London Writers' Salon

Parul Bavishi, Matthew Trinetti
  • 4.9 (53)
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A deep dive into the habits, mindsets, tools, craft secrets and creative practices bestselling writers use to write novels, plays, poetry, and articles. Hosted by the co-founders of the London Writers' Salon, Matt & Parul.

  1. 6d ago

    #203: Doireann Ní Ghríofa — Turning Archives into Narrative, Excavating History, Writing Poetry and Fiction, Why Writers Are Often Their Own Gatekeepers

    Irish writer Doireann Ní Ghríofa on turning archival fragments into living narrative, writing across the borders of genre, and giving voice to the forgotten lives of women committed to a Victorian asylum. You’ll learn Why the greatest gatekeeper between a writer and the page is often the writer themselves. How a single word buried in clinical notes can become a bridge to a silenced voice. What poetry can teach prose writers about immediacy and the shock of a strong opening. The case for pointing at the gaps in the record rather than papering over them. When a fleeting curiosity is worth following, and what happens once you treat it as real. How third person can give a writer just enough distance to keep going. A sense of fidelity to the reader you imagine standing at your shoulder. How the drowsy space between sleep and waking can become an engine for ideas. The ethics of using real names, and the difference between the dead and the long dead. How the act of leaving things out turns even “fact” into a story. Resources & Links Said the Dead by Doireann Ní Ghríofa A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa About Doireann Ní Ghríofa Doireann Ní Ghríofa is an Irish writer devoted to exploring how the past makes itself felt within the present. 'A Ghost in the Throat' finds an 18th century poet haunting a young mother, leading her through visions of blood, milk, lust, and murder. Written on the roof of a multi-storey car park in Ireland, it went on to be described as "powerful" (New York Times), "captivatingly original" (The Observer), and a "masterpiece" (Sunday Business Post). 'A Ghost in the Throat' won the James Tait Black Prize and was voted overall Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, while the US edition was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. It was translated into 20 further languages worldwide. Doireann is also the author of seven critically-acclaimed books of poetry, each a deepening exploration of birth, death, desire, and domesticity. Awards for her writing include a Lannan Literary Fellowship (USA), the Ostana Prize (Italy), a Seamus Heaney Fellowship, and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, among others. Her new book, Said the Dead, distils hundreds of hours of archival research into a polyphonic portrayal of a single institution — a derelict Victorian asylum in Cork, and the women once committed within its walls. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

  2. Jul 12

    #202: Tara Menon — Writing a Debut Novel Over Eight Years, Moving From Critic to Novelist, and Surviving Self-Doubt as a Writer

    Debut novelist Tara Menon on writing friendship as a life-shaping bond, the emotional architecture of grief, and researching the natural world for her novel Under Water. You’ll learn Why a platonic friendship can shape a life as profoundly as any romance How to build tension in a story when the reader already knows what’s coming. What an unexpected sea creature reveals about writing the bonds between women. The difference between endless research and knowing just enough to write the scene. Why fiction demands a kind of surrender that criticism never asks for. How grief for a lost friend and grief for a vanishing natural world can become one story. When self-doubt is evidence you’re taking the work seriously. Why cutting a novel down to its essentials can matter more than what you leave in. A writing rhythm that looks nothing like “500 words every morning” (and works anyway). What finally makes the writing worth it, long before publication does. Resources & Links 📄 Interview Transcript Under Water Jane Austen collection Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Middlemarch by George Eliot In Memoriam by Lord Tennyson I Can’t Let Kobe Go by Tara Menon The Fall (2013) Tara’s Website About Tara Menon Tara Menon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Harvard University. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times Book Review, Nation, Paris Review and Public Books, where she co-edits the Literary Fiction section. Tara was born in India, grew up in Singapore, spent a decade in New York, and currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her debut, Under Water, is out now. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

  3. Jul 5

    #201: Writing Bestselling Fantasy — Holly Black (The Cruel Prince) & Samantha Shannon (The Priory of the Orange Tree) on Magic Systems, Building Worlds From Research, and Writing Through Self-Doubt | Compilation

    Bestselling fantasy authors Holly Black and Samantha Shannon on building believable magic systems, researching and constructing immersive worlds, and why the right book often only emerges once you’ve written the wrong one.   You’ll learn Why the most convincing magic on the page often starts with something you once half-believed was real. How writing the wrong version of a book can be the only route to the right one. What the texture of a world quietly promises a reader before the plot even begins. Why putting a character through the worst is often the best thing you can do for a story. When the certainty that your draft is a disaster is just a normal part of the process. What early hype can do to a writer, and why other writers are the antidote. Where to draw the line between research that serves the book and a rabbit hole that doesn’t. A method for plotting a long series when you know the destination but not the route. What happens when a character starts refusing what you try to make it do. Episode Links Holly Black — original LWS episode: https://londonwriterssalon.simplecast.com/episodes/127-holly-black-crafting-bestselling-fantasy-world-building-character-development-and-the-prisoners-throne Samantha Shannon — original LWS episode: https://londonwriterssalon.simplecast.com/episodes/068-samantha-shannon-the-art-of-writing-fantasy-fiction-plotting-mental-health About the Guests Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fantasy books, including the Novels of Elfhame, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, the Spiderwick Chronicles, her adult debut, Book of Night, as well as an Arthurian picture book called Sir Morien. She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newbery Honor. Her books have been translated into 32 languages worldwide and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library. She invites you to visit her online at blackholly.com or follow her @Hollyblack @blackholly. Samantha Shannon is a New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Bone Season and The Priory of the Orange Tree. Born in West London, she studied English Language and Literature at St Anne’s College, Oxford, from 2010 to 2013, specialising in the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Principles of Film Criticism. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

