We'd Like A Word

We'd Like A Word
  • 5.0 (4)
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We'd Like A Word

A podcast & radio show about words: writers, readers, books, poetry, lyrics, scripts, comedy, illustrators, agents & all things wordy.

  1. JUN 29

    34. Catalan Crime with Teresa Solana, Peter Bush & Marina Sofia

    ​ Catalan Crime in translation: We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan hear from Barcelona-born author Teresa Solana; Peter Bush the translator of her crime thriller Black Storms - he's also Teresa's husband; and Marina Sofia the co-founder of Corylus publishers, which publishes crime fiction in translation from Catalan, Spanish, Romanian, Icelandic, Argentinian Spanish, and German.We also talk about authors and translators Ian Rankin, Gene Kerrigan, Jeffrey Archer, Frederick Forsyth, Tony Kent, Lisa Jewell, the Rev Richard Coles, Robert Thorogood, David Gullis, Fred Vargas, Petros Markaris, Rene Goscinny, Albert Uderzo, Anthea Bell, Derek Hockridge, Chico Buarque and Juan Goytisolo - plus the Chiltern Kills crime and Khushwant Singh London literary festivals. And more - including dead Catalan authors v dead Spanish authors; the author-translator power dynamic; Catalonia / Catalunya and Spain; Cornwall, folk culture and Cornish independence; Steve becoming a witch; Paul having a book out soon and some book launch events; snoring dogs; Biafra; whether La Sagrada Familia is a cathedral or a basilica; Asterix the Gaul; and the secret location where this podcast episode was part-recorded. We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. (And sometimes Jonathan Kennedy.) We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, & audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul, Steve & our guests. We're on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we're embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. Paul is the author of a new Irish-Indian cosy crime series set in contemporary Delhi. The first in the series is Murder in Moonlit Square, which published by No Exit Press / Bedford Square Publishers in October 2025 - but you can pre-order it now. (Ah go on.) It'll also be published in India in paperback in October 2025 by Penguin India. Paul previously wrote the 1950s Irish border thriller Blackwatertown. We can also recommend Cockerings, the comic classic by Stevyn Colgan, and his hugely popular YouTube channel @Colganology

    44 min

  2. APR 13

    33. Sherlock Holmes in Turkey (part 1) with Andrew Finkel

    33. Sherlock Holmes in Turkey (part 1): Author & foreign correspondent Andrew Finkel talks to We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan, about his book The Adventure of the Second Wife - The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes and the Ottoman Sultan. We also talk about how to decide where to start a complex, multi-layered novel (& if it really matters), Arthur Conan Doyle, the most romantic way to enter Istanbul, how to get in trouble in Turkey and how to avoid it, Kemal Tahir - the translator & then fabricator of Mickey Spillane novels, the Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II (big Sherlock & Conan Doyle fan, aid donor to Irish people during the 1840s famine, block on Russian expansion, tyrant to Bulgarians according to Gladstone), playing basketball with Orhan Pamuk, quirky Turkey, some Persian phrases, the Cottingley Fairies, and a good place for coffee in Istanbul - the Kıraathane - Istanbul Literature House. We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. (And sometimes Jonathan Kennedy.) We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, & audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul, Steve & our guests. We're on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we're embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. Paul is the author of a new Irish-Indian cosy crime series set in contemporary Delhi. The first in the series is Murder in Moonlit Square, which published by No Exit Press / Bedford Square Publishers in October 2025 - but you can pre-order it now. (Ah go on.) It'll also be published in India in paperback in January 2026 by Penguin India. Paul previously wrote the 1950s Irish border thriller Blackwatertown. We can also recommend Cockerings, the comic classic by Stevyn Colgan, and his hugely popular YouTube channel @Colganology

