On this episode of The Writing Life, we speak to news journalist turned non-fiction writer and biographer Richard Balls about interviewing difficult subjects.
Richard is the author of three books: A Furious Devotion: The Life of Shane MacGowan; Be Stiff: The Stiff Records Story, and Sex & Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll: The Life of Ian Dury. In this conversation with Steph McKenna, he talks about using the experience and techniques acquired through a 20-year journalism career to inform the way he approaches, interviews, and writes about high-profile figures such as Shane MacGowan, whose life story is as much fiction as fact!
How do you secure an interview with a reluctant subject? What do you do when an interview isn’t going to plan? And what ethics or responsibilities are involved when writing about someone’s complex, contradictory, or unacceptable behaviour? Richard covers all this and more on the podcast.
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Writing subversive women with Naomi Wood
Virtual residencies with Nur-El-Hudaa Jaffar, Sim Wai-chew and Tse Hao Guang
Writing the grotesque body with Heather Parry
Writing and chronic illness with Polly Atkin
Writing for younger audiences with Chip Colquhoun
Writing modern noir with Margot Douaihy
Writing unreliable narrators with Hannah Vincent
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How to Write a Script with Molly Naylor
In conversation with bestselling crime writer Ian Rankin
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Writing Short Stories with Yan Ge
Music and translation with Kalaf Epalanga & Daniel Hahn
Priscilla Morris on writing resistance and community in Black Butterflies
Working Class Noir with Tom Benn
Writing Real People in Memoir with Katy Massey
How to Write Suspense Fiction with Claire McGowan
Writing a Biography with Patrick Barkham
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