  4. Jun 28

    #200: Louise Dean — How to Finish a Novel, Why Most Writers Stall at 30,000 Words, and Why Storytelling Beats Beautiful Sentences, plus founding Novelry

    Award-winning novelist and founder of The Novelry Louise Dean on what separates storytelling from beautiful prose, planning a novel without killing the joy, and how to edit your own first draft. You'll learn Why learning to craft perfect sentences can quietly delay your path to publication. How a single shift from style to storytelling turns a promising writer into a published one. What treating each chapter like a short story does to the terror of a blank novel. The reason every novel is a moral journey (and why you have to throw rocks at your hero). A one-page planning method that steers a draft without smothering the joy of writing it. The one question every writer should be able to answer about their reader. Why your main character should never be a thinly veiled version of yourself. When you can’t afford an editor, how to run a developmental edit on your own work. What to do in the month after finishing a first draft A five-part structure built for the long moral journey of a novel, and why three acts fall short. Resources & Links 📄 Interview Transcript The Great Gatsby The Novelry The Novelry Blog Louise’s books The Novelry Contact — hello@thenovelry.com About Louise Dean Louise Dean is a British author, born in Hastings, who read History at Cambridge University. An award-winning novelist, she is the winner of the Betty Trask Prize and Le Prince Maurice Prize, and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Her novels have been published internationally. The Wall Street Journal described Louise Dean as one of the world’s top five most under-rated authors. Louise is the founder of the creative writing school The Novelry. About The Novelry Founded by award-winning author Louise Dean, The Novelry is the only writing school where bestselling authors and Big Five editors guide you every step of the way. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

  5. Jun 20

    #199: Katie da Cunha Lewin — How Space Shapes Creative Work, the Myth of the Perfect Writing Room, Building Creative Rituals, and Writing in Imperfect Conditions

    Writer Katie da Cunha Lewin on how physical spaces shape creative work, why the perfect writing room is a myth, and the rituals and routines that sustain a writing life. You'll learn Why the perfect writing space is largely a myth (and why that can set you free). How physical environments quietly shape creative practice and identity. What our fascination with visiting writers' houses reveals. The cultural baggage around “the writer's room,” and who it quietly excludes. The way motherhood compresses time and forces a new kind of creative discipline. A concept of psychological distance between domestic life and creative work. When creative rituals help (and when writers thrive without them). How to begin designing a writing space that actually works for you. What it takes to find the story inside a work of nonfiction. Why putting yourself on the page makes nonfiction stronger. Resources & Links 📄Interview Transcript Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) Murder She Wrote (1984-1996) Underworld by Don DeLillo White Noise by Don DeLillo The Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf Lives of Houses Edited by Kate Kennedy and Hermione Lee Downhill All The Way, An Autobiography of the Years 1919 To 1939 By Leonard Woolf The British Library My Work by Olga Ravn The Accidentals by Guadalupe Nettel, Translated by Rosalind Harvey Amber Medland The Years by Annie Ernaux The Society of Authors About Katie da Cunha Lewin Katie da Cunha Lewin’s writing has appeared in leading publications such as The Times Literary Supplement, The White Review, Financial Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Prospect. She is the editor (with Kiron Ward) of Don DeLillo: Contemporary Critical Perspectives. Her book, The Writer’s Room: The Hidden Worlds That Shape the Books We Love, is out now. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

  6. Jun 13

    #198: Mastering Young Adult Fiction — Krystal Sutherland (House of Hollow), Joanna Nadin (90+ Books for Kids & Teens), Moira Buffini (Songlight) on Finding Your Writing Home, Knowing Your Audience, Why Stories Matter to the Young | Compilation