    21 min

  3. APR 13

    32. Sherlock Holmes in Turkey (part 2) with Andrew Finkel

    32. Sherlock Holmes in Turkey (part 2): Author & foreign correspondent Andrew Finkel talks to We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan, about his book The Adventure of the Second Wife - The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes and the Ottoman Sultan. We also talk about how to decide where to start a complex, multi-layered novel (& if it really matters), Arthur Conan Doyle, the most romantic way to enter Istanbul, how to get in trouble in Turkey and how to avoid it, Kemal Tahir - the translator & then fabricator of Mickey Spillane novels, the Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II (big Sherlock & Conan Doyle fan, aid donor to Irish people during the 1840s famine, block on Russian expansion, tyrant to Bulgarians according to Gladstone), playing basketball with Orhan Pamuk, quirky Turkey, some Persian phrases, the Cottingley Fairies, and a good place for coffee in Istanbul - the Kıraathane - Istanbul Literature House. We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. (And sometimes Jonathan Kennedy.) We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, & audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul, Steve & our guests. We're on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we're embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. Paul is the author of a new Irish-Indian cosy crime series set in contemporary Delhi. The first in the series is Murder in Moonlit Square, which published by No Exit Press / Bedford Square Publishers in October 2025 - but you can pre-order it now. (Ah go on.) It'll also be published in India in paperback in January 2026 by Penguin India. Paul previously wrote the 1950s Irish border thriller Blackwatertown. We can also recommend Cockerings, the comic classic by Stevyn Colgan, and his hugely popular YouTube channel @Colganology

    17 min

  4. APR 13

    31. Sherlock Holmes in Turkey (part 3) with Andrew Finkel

    31. Sherlock Holmes in Turkey (part 3): Author & foreign correspondent Andrew Finkel talks to We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan, about his book The Adventure of the Second Wife - The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes and the Ottoman Sultan. We also talk about how to decide where to start a complex, multi-layered novel (& if it really matters), Arthur Conan Doyle, the most romantic way to enter Istanbul, how to get in trouble in Turkey and how to avoid it, Kemal Tahir - the translator & then fabricator of Mickey Spillane novels, the Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II (big Sherlock & Conan Doyle fan, aid donor to Irish people during the 1840s famine, block on Russian expansion, tyrant to Bulgarians according to Gladstone), playing basketball with Orhan Pamuk, quirky Turkey, some Persian phrases, the Cottingley Fairies, and a good place for coffee in Istanbul - the Kıraathane - Istanbul Literature House. We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. (And sometimes Jonathan Kennedy.) We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, & audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul, Steve & our guests. We're on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we're embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. Paul is the author of a new Irish-Indian cosy crime series set in contemporary Delhi. The first in the series is Murder in Moonlit Square, which published by No Exit Press / Bedford Square Publishers in October 2025 - but you can pre-order it now. (Ah go on.) It'll also be published in India in paperback in January 2026 by Penguin India. Paul previously wrote the 1950s Irish border thriller Blackwatertown. We can also recommend Cockerings, the comic classic by Stevyn Colgan, and his hugely popular YouTube channel @Colganology

    20 min

  5. FEB 1

    30. Stand Up Comedy (part 1) with Ian Stone & Phoebe Haywood

    30. How to write & perform stand up comedy (part 1): Comedians Ian Stone & Phoebe Haywood talk to We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan, about Ian's new book To Be Someone about his love affair with The Jam & surviving the 1970s. We also talk about comic timing, how to write a joke, taboo topics, physical comedy, making it personal, Mods, racists, Nazis, Sham 69, skinheads, being Jewish, never reading a book until your 20s, having ADHD, making money from comedy, the difference between writing for performance & writing to be read, Worcestershire ales, the comedy circuit in and beyond London, heckling, great stand up comedians & illustrations by Phil Jupitus. The Empire in Belfast and the Hellfire Club in High Wycombe also get mentioned. We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. (And sometimes Jonathan Kennedy.) We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, & audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul, Steve & our guests. We're on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we're embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. Paul is the author of a new cosy mystery series set in contemporary Delhi. The first in the series is Murder in Moonlit Square, which will be published by Bedford Square publishers in 2025. He previously wrote a thriller set on the 1950s Irish border called Blackwatertown. We can also recommend Cockerings, the comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

    17 min

  6. FEB 1

    29. Stand Up Comedy (part 2) with Ian Stone & Phoebe Haywood

    29. How to write & perform stand up comedy (part 2): Comedians Ian Stone & Phoebe Haywood talk to We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan, about Ian's new book To Be Someone about his love affair with The Jam & surviving the 1970s. We also talk about comic timing, how to write a joke, taboo topics, physical comedy, making it personal, Mods, racists, Nazis, Sham 69, skinheads, being Jewish, never reading a book until your 20s, having ADHD, making money from comedy, the difference between writing for performance & writing to be read, Worcestershire ales, the comedy circuit in and beyond London, heckling, great stand up comedians & illustrations by Phil Jupitus. The Empire in Belfast and the Hellfire Club in High Wycombe also get mentioned. We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. (And sometimes Jonathan Kennedy.) We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, & audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul, Steve & our guests. We're on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we're embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. Paul is the author of a new cosy mystery series set in contemporary Delhi. The first in the series is Murder in Moonlit Square, which will be published by Bedford Square publishers in 2025. He previously wrote a thriller set on the 1950s Irish border called Blackwatertown. We can also recommend Cockerings, the comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

