book tickets HERE. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theodoraclarke.substack.com

    S2, E5: Sunday Times Bestselling Author Anna Bailey on Writing Fiction

  2. Sep 3

    S2, E4: Rosamund Bartlett and Elena Michajlowska on Rediscovering Chekhov’s Earliest Stories

    This month our host, Theo Clarke, is joined by writer and translator Rosamund Bartlett and producer, curator and filmmaker Elena Michajlowska, co-founders of the Anton Chekhov Foundation, to discuss Anton Chekhov, Earliest Stories: Stories, Novellas, Humoresques, 1880–1882. They explore Chekhov’s beginnings writing comic stories while studying medicine, his surprisingly modern and absurd sense of humour, and what these early works reveal about the writer he would become. Rosamund and Elena also share the extraordinary process of bringing together many translators from across nine countries and discuss what today’s writers can learn from Chekhov’s mastery of concision, character and language. Topics discussed include: Chekhov’s life and literary legacy; his earliest comic stories; Moscow in the 1880s; humour, satire and literary parody; translating Chekhov for modern readers; the Early Chekhov Translation Project; and researching and writing biography. About Rosamund Bartlett Rosamund Bartlett is a writer and translator, and a well-known authority on Russian cultural history. She is the author of Chekhov: Scenes from a Life, editor and co-translator of Chekhov: A Life in Letters, and translator of two Chekhov anthologies, About Love and Other Stories and The Exclamation Mark and Other Stories. About Elena Michajlowska Elena Michajlowska is a producer, curator, and filmmaker, whose practice explores collective memory, political trauma, and cultural identity - selected works include Fragile Brutalism (2022–23) and PutschYourself.art (2016). In 2009 she collaborated with Rosamund Bartlett to found the Anton Chekhov Foundation, a UK-registered charity, of which they both remain trustees. RESOURCES Anton Chekhov Foundation Early Chekhov Translation Project Anton Chekhov, Earliest Stories: Stories, Novellas, Humoresques, 1880–1882 Anton Chekhov, Earliest Stories at Blackwell’s About the Host Theo Clarke is a bestselling author, podcaster and former Member of Parliament. She is the author of Breaking the Taboo: Why We Need to Talk About Birth Trauma which was shortlisted for the Westminster Book Awards. www.theo-clarke.org.uk Instagram: @theoclarkemp Producer: Adam Woodward Research: Kate Kenyon Designer: Emily Ryder Social media: Eleanor Flavin This episode of A Thread of One’s Own is brought to you in association with the Sandon Literature Festival. Find out more about the festival and book tickets HERE. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theodoraclarke.substack.com

    S2, E4: Rosamund Bartlett and Elena Michajlowska on Rediscovering Chekhov’s Earliest Stories

  3. Aug 6

    S2, E3: Author Kate Riordan on Writing Mystery Fiction: Secrets, Setting and Suspense

    This week on A Thread of One’s Own, Theo Clarke is joined by bestselling novelist Kate Riordan to discuss her new novel, The Last Time I Saw Her Alive, which has recently been published by Penguin.Together they explore the inspiration behind Kate’s latest mystery, from its Cotswold setting and 1970s folk music scene to the secrets that ripple across generations. They discuss writing dual timelines, creating unforgettable settings and complex mother-daughter relationships, as well as the craft of suspense, plotting a mystery, and building a sustainable creative life as a novelist. Topics discussed on the show include: writing mystery fiction; dual timelines; family secrets; mothers and daughters; memory and trauma; creating atmosphere and sense of place; plotting suspense novels; editing and working with publishers; developing a writing routine; coaching writers through The Novelry; and advice for aspiring authors. BIOGRAPHY Kate Riordan is the bestselling author of seven novels, including The Heatwave, a Richard & Judy Book Club pick. She is also an author coach for The Novelry. As a journalist, she has written for publications including The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Red, Stella and Grazia. Kate lives in an old cottage in the Cotswolds, where she writes her novels. RESOURCES 📖 The Last Time I Saw Her Alive Follow Kate @kateriordanauthor About the Host Theo Clarke is a bestselling author, podcaster and former Member of Parliament. She hosts A Thread of One’s Own, a podcast and Substack exploring books, writing and the creative life through conversations with leading authors. Her memoir ‘Breaking the Taboo’ was shortlisted for the Westminster Book Awards. Website: www.theo-clarke.org.uk/podcast Instagram: @theoclarkemp A Thread of One’s Own production team Founder and Executive Producer: Theo Clarke Editor: Adam Woodward Designer: Emily Ryder Social Media: Eleanor Flavin This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theodoraclarke.substack.com

