PODCAST · fiction
Fictionable
by Fictionable
Interviews, book chat and everything about the short stories and graphic fiction from all around the world appearing in Fictionable. "Storytellers, readers and creatives alike will love" – The Independent Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
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Elaine Vilar Madruga: 'I’m always thinking about Kafka when I write'
This Summer series we've already heard from Will Boast, EC Osondu, Robin Munby and Zhenya Oliinyk. But we bring it to a close with Elaine Vilar Madruga and her short story Wild, translated from Spanish by Samantha Luna. Wild is not only a story about vengeance, Vilar Madruga says, it's also "a...
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Zhenya Oliinyk: 'Drawing and writing comics is more like journalism to me'
We've heard from Will Boast, EC Osondu and Robin Munby already in this Summer series of podcasts, and Elaine Vilar Madruga is lined up next. But this week we welcome Zhenya Oliinyk and her graphic short story A Night in Kyiv. This story is short and made up of unsettling images, but Oliinyk tells...
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Robin Munby: 'You're always writing in some sense for yourself'
This summer we've already heard from Will Boast and EC Osondu, and we'll be welcoming Elaine Vilar Madruga and Zhenya Oliinyk on to the podcast over the next few weeks. But this time we're heading north with Robin Munby and his short story Of All Who Sorrow, Joy. Munby's narrator is adrift in...
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EC Osondu: 'The writer is also a strange animal'
Will Boast kicked off this Summer series of podcasts, discussing the bureaucracy and hostility that immigrants face all around the world. We'll be hearing from Elaine Vilar Madruga, Zhenya Oliinyk and Robin Munby over the next few weeks. But this time we welcome EC Osondu and his short story Uber...
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Will Boast: 'You almost have to make your characters feel interestingly doomed'
The heat is on in London, so it's time for another set of exclusive short stories and another series of podcasts. Over the next few weeks we'll be hearing from Elaine Vilar Madruga, EC Osondu, Zhenya Oliinyk and Robin Munby, but we launch into Summer with Will Boast and his story The Line. Boast...
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Takiguchi Yūshō: 'When I’m writing fiction, I have very little sense I’m the one inventing the story'
We've already heard from Diana Evans, Bruna Martini, Joel Cox and Holly Edwards in this Spring series of podcasts. Now we bring it to a close with Takiguchi Yūshō and the translator Jesse Kirkwood. Takiguchi tells us that the wandering narrator in Peppermint is following the same method as his...
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Holly Edwards: 'There's obviously something political about presenting trans characters'
Diana Evans, Bruna Martini and Joel Cox have already joined us on this Spring series of podcasts, and next time we'll be hearing from Takiguchi Yūshō and the translator Jesse Kirkwood. But this time we welcome Holly Edwards. The country comes calling in her short story Little Lamb, Who Made Thee?...
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Joel Cox: 'It's fine to have jerks in stories, but you have to have something that makes the reader keep reading'
We've heard from Diana Evans and Bruna Martini already in this Spring series of podcasts, and we'll be welcoming Takiguchi Yūshō and the translator Jesse Kirkwood, and Holly Edwards over the next couple of weeks. But this podcast is devoted to Joel Cox and Variable Rewards. Cox explains that this...
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Bruna Martini: 'I have spent too many months without drawing'
This Spring series of podcasts began with Diana Evans, who took us back to the 1990s. We'll be hearing from Takiguchi Yūshō and the translator Jesse Kirkwood, Holly Edwards and Joel Cox over the next few weeks. But for this episode we welcome Bruna Martini and her graphic short story One Day at…
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Diana Evans: 'Writing is an act of hope'
Spring is here and so is Fictionable, with another set of exclusive short stories and another series of podcasts where we meet our fantastic authors. During the next few weeks we'll be hearing from Takiguchi Yūshō and the translator Jesse Kirkwood, Bruna Martini, Holly Edwards and Joel Cox. But...
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Cynthia Banham: 'Writing is a dangerous act'
In this Winter series we've already welcomed Cynthia Zarin, Rodrigo Urquiola Flores and the translator Shaina Brassard, Tim Conley and Samuel Rigg. We bring down the curtain with Cynthia Banham and her short story Swimming With Crocodiles. Banham confesses that she shares her protagonist's…
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Samuel Rigg: 'Often I find I'm writing about people who are not me'
After hearing from Cynthia Zarin, Rodrigo Urquiola Flores and the translator Shaina Brassard, and Tim Conley, this Winter series of podcasts enters the final stretch. We'll be rounding off with Cynthia Banham next time, but stepping out on to the ice this week is Samuel Rigg and his short story…
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Tim Conley: 'Short fiction is a lot more liberating'
We've already heard from Cynthia Zarin, Rodrigo Urquiola Flores and the translator Shaina Brassard in this Winter series – we'll be welcoming Cynthia Banham and Samuel Rigg on to the podcast over the next few weeks. But this time we're putting Tim Conley on the turntable with his short story...