    26 min

  7. FEB 1

    28. Stand Up Comedy (part 3) with Ian Stone & Phoebe Haywood

    28. How to write & perform stand up comedy (part 3): Comedians Ian Stone & Phoebe Haywood talk to We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan, about Ian's new book To Be Someone about his love affair with The Jam & surviving the 1970s. We also talk about comic timing, how to write a joke, taboo topics, physical comedy, making it personal, Mods, racists, Nazis, Sham 69, skinheads, being Jewish, never reading a book until your 20s, having ADHD, making money from comedy, the difference between writing for performance & writing to be read, Worcestershire ales, the comedy circuit in and beyond London, heckling, great stand up comedians & illustrations by Phil Jupitus. The Empire in Belfast and the Hellfire Club in High Wycombe also get mentioned. We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. (And sometimes Jonathan Kennedy.) We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, & audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul, Steve & our guests. We're on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we're embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. Paul is the author of a new cosy mystery series set in contemporary Delhi. The first in the series is Murder in Moonlit Square, which will be published by Bedford Square publishers in 2025. He previously wrote a thriller set on the 1950s Irish border called Blackwatertown. We can also recommend Cockerings, the comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

    21 min

  8. 12/01/2024

    27. Peter James & Tina Payne at Chiltern Kills crime fest 2024

    27. Peter James & Tina Payne at the Chiltern Kills crime writing festival 2024: We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan hear from Peter James, the bestselling author of the Roy Grace detective series, and also from new crime fiction sensation Tina Payne aka TM Payne. And lots more from the 2024 Chiltern Kills festival in Gerrards Cross, just 20 minutes from London Marylebone. The next Chiltern Kills will be on Saturday 4th October 2025, with all ticket sales in aid of the Centrepoint charity combatting youth homelessness. Please join us. Peter James talks about his latest instalment, One Of Us Is Dead - number 20! - in the DS Roy Grace series - also a multi-season successful ITV series. Also about how he's written such a long running series; the dangers of bad TV adaptations; how being the writer behind a TV series can feel like being God; how actor John Simm now influences the development of the fictional Roy Grace; and how police forces now approach him to spread the word on their new crime fighting innovations. Tina Payne talks about her Detective Sheridan Holler series, including Long Time Dead, This Ends Now, and Play With Fire. She also reveals how, after 18 years in the Norfolk police, she keeps her books authentic; and that though she didn't start the fire (Your Honour), she does have an intimate knowledge of the lyrics and plans to deploy them at the Chiltern Kills How To Murder A Song karaoke. Also discussed in this one-part episode: writing and singing stars Mark Edwards and Ed James, thriller author and Chiltern Kills co-organiser Tony Kent, Frederick Forsyth, Victoria Christian, Jeffrey Archer, Murder in Moonlit Square, Leye Adenle, Eve Smith, Greg Mosse, Ajay Chowdhury, climate change in crime fiction, Aneysha Minocha of Quantaco, Louise Minchin, the Secret barrister, Lisa Maxwell from the Bill, comedians Phoebe Haywood and Ian Stone, witches, biscuits, Ciarán O'Keeffe, Derek Acorah, ghosts, wiccan, Celtic calendar, neo-pagan, Mark Page, Phil Jupitus, Paul Weller, Jeremy Vine, the Writers' Room, MJ Arlidge, Steph Broadribb, Julia Crouch, Lisa Hall, Hastings Green Man Festival, Morris dancing, Boss Morris and The Wad. We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. (And sometimes Jonathan Kennedy.) We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, & audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul, Steve & our guests. We're on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we're embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. Paul is writing a new cosy mystery series set in contemporary Delhi. The first in the series is Murder in Moonlit Square, which will be published by Bedford Square publishers in 2025. He previously wrote a thriller set on the 1950s Irish border called Blackwatertown. We can also recommend Cockerings, the comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

    43 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

A podcast & radio show about words: writers, readers, books, poetry, lyrics, scripts, comedy, illustrators, agents & all things wordy.

Information

  • Creator
    We'd Like A Word
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2025
  • Episodes
    162
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © We'd Like A Word
  • Show Website
    We'd Like A Word

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