Gurnaik Johal on maximalist fiction, ecological anxiety and his debut novel, Saraswati

On this episode of The London Magazine Podcast, we speak to short story writer and novelist Gurnaik Johal. Gurnaik’s 2022 collection We Move won the Somerset Maugham Award and the Tata Literature Live! Prize, and his debut novel, Saraswati, is out now with Serpent’s Tail.In the episode, we discuss maximalism in the novel, the Indian diaspora and the difficulty of writing about current events – ‘this is where I say to any budding writers out there: write historical fiction!’Timestamps1.35 - The escapism of writing a maximalist novel during COVID3.04 - Gurnaik reads an extract from Saraswati7.43 - Moving from short fiction to the novel9.36 - Research, knowledge acquisition and the editorial process12.53 - How to write about current events that are changing day by day14.24 - Maximalism and ambition in a debut novel19.39 - Seeing India through the eyes of the diaspora23.25 - Comedy and levity in the novel26.54 - Origin stories and myth29.08 - Writing ‘climate fiction’31.22 - The strange timewarp of publishingFollow The London Magazine Podcast here to never miss an episode. To discover more content exclusive to our print and digital editions, subscribe here to receive a copy of The London Magazine to your door every two months, while also enjoying full access to our extensive digital archive of essays, literary journalism, fiction and poetry.