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Rodrigo Urquiola Flores: 'Everything in this short story is true'
We began this Winter series of podcasts with Cynthia Zarin, who suggested that every single one of us is torn in different ways. We'll be examining those cracks with Tim Conley, Cynthia Banham and Samuel Rigg over the next few weeks, but this time we welcome Rodrigo Urquiola Flores and the...
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Cynthia Zarin: 'You write out of the world that you're living in'
It's cold, it's wet, it's January. Time for another series of exclusive short stories and another series of podcasts. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be hearing from Rodrigo Urquiola Flores and his translator Shaina Brassard, as well as Tim Conley, Cynthia Banham and Samuel Rigg. But we kick off...
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Ephameron: 'My work is always at the crossroads between literature, graphic arts, painting, comics'
This Autumn series of podcasts has already brought us Helon Habila, Caroline Clark and Kasimma. We round it off with Ephameron and her graphic short story . This enigmatic comic imagines a couple divided by distance but reaching for connection by talking about the weather. So when...
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Kasimma: 'Because I’m writing fiction, I can get away with anything'
We've already heard from Helon Habila and Caroline Clark in this Autumn series of podcasts, and we'll be rounding out the set with Ephameron in the next couple of weeks. But this time we welcome Kasimma and her short story Mama Taught Me That. This story is set in the 16th century. "We are not...
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Caroline Clark: 'This story completely surprised me'
This Autumn series of podcasts started with Helon Habila confronting the difficult legacy of slavery in the US. Over the next few weeks, we'll be talking with Ephameron and Kasimma. But this time we welcome Caroline Clark and I Will Go. Clark tells us she isn't really sure where this haunting…
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Helon Habila: 'What fiction does is make you live the life of the other'
Here in the northern hemisphere it's getting misty and mellow all over again. Time for Autumn 2025 and another fruitful harvest of podcasts, ripened to the core. Over the next few weeks, we'll be hearing from Caroline Clark, Kasimma and Ephameron. But we launch into autumn with Helon Habila and…
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Sheyla Smanioto: 'It's a haunted story, where you know something is going to happen'
This summer series of podcasts has taken us from the snow and ice of AL Kennedy's Expedition Skills to the blunt heat of Ali McClary's Proper Magic, and from the staccato fragments of Pete Segall's Bolex Man to the unstoppable momentum of Dafydd McKimm's The Nosebleed. We bring this season to a...
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Dafydd McKimm: 'I write this kind of story in a bit of a fever'
This summer, we've heard from AL Kennedy, Pete Segall and Ali McClary. We'll be bringing this series to a close with Sheyla Smanioto, but this time Dafydd McKimm steps into the consulting room with his short story The Nosebleed. McKimm tells us how The Nosebleed was a story that came to him with...
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Ali McClary: 'This story started as a conversation between two young women'
We've already heard from AL Kennedy and Pete Segall in this summer series of podcasts, and we’ll be hearing from Sheyla Smanioto and Dafydd McKimm over the next few weeks. But this time we're summoning up Ali McClary and her short story Proper Magic. McClary confesses that the intense friendship...
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Pete Segall: 'I don’t feel like it’s my job as a writer to answer questions'
We began this Summer series of podcasts with AL Kennedy arguing that the empathy which powers fiction makes writing it a political act. We'll be talking fiction – or maybe politics – with Sheyla Smanioto, Ali McClary and Dafydd McKimm over the next few weeks. But this time we're zooming in on…
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AL Kennedy: 'It's all political, if you're writing fiction'
It's raining in London, but it's time for another issue – and another series of Fictionable podcasts. Over the next few weeks we'll be hearing from Sheyla Smanioto, Pete Segall, Ali McClary and Dafydd McKimm. But we begin Summer 2025 with AL Kennedy, and her icy short story Expedition Skills....
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Susanna Clarke: 'You’ve got to play with things being very fantastical and also slightly humdrum'
This spring we've heard from Fríða Ísberg, Bronia Flett, Jeremy Wikeley and PR Woods already. But we bring this series to a close with Susanna Clarke and her short story The Bishop of Durham Attempts to Surrender the City. Clarke tells us that it's a story she's been thinking about for some time....