    YA masters Krystal Sutherland (The Invocations), Joanna Nadin (author of 90+ books for children and adults) and Moira Buffini (Songlight) on hooking teen readers from the very first page, plotting methods that tame a whole novel, and why stories matter so much to young people. You'll learn What sparks the magic system of a supernatural thriller. What it means to find your writing home, and how to know when you've arrived. Why readers decide within the first ten pages, and how visceral detail keeps them hooked. A pantser's case for careful plotting when you're juggling multiple points of view. The most common mistake adults make when writing for young readers. What screenwriters know about tight writing, and what teen TV can teach you about voice. Why treating writing as a job, not a calling, makes rejection survivable. Whether writers should think about their audience. How writing toward a feeling, not a plan, creates cliffhangers you don't see coming. Episode Links #105: Krystal Sutherland #61: Joanna Nadin #179: Moira Buffini About the Guests Krystal Sutherland is the New York Times and indie bestselling author of House of Hollow, A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares and Our Chemical Hearts, which was adapted into a film by Amazon Studios. Her books have been published in more than twenty countries and nominated for the Carnegie Medal and YA Book Prize, among others. Her latest YA novel, The Invocations — the centerpiece of this conversation — won the 2025 Prime Minister's Literary Award for young adult literature. Originally from Australia, she has lived on four continents and currently calls London home. Joanna Nadin has written more than 90 books for children and adults, including the Rachel Riley series, the Penny Dreadful series, and the Sunday Times bestselling Worst Class in the World series. She holds a doctorate in adolescent identity and YA literature and is an Associate Professor in Creative Writing at the University of Bristol. Her books have garnered a number of prizes including the Fantastic Book Award and the Surrey Book Award, and she has been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, the Booktrust Best Book Award, the Telegraph Sports Book of the Year, the Hearst Big Book Awards, and Queen of Teen. She has been nominated six times for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, including for Everybody Hurts and for Joe All Alone, which was made into a BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated BBC drama series. Moira Buffini is an Olivier Award–winning UK playwright and BAFTA-nominated screenwriter, writing many plays for the National Theatre and the West End. Films include Tamara Drewe, Jane Eyre, Byzantium, and The Dig. She cocreated and was showrunner of Hulu's Harlots. Her YA debut Songlight — the first in The Torch Trilogy — won the 2025 YA Book Prize, and its sequel Torchfire is out now. She lives in London. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

  7. Jun 7

    #197: Chris Pavone — Writing the Modern Thriller, Sustaining Tension Over Action, and Defining Success on Your Own Terms

    Edgar Award–winning novelist Chris Pavone on creating tension that never lets up, editing a book to make it bigger rather than just better, and turning a single apartment building into a portrait of a whole city. You'll learn Why every book has to be one clear thing before it can be anything else. How two decades of editing other people’s books prepares you to write your own. The offhand note from a legendary editor that quietly transformed a debut, and why the vaguest feedback can be the most useful. What it means to edit a book to make it bigger, not just to make it less bad. Why tension, not speed, is what truly keeps a reader turning pages. A counterintuitive case for telling readers what’s coming on page one, then making them wait for it. How to keep generating questions and withholding answers without ever feeling coy. The one-page document worth months of tinkering before a single chapter gets written. What turns a story set in a city into a genuine portrait of that city. When to separate your hopes from your expectations, and what success can actually look like for a working novelist. Resources & Links Chris Pavone’s Website Chris’ Newsletter The Doorman Ernest Hemingway Doubleday Publishing John Grisham The Expats Pat Conroy Jamaica Kincaid Knopf Publishing Adele Parks To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee James Bond Films The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe Jack Reacher by Lee Child About Chris Pavone Chris Pavone is the New York Times bestselling author of The Doorman, Two Nights in Lisbon, The Paris Diversion, The Travelers, The Accident, and The Expats, winner of the Edgar and Anthony Awards for best first novel. He was a book editor for nearly two decades and lives in New York City with his family. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

  8. May 30

    #196: Missouri Williams — Writing Strange and Ambitious Fiction, Doubt as a Generative Force, and Why Idleness Is Essential to Creativity

    Award-winning novelist Missouri Williams on writing strange and ambitious fiction, treating doubt as a generative force, and why idleness is essential to creative work. You'll learn How a destabilising illness and a new language can reshape a writer’s whole relationship to words. Why style isn’t something you construct so much as a way of seeing you’re partly stuck with. The case for drafting without thinking about the end result and keeping the stakes low. What an image you can’t stop returning to can reveal about the book you need to write. When idleness and empty, unproductive time become the most essential part of the work. How doubt can function as a generative engine rather than a block. A method for layering instability into a narrator who sounds completely in control. What a chorus can do on the page that a single narrator can’t. Why being placed outside your depth, where everything has to be relearned, can sharpen a writer. The difference between doubting your work and doubting your right to do it at all. Resources & Links 📑 Interview Transcript Missouri’s Instagram Sisters of Mercy’s song, “Flood II” The Vivisectors King Lear with Sheep The Doloriad Missouri’s Agent John Ash Samuel Beckett Ágota Kristóf 2023 Winner of Republic of Consciousness Foundation “Form Is Back” Meditations by René Descartes Dead Ink publisher The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser The Republic by Plato About Missouri Williams Missouri Williams is the author of The Doloriad, which won the 2023 Republic of Consciousness Prize, was shortlisted for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, and named a best book of 2022 by Vulture. Her work has also appeared in The Nation, The Baffler, The Believer, Granta, and The Drift. Her newest book is The Vivisectors. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

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About

A deep dive into the habits, mindsets, tools, craft secrets and creative practices bestselling writers use to write novels, plays, poetry, and articles. Hosted by the co-founders of the London Writers' Salon, Matt & Parul.

Information

  • Creator
    Parul Bavishi, Matthew Trinetti
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    204
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2020-2024, London Writers' Salon
  • Show Website
    London Writers' Salon

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