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Babble

By Babble

Providing stories from the debut to the renowned and the babble in between. Our fortnightly Interviews with authors will take you on their journey. From where they've come, to where they are and where they're heading next.

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Roman Scott AKA KYOZO takes the Babble Stage

BabbleMay 06, 2021

00:00
29:43
To Kidnap The Rich with Rahul Raina

To Kidnap The Rich with Rahul Raina

Rahul Raina’s debut novel How to Kidnap the Rich was published by Little Brown (UK) and Harper Collins (US) in 2021 after a six-way publishing auction - but he tells Babble that until he submitted it for publication, nobody had read it!

Rahul spends his time between Oxford and Delhi. In England, he runs his own start-up for part of the year, and he works for charities for street children and teaches English in India for the rest. His experiences and the relationships he has formed during his time in India have informed the characters of How To Kidnap The Rich. 

How to Kidnap the Rich has been reviewed and praised by The Times, The Economist, The Sunday Telegraph, The Mail on Sunday, The Independent, Sunday Times, The New York Times, The Guardian and more, and the TV rights have been sold to HBO.

Jul 15, 202122:10
Catching a Killer with Nadine Matheson
Jul 01, 202124:50
Just a pen, a guitar and babble with Colum Sanson-Regan
Jun 17, 202133:14
Babble journeys through British history with Madeline Dewhurst
Jun 03, 202123:04
Fantasy, World-building and Babble with Andrea Stewart
May 20, 202123:48
Roman Scott AKA KYOZO takes the Babble Stage
May 06, 202129:43
Babble 'The Teaser In-between 2'

Babble 'The Teaser In-between 2'

Find out what you've missed and what's to come on the next episode. Stay Tuned!

Apr 29, 202100:57
From Dentist to Poet: Abeer Ameer on Babble

From Dentist to Poet: Abeer Ameer on Babble

Poet Abeer Ameer, debut author of Inhale/Exile, originally trained as a dentist in London and completed her Membership of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons in Edinburgh. You may wonder how the dots connect, but Abeer says she was pretty much writing poems for her assignments for her MSc dissertation at Cardiff University which investigated the potential use of mindfulness-based therapies in the management of dental anxiety.

That said, Abeer’s poems don’t centre around dental anxiety, but rather stories of her Iraqi forebears and the experience of an often under-explored period in recent history. Her debut collection is out now with Seren Books.

Abeer’s poems have appeared in both print and online journals and anthologies including: Acumen, Poetry Wales, Planet, Magma, Red Poets, New Welsh Reader, Prole, The High Window, Atrium, The Rialto and Long Poem Magazine.

She is a recipient of the Literature Wales Mentoring Scheme for 2020.

Above all, Abeer considers herself to be a shy introvert, so it was a real treat to have her come on Babble and chat with interviewer Megan Thomas.

Apr 22, 202117:44
Babble 'The Teaser In-between'

Babble 'The Teaser In-between'

Find out what you've missed and what's to come on the next episode. Stay Tuned!

Apr 15, 202101:09
Suzanne Noble and Monica Corcoran Harel babble on Ageing with Grace

Suzanne Noble and Monica Corcoran Harel babble on Ageing with Grace

The babble in this episode is a little different from usual. While we’ve previously had an interviewer-interviewee set-up in our virtual studio, this week we’ve got Monica Corcoran Harel and Suzanne Noble interviewing each other.

Monica Corcoran Harel is a New York Times journalist and author, and the founder of the Pretty Ripe newsletter for women who, despite what people might try to tell them, are far from being past their sell-by date.

Suzanne Noble is an award-winning social entrepreneur and networker who is the co-founder of Advantages of Age, a not for profit challenging the media narrative around ageing.

So, as you can imagine, the two have plenty to babble about, including the changing face of ageism (which still very much exists), the art of starting a business in your 50’s, and how much fun getting older actually is, especially if you throw caution to the wind...

Apr 08, 202127:02
Babble 'Season 3 Info'

Babble 'Season 3 Info'

Things are changing a bit for season 3, listen in to find out out more!

Apr 01, 202101:37
Bibliotherapy and Babble with Ella Berthoud

Bibliotherapy and Babble with Ella Berthoud

Bibliotherapist and author Ella Berthoud on solving life’s ailments through fiction, how it all started, and the merging of her passions: reading and painting

Bio: Ella Berthoud is a bibliotherapist at the international School of Life, where she prescribes novels and fiction to readers for all life’s ailments, from shyness to having murderous thoughts…

She is the author of The Art of Mindful Reading, she edited and contributed to 30-Second Literature: The 50 Most Important Forms, Genres and Styles, Each Explained in Half a Minute, and she co-authored The Novel Cure and The Story Cure with Susan Elderkin.

