This Writing Life

In the next episode of This Writing Life, James Kidd talks to the extraordinary American novelist Tom Drury, author of The End of Vandalism, Hunts in Dreams, Pacific and The Driftless Area, among others. 

The second part of my chat with Amit Chaudhuri began with a discussion of his literary inheritance - that combined Philip Larkin with Tagore. 

Amit Chaudhuri is a novelist, academic and musician whose books include A New World, The Immortals and most recently Odysseus Abroad. 

In the final part of my epic conversation with the American soldier-poet Brian Turner, our attention turned to the question: does writing help confront trauma and the violence he has witnessed and indeed participated in. 

Brian Turner reads his poem Ferris Wheel, from the collection Here, Bullet. 

In part three of my epic conversation with Brian Turner, we begin by discussing how the Soldier Poet bears witness, 

Brian Turner reads and discusses a passage from his memoir, My Life as a Foreign Country. Tim Adams' review in the Observer is: here.Brian Turner's website is: here. 

In the second part of my lengthy conversation with the poet Brian Turner we begin by discussing language - in particular pejorative terms like 'Haji'. Turner moves from this, through coining 'otherise', to recall his own experiences in Iraq. 

Brian Turner has become world famous for his war poetry, which was largely inspired by a year-long tour
of Iraq with the 3rd Stryker
Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. The ostensible reason for our meeting, however, was first sustained work of prose, a memoir entitled My Life as a Foreign Country, which 

Brian Turner, the next guest on This Writing Life, reads the title poem from his first collection, Here Bullet. As a soldier in the US army, Turner served in Bosnia and Iraq, before turning to writing. He is the author of three books: in addition to Here, Bullet, he has published one other volume of verse, Phantom Noise, and the memoir My Life as a Foreign Country.Brian's website is: http://www.brianturner.org/poetry/

In part two of my conversation with Tomas Gonzalez in an echoey London hotel, we continued to discuss his dark, autobiographical debut novel In the Beginning was the Sea. 

The Colombian novelist Tomas Gonzalez has been writing for three decades, but has only been read this year by an English-speaking audience after his debut, In the Beginning Was the Sea, was published by the wonderful Pushkin Press. 

In the second half of my conversation with Karen Joy Fowler, we shift seamlessly (sort of) from Star Wars to ponder: 

Karen Joy Fowler reads from We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.

Karen Joy Fowler's We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves is one of 2014's most memorable and lauded novels. Having received rave reviews across the world, it won the Pen/Faulkner in the United States and then became one of the first works by an American to be shortlisted for the Man Booker.