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Jeremy Wikeley: 'I would always defend the notion of being able to write about a place called England'
We've already welcomed Fríða Ísberg, Bronia Flett and PR Woods in this Spring series, and Susanna Clarke will be joining us next time. But now we're hearing from Jeremy Wikeley with his short story Kent's Oak. According to Wikeley, his main character's disconnected connection with his neighbours…
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PR Woods: 'I would never write anything against Wolf Hall'
We've already heard from Fríða Ísberg and Bronia Flett in this Spring series, and we'll be welcoming Susanna Clarke and Jeremy Wikeley on to the Fictionable podcast over the next few weeks. But this time we're going back in time with PR Woods and her short story Our Lady of Sorrows. Woods tells…
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Bronia Flett: 'This is obviously all fiction'
Fríða Ísberg got this Spring series of podcasts started, with a dialogue on monologues and a reading from her short story Fingers, translated by Larissa Kyzer. We'll be welcoming Susanna Clarke, Jeremy Wikeley and PR Woods on to the podcast over the next few weeks, but right here and right now...
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Fríða Ísberg: 'We are always just looking for simple stories'
Everything is changing, but one thing you can rely on is a new set of stories and a new series of podcasts from Fictionable. Spring 2025 brings us stories from Susanna Clarke, Bronia Flett, Jeremy Wikeley and PR Woods – we'll be hearing from them all over the next few weeks. But we begin with…
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Joanna Kavenna: 'We all make fictions about the future'
After hearing from Helga Schubert, Ben Sorgiovanni, Julian George and Rachida Lamrabet, we bring this Winter series of podcasts to a close with Joanna Kavenna and her short story Notes on the Future. Kavenna tells us how this story was born from an obsession with patterns and a robust detachment...
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Rachida Lamrabet: 'Fiction gives me the opportunity to introduce another perspective'
In this Winter season we've already heard from Helga Schubert, Ben Sorgiovanni and Julian George. Joanna Kavenna will be rounding off the series next time, but right here and now we welcome Rachida Lamrabet and her short story Two Girls on Bicycles, translated by Johanna McCalmont. Lamrabet…
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Julian George: 'Any word out of place, the whole thing is worthless'
So far we've heard from Helga Schubert and Ben Sorgiovanni in this Winter season. We'll be welcoming Joanna Kavenna and Rachida Lamrabet over the next couple of weeks, but for this feature we present Julian George and The Movie Lovers. George tells us how this short story emerged from the classic...
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Ben Sorgiovanni: 'What fiction does really well is capture the nuance of human experience'
This Winter series of podcasts got underway with Helga Schubert, who told us how she put together her short story On Getting Up from pieces of her past. This season we'll be hearing from Joanna Kavenna, Rachida Lamrabet and Julian George, but this time we meet Ben Sorgiovanni and his story No One...
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Helga Schubert: 'There's got to be distance between the writer and their story'
As the world lurches into 2025 we launch into another series of Fictionable podcasts. We'll be hearing from Joanna Kavenna, Rachida Lamrabet, Ben Sorgiovanni and Julian George over the next few weeks, but we start with Helga Schubert and her short story On Getting Up, translated by Aaron Sayne…
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Esther Karin Mngodo: 'I am more myself when I write in Swahili'
Last year we heard from Daisy Johnson, Judith Vanistendael, Scott Jacobs and Hannah Webb. We bring our Autumn series to a close – just in time for Winter – with Esther Karin Mngodo and the translator Jay Boss Rubin, who join us to talk about First Date. Mngodo tells us how this story ate another…
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Hannah Webb: 'I always seem to end up writing at the extremes'
We opened this Autumn season with Daisy Johnson and followed up with Judith Vanistendael and Scott Jacobs. We'll be sitting down with Esther Karin Mngodo over the next week or so, but this episode is devoted to Hannah Webb and her short story Titanic. While Jacobs told us Be Careful Who Your...
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Scott Jacobs: 'I made a few things up along the way'
This season we've already heard from Daisy Johnson and Judith Vanistendael. Over the next few weeks we'll be sitting down with Esther Karin Mngodo and Hannah Webb, but this time we welcome Scott Jacobs and his short story Be Careful Who Your Friends Are. According to Jacobs, this curious tale was…
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Judith Vanistendael: 'This first love has defined my storytelling'
In the first of our Autumn podcasts, Daisy Johnson told us how she was living on the edge when she was writing her collection The Hotel, and read from her short story Conference. Over the course of this season we'll be ranging all round the world to hear from Esther Karin Mngodo, Scott Jacobs and...