Ella is also a talented artist, and she has found a wonderful way of merging this talent with her love for reading: she listens to audiobooks, allowing her paintings to take on the colours of the books she’s listening to.

Mar 25, 202127:34
Babble 'The Trailer'

Babble 'The Trailer'

We’re a team of young arts enthusiasts who want to open up the world of arts and literature for everyone to enjoy easily, for free, and internationally. We conduct interviews with authors and artists who you may or may not have heard before, and spotlight the many up-and-coming and new voices that we believe are thoroughly deserving of exposure, and who arguably don’t get enough of it.

We project the voices of the diverse, international talent pool that is out there, from the new to the renowned. Our platform gives artists a platform that will introduce them to eager audiences who may not have found them otherwise, and ultimately provides a high-quality, entertaining show. Our interviews focus on journeys, be it a journey to publication, or the reason they started creating.

Mar 25, 202100:31
Memoirs, Babble and Rock ‘n Roll

Memoirs, Babble and Rock ‘n Roll

James Kennedy is a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, record label owner, public speaker and now published author of his memoir, Noise Damage: My Life As A Rock ’n’ Roll Underdog. He babbles with Rob Simcox, a Babble co-founder who will be heading up Babble’s music interviews.

Formerly the singer/guitarist from the political alternative rock band KYSHERA, James has been releasing music since 2002 as both a band member and as a solo artist. James’ musical back catalogue includes noise music, acoustic, prog rock, grunge, MOR, experimental electronic and orchestral music, making him a particularly unique figure on the modern music scene. Almost all of the instruments on his seven albums as well as all of the production, has been performed by Kennedy - no small achievement considering his 40% hearing loss due to childhood ear surgery.

His book is part-memoir, part-expose, and lays bare the struggles of navigating the music industry. The wit and James’ capacity for self-reflection makes Noise Damage relatable for anyone in or out of the musical world, and without ever needing to lean on cliche, it tells a powerful tale of overcoming adversity.

Rob Simcox is working on his career in the sound/audio industry. Robert is the sound engineer and audio editor for Babble, who uses his knowledge and experience to ensure all the audio across our platform is as smooth as possible for the audience's ears.

Mar 19, 202131:24
Doodling and Babbling with Trevor Romain
Mar 11, 202131:20
Speak Up Like a Babbler with Shola Kaye

Speak Up Like a Babbler with Shola Kaye

Where to start with Shola Kaye? There’s been quite the journey from a graduate of Natural Sciences at Cambridge and a Master of Science (Analytical Chemistry) at Emory University, to the trifecta of an arts career - speaking, singing, and writing books. Megan Thomas does her best to cover the lot.

Shola is a multi award-winning speaker, specialising in communication, leadership and D.E.I (diversity, equity and inclusion). She not only inspires through her powerful talks and presentations, but has written two books about how to find that power within yourself. It’s all quite ironic, too, given the starting point for this part of her career was losing her corporate job as a result of not speaking up enough.

Her first book, How to be a DIVA at Public Speaking: The step-by-step system to engage your audience and present with confidence, goes hand-in-hand with Shola’s extremely successful YouTube series, Speak Up Like a DIVA. Its focus is empowering its readers to speak with authority and confidence in all aspects of their lives, but especially in the workplace. Her latest book, Big Talk, Small Talk (and Everything in Between) teaches the art of effective communication with skill-building strategies.

She’s also enjoyed a career as a singer, which she speaks about on different levels, from where she’s performed to her experience of writing music to a brief. Though she’s no longer writing original music, she can identify the similarities to the confidence required for musical performance and that of motivational speaking.

Mar 04, 202123:13
Babble and Banter with Dan Anthony

Babble and Banter with Dan Anthony

Dan Anthony is a creative on many levels: he writes adored children's books, he lectures in Creative Writing at Cardiff Metropolitan university, his research interest examines the relationship between creativity and intellectual property, and being a scriptwriter on CBBC’s Tracy Beaker series is only one of his many exploits in the world of TV and radio. He is an ambassador for the power of writing and its transformative nature.

Dan’s comic short stories have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 3, Radio Wales and by the New Welsh Review, with hits including Pub Globo and The Fishford Observer, to name just a couple. He has written and directed six situation comedy series for radio and written and presented several documentary series.