    S2, E3: Author Kate Riordan on Writing Mystery Fiction: Secrets, Setting and Suspense

  4. Jul 23

    S2, E2: Sajid Javid on The Colour of Home: Race, Belonging and Britain

    This week on A Thread of One’s Own, Theo Clarke is joined by former Cabinet Minister Sajid Javid to discuss his moving and deeply personal memoir, The Colour of Home. Together they explore Sajid’s childhood, from his family’s experience of Partition to growing up in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s. They discuss the experiences that shaped his journey from a childhood marked by hardship to the highest levels of public life, reflecting on family, identity, education, ambition and the challenges of writing an honest memoir. Above all, they consider what it means to find a sense of home and belonging.Topics discussed on the show include: writing memoir after public life; the legacy of Partition and immigration; growing up in Britain as the child of Punjabi immigrants; racism and belonging in the 1970s and 1980s; education as a route out of poverty; resilience and ambition; family expectations, love and independence; breaking into the world of finance; public service and politics; and what “home” means today. About Sajid Javid Sajid Javid was a Member of the British Parliament from May 2010 to July 2024. During his political career, he served in the Cabinets of three Prime Ministers and led six major government departments, including the Treasury and the Home Office. Most recently, he served as Secretary of State for Health during the Covid-19 pandemic. He has since returned to the business world and also serves as Chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Resources 📖 The Colour of Home: A Memoir of Race, Belonging and Britain About the Host Theo Clarke is a bestselling author, podcaster and former Member of Parliament. She hosts A Thread of One’s Own, a podcast and Substack exploring books, writing and the creative life through conversations with leading authors. Her memoir Breaking the Taboo was shortlisted for the Westminster Book Awards. Host and Producer: Theo Clarke Editor: Adam Woodward Designer: Emily Ryder Social media: Eleanor Flavin This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theodoraclarke.substack.com

    S2, E2: Sajid Javid on The Colour of Home: Race, Belonging and Britain

  5. Jul 17

    S2, E1: The Courage to Write Your Story: Author Tanya Shadrick on Memoir, Creativity and Becoming Yourself

    This week on A Thread of One’s Own, Theo Clarke is joined by acclaimed author Tanya Shadrick to discuss her extraordinary memoir The Cure for Sleep: A Late-Waking Life, and the journey to becoming a writer later in life. The Cure for Sleep: A Late-Waking Life (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) is Tanya’s memoir of what it took—and cost—to break free from old social constraints and make that larger story for herself, even as she remained a wife and mother in a small town. It was a Waterstones and Evening Standard Non-Fiction Book of the Year. Together they explore what it means to find your creative voice after years of putting others first, the power of memoir to make sense of our lives, and how writing can become an act of self-discovery. Topics discussed on the show include: writing memoir; becoming a writer later in life; balancing creativity with family life; finding time to write; the importance of place in storytelling; memory and truth in memoir; writing as self-discovery; overcoming self-doubt; and the journey to publication. BIOGRAPHY Tanya Shadrick embarked as a writer after forty with The Wild Patience Scrolls. A mile of writing composed pen on paper beside England’s oldest outdoor pool during her young children’s school hours, it was an intensely local project that led to BBC Radio 4 features and an international residency at the Jan Michalski Foundation for Writing and Literature in Switzerland. Following that large-scale performance piece, Tanya became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and was welcomed as a writer-in-residence at other extraordinary locations, including the National Trust’s Grade II-listed cliffside artists’ cabin at Bucks Mill, North Devon, and Virginia Woolf’s garden on the Sussex Downs. Theo Clarke is a bestselling author, interviewer and former Member of Parliament. She is the creator and host of ‘A Thread of One’s Own’, a podcast and Substack celebrating books, writing and the creative process. Her memoir ‘Breaking the Taboo’ was shortlisted for the Westminster Book Awards. Resources: 📖 The Cure for Sleep: A Late-Waking Life by Tanya Shadrick 🌐 Tanya Shadrick: https://tanyashadrick.com/ Website: http://www.theo-clarke.org.uk/podcast Instagram: @theoclarkemp A Thread of One’s Own production team: Host and Producer: Theo Clarke Editor: Adam Woodward Designer: Emily Ryder Social media: Eleanor Flavin This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theodoraclarke.substack.com