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Daisy Johnson: 'Most of the things I write do have a twist'
The leaves are swirling, there's a nip in the air, so it's time for a whole new bunch of Fictionable podcasts. Over the next few weeks we'll be hearing from Judith Vanistendael, Esther Karin Mngodo, Scott Jacobs and Hannah Webb, but we're launching into Autumn with Daisy Johnson and her short…
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Susan Muaddi Darraj: 'My writing has changed forever by what's happening in Gaza'
This Summer podcast series has brought us Samantha Harvey, Patrick Cash, Carolina Bruck – translated by Ellen Jones – and Jack Klausner. We bring it to a close with Susan Muaddi Darraj and her mighty story May You Wake Up to a Homeland. Darraj tells us that she started with an image, an old man…
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Jack Klausner: 'I write more on the darker end of the spectrum'
Already this summer we've heard from Samantha Harvey, Patrick Cash, Carolina Bruck and her translator Ellen Jones. This time we're getting under the surface of Jack Klausner's short story The Coalface. Klausner tells us how this story emerged from a memory – his partner's mother remembering her…
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Carolina Bruck: 'Fiction can transform the way we understand the world'
This summer series has already brought us Samantha Harvey and Patrick Cash. Now it's time for Carolina Bruck and her translator Ellen Jones, with Bruck's short story China. We start with questions of vocabulary, as Bruck clears up exactly what a china is and fills us in on the cultural…
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Patrick Cash: 'The coming out story has been told so many times'
Last time Samantha Harvey let the cat out of the bag, diving straight into the heart of her story Bona Fide Nihon-kitsch. This time Patrick Cash is a little less spoiler heavy as he talks about and reads from his story Trish Malone. Cash tells us how the cabaret artist who takes a leading role…
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Samantha Harvey: 'This is what fiction can do'
The weather may be up the spout but it's still summer, so it's time for another batch of Fictionable podcasts. We'll be hearing from Susan Muaddi Darraj, Carolina Bruck, Patrick Cash and Jack Klausner in this summer season. But Summer opens with Samantha Harvey and her mighty short story Bona…
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Jakub Żulczyk: 'We're all two inches tall'
In this Spring series of podcasts we've heard from Jenny Erpenbeck, Grahame Williams, Lauren Caroline Smith and Rose Rahtz. We bring it to a close with Jakub Żulczyk and his story Many Years of Hardships, translated by John and Małgorzata Markoff. Żulczyk became a bestseller with hard-hitting...
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Rose Rahtz: 'What if you did have magical powers in a toddler?'
This spring we've already heard from Jenny Erpenbeck, Grahame Williams and Lauren Caroline Smith. This time we welcome Rose Rahtz and her short story Where Hast Thou Been, Sister? Rahtz tells us how the story started as a response to the opening of Macbeth, where there is a roll of thunder and...
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Lauren Caroline Smith: 'There is something countercultural in Christianity'
In this Spring series of podcasts we've already heard from Jenny Erpenbeck and Grahame Williams. Now it's time for Lauren Caroline Smith and her short story The Placing of Hands. Smith looks back on her teenage years, when being a committed Christian made her something of an oddity, and reflects…
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Grahame Williams: 'Random acts of violence could happen at any time'
Last time we heard from Jenny Erpenbeck, who told us that before her latest novel Kairos she'd "never written a love story". This time we welcome Grahame Williams and his short story Making It Happen. Like the industrialist Sir John Harvey-Jones, an inspirational figure in Making It Happen,...
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Jenny Erpenbeck: 'What you write down can be made to hide something'
Spring has finally sprung and with it another series of Fictionable podcasts. Over the next few weeks we'll be hearing from Jakub Żulczyk, Grahame Williams, Lauren Caroline Smith and Rose Rahtz. But we launch into Spring with Jenny Erpenbeck and her haunting short story Sloughing Off One Skin.…
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Liam Hogan: 'I want to be entertained'
We've already heard from Linda Mannheim, Richard Smyth, Ariel Marken Jack. and Robert Neuwirth in this Winter series of podcasts. Now we bring it to a close with Liam Hogan and his short story Backstory. Hogan tells us how it all came from his suspicion of heroes. "They often have it far too…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Interviews, book chat and everything about the short stories and graphic fiction from all around the world appearing in Fictionable. "Storytellers, readers and creatives alike will love" – The Independent
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
HOSTED BY
Fictionable
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Fictionable have?
Fictionable currently has 68 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Fictionable about?
Interviews, book chat and everything about the short stories and graphic fiction from all around the world appearing in Fictionable. "Storytellers, readers and creatives alike will love" – The Independent Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How often does Fictionable release new episodes?
Fictionable has 68 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Fictionable?
You can listen to Fictionable on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Fictionable?
Fictionable is created and hosted by Fictionable.
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