    S2, E1: The Courage to Write Your Story: Author Tanya Shadrick on Memoir, Creativity and Becoming Yourself

  6. May 29

    S1, E10: Author Arabella Byrne on Writing In the Blood: Mothers, Daughters and Addiction

    In this week’s episode, our host and bestselling author Theo Clarke speaks to writer and journalist Arabella Byrne about her memoir In the Blood: On Mothers, Daughters and Addiction, co-written with her mother Julia and published by HarperCollins. They discuss: the practical and emotional challenges of co-writing a memoir with a parent; writing faithfully about family, the influence of journalism and fiction on memoir, the changing landscape of recovery books; family silence around addiction, and she shares her advice for writing. IN THE BLOOD In the Blood: On Mothers, Daughters and Addiction is a memoir in two voices, telling the story of a mother and daughter who both found themselves in Alcoholics Anonymous just nine months apart. Exploring addiction across generations, family secrets, memory and recovery, it is a powerful account of how women navigate inherited trauma and find a way forward. Buy the book: https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/in-the-blood-on-mothers-daughters-and-addiction-arabella-byrnejulia-hamilton?variant=41343870042190 BIOGRAPHY Arabella Byrne is the co-author of In the Blood: On Mothers, Daughters and Addiction, published by HarperCollins in November 2024 and longlisted for the TLS Ackerley Prize for Memoir. She writes for the Spectator, The Times, The Telegraph, Literary Review and The Critic, amongst others. She is an Ambassador for NACOA (the National Association for Children of Alcoholics) and holds a PhD in French history from the University of Pennsylvania. Arabella is married with two children and lives in Oxfordshire. ABOUT THE HOST Theo Clarke is an author, podcaster, and former politician. She hosts the book club A Thread of One’s Own and the hit women’s health podcast Breaking the Taboo. She is the bestselling author of Breaking the Taboo: Why We Need to Talk About Birth Trauma which was shortlisted for the Westminster Book Awards. The former MP for Stafford, Theo won Speech of the Year at the Parliamentarian of the Year Awards and has been included multiple times in the prestigious Top 100 Women in Westminster list. Follow @theoclarkemp and @drarabella This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theodoraclarke.substack.com

    S1, E10: Author Arabella Byrne on Writing In the Blood: Mothers, Daughters and Addiction

  7. May 13

    S1, E9: Author Theo Clarke on Writing Memoir, Motherhood & Breaking the Taboo

    This week our regular host Theo Clarke is interviewed by broadcaster and journalist Belle Donati about Theo’s bestselling book Breaking the Taboo: Why We Need to Talk About Birth Trauma, and her journey as a writer and campaigner for women’s health. Topics discussed on the show include: writing memoir; championing women’s stories; balancing writing with parenting and a day job; motherhood and creativity; creative writing courses; the importance of writing buddies and accountability; and her writing routine. BIOGRAPHY Belle Donati is a broadcaster and journalist. She has anchored international breaking news for Sky News, NBC-Euronews and France 24, and has a background at the BBC, ITV and Al Jazeera English. She has interviewed guests from Nigel Farage and Humza Yousaf to Brian Cox and Isabel Allende. She hosts podcasts and discussions with The How To Academy on culture and politics. After the birth of her second child, she became an advocate for early intervention in at-risk babies. She is a part of the Ei SMART Foundation team and sits on the Lived Experience Advisory Panel for charity RareMinds. She is chair of the board of trustees of The Lovington Foundation. Theo Clarke hosts the hit podcast Breaking the Taboo which ranks in the Top 5 most listened to shows in the UK for alternative health. She has also published the memoir Breaking the Taboo: Why We Need to Talk About Birth Trauma. Theo was the Member of Parliament for Stafford. She chaired the first parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma in British history and previously set up the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Birth Trauma in the House of Commons. Theo has served as parliamentary private secretary at the Departments for Education, Business and Trade and HM Treasury, in addition to being trade envoy for the Prime Minister. She won Speech of the Year at the Parliamentarian of the Year Awards and was included in the prestigious Top 100 Women in Westminster list in 2025 and 2024. She sits on the Board of the United Nations Association UK as their Vice Chair. RESOURCESBreaking the Taboo by Theo Clarkehttps://www.waterstones.com/book/breaking-the-taboo/theo-clarke//9781785909351 Global Birth Trauma Alliancehttps://www.globalbirthtraumaalliance.com/ Birth Trauma Associationhttps://www.birthtraumaassociation.org/ MASIChttps://masic.org.uk/ Website: http://www.theo-clarke.org.uk/podcast Instagram: @theoclarkemp A Thread of One’s Own production team: Producer: Adam Woodward Designer: Emily Ryder Social media: Bella Carter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theodoraclarke.substack.com

    S1, E9: Author Theo Clarke on Writing Memoir, Motherhood & Breaking the Taboo

  8. Apr 27

    S1, E8: Wainwright Prize Shortlisted Author Paul Lamb on Writing, Nature and A Life in the Countryside

    In this month’s episode, our host and bestselling author Theo Clarke speaks to writer and hedgelayer Paul Lamb about his book Of Thorn & Briar, which was shortlisted for the prestigious Wainwright Prize in 2025 and was an instant Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller. They discuss: the origins of the book; his writing process; the craft of hedgelaying; supporting wildlife and climate resilience; rural life, tradition and modern agriculture; the rhythm of seasonal work; writing memoir and nature writing; balancing practical craft with reflective storytelling; and how writing has influenced his relationship with the landscape. Paul also shares his top tips for writing a book and his literary influences. OF THORN & BRIAR Of Thorn & Briar explores the craft of hedgelaying and a life lived close to the land. Following the rhythm of the seasons, the book reflects on the relationship between people, place and tradition, and considers the environmental and cultural significance of hedgerows in the British countryside. Buy the book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thorn-Briar-Year-Country-Hedgelayer/dp/1398535036 BIOGRAPHY Paul Lamb was born in 1976. Four years later, he emigrated with his parents to New Zealand. It was here he first developed a love for the outdoors, spending much time in the wild places of the North Island. He returned to Britain in his teens and found employment as an itinerant farm labourer. In his early twenties, Paul took an apprenticeship with a Dorset woodsman in an isolated coppice and began his journey into woodsmanship. Paul has earned his living from the woodlands and hedgerows of the West Country ever since. This enthralling book celebrates the benefits of hedgerows and a way of living that has all but disappeared in recent decades. Following the rhythm of the seasons, Of Thorn & Briar describes Paul Lamb’s life on the road and the practical aspects of his craft, as he travels the South-West caring for an important but often forgotten part of the British countryside. Follow @westcountry_hedgelayer ABOUT THE HOST Theo Clarke hosts ‘A Thread of One’s Own’ and the hit podcast ‘Breaking the Taboo’ which is in the Top 5% most listened to podcasts globally. She is the bestselling author of ‘Breaking the Taboo: Why We Need to Talk About Birth Trauma‘ which was shortlisted for the Westminster Book Awards. Theo was formerly the Member of Parliament for Stafford and won ‘Speech of the Year’ at the Parliamentarian of the Year Awards. She has been included multiple times in the Top 100 Women in Westminster list. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theodoraclarke.substack.com

    S1, E8: Wainwright Prize Shortlisted Author Paul Lamb on Writing, Nature and A Life in the Countryside
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'A Thread of One's Own' is a monthly podcast on writing, creativity and living. Host Theo Clarke interviews a guest author to talk about their work and the stories behind them. For more content, make sure to subscribe to her Substack page and join the conversation. https://theodoraclarke.substack.com/ theodoraclarke.substack.com

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