His new book, Submarine Spies and the Unspeakable Thing​ (age range 9-12), tells a tale of how dogs, cats, parrots, chinchillas and submarine spies transform a young Caitlin’s life into a heart-warming adventure in a small Welsh town. His children’s trilogy, The Rugby Zombies (age range 9-11), features an array of zombified shenanigans, and was nominated for a Tir na n-Og award by the Welsh Books Council. His other titles include The Bus Stop at the End of the World (age range 9-11), Steve’s Dreams (age range 7-9), and The Last Big One (age range 13+). Dan’s passion for inspiring young readers and writers is clear from his workshops, which he presents in junior and secondary schools throughout the UK.

Lucy Smith, one of our new Babble interviewers, is a flash fiction, prose poetry and short story writer and podcaster (namely Talking Ink and The Talkies), who asks Dan interesting, exploratory questions which unearth wonderful insights into the world of writing, and a facilitate a happy, fun interview on a diverse range of topics, from his research on copyright to his approach on creative process.

Feb 25, 202129:36
Love At First Babble with Lorraine Brown

Love At First Babble with Lorraine Brown

Lorraine Brown spent her childhood devouring the Sweet Dreams teen romance series, so it’s only fitting that her debut novel Uncoupling is such a wonderful modern romance, published by Orion Books.

Lorraine’s career has hardly been a straightforward one, but her path towards her writing debut is inspiring nonetheless. From fashion journalism to temp jobs, with drama school in between and topped off with a postgraduate diploma in psychodynamic counselling, it’s no wonder that Lorraine’s characters are such three-dimensional, multi-faceted people and more to the point, that Lorraine was such an interesting Babbler.

Uncoupling was long-listed for the Bath Novel Award in 2016, which spurred Lorraine on and kept her working on it in Waterstones Hampstead’s café. Being one of 11 mentees on Penguin Random House’s WriteNow programme in 2018, where she worked with an editor on the novel for a year, further kept Lorraine charging forward. On came the deal with the literary agency. Then the book deal. Then the Babble interview. And the rest is history.

Feb 18, 202125:16
Babble visits Kololo Hill with Neema Shah

Babble visits Kololo Hill with Neema Shah

Neema Shah’s day job is in marketing, specialising in TV, digital and brand strategy for companies including the BBC, and it was on her commutes that she started writing Kololo Hill six years ago. Her writing is the historical fiction retelling of the expulsion of Ugandan Asians in 1972 by Idi Amin and the impacts of diaspora, but it is endless in humour, love and joy - the things which Neema believes, in spite of struggle, humans use to survive.

Neema was born in London and spoke English at home, and yet elements of both Indian and East African culture were present in her life, be they ways of cooking Indian dishes with African spices, or using Swahili and Gujarati words when speaking. She uses her writing to explore themes of identity and belonging, and Kololo Hill is an insightful, entertaining and eye-opening piece of historical fiction out 18 February 2021 for readers to devour.

Kololo Hill was a “2021 Pick” for Foyles, Daily Mail, The Irish Times, Cosmopolitan and Eastern Eye. She won the Literary Consultancy Pen Factor Live 2017 with an early extract of Kololo Hill, was runner-up in the York Festival of Writing Best Opening Chapter 2017 and the DGA First Novel Prize 2018, she was shortlisted for the Bath Novel Prize 2018 and longlisted for the Exeter Novel Prize, SI Leeds Literary Prize and Retreat Novel Prize, all in 2018.

Feb 11, 202131:08
Babble’s Got Art and Soal

Babble’s Got Art and Soal

Chris Soal is an award-winning emerging artist living and practicing in Johannesburg, South Africa, using unconventional found objects - like toothpicks and bottle caps - to make mesmerising art which represents the world we live in... and also to design Dior bags, as part of the Lady Dior Collaboration. 

Chris babbles with Megan Thomas about what inspired him to pursue a career in visual art, and the path he took to get to where he is today. Covering everything from the symbolism of his materials in a South African context and the practical reasons which inspired his choice in materials, to navigating what it means to put a price tag on art and the value of interdisciplinary conversations when it comes to creative process, this interview displays Chris’ grounded humility paired with an inspiring depth of thought that goes into every piece he creates.

Feb 04, 202132:15
Babbling Brooks and Books with Seán Hewitt

Babbling Brooks and Books with Seán Hewitt

Poet, writer and lecturer Seán Hewitt was shortlisted for the Sunday Times University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year Award 2020 for his debut poetry anthology ‘Tongues of Fire’, published by Jonathan Cape. ‘Tongues of Fire’ is a sensitive, compelling and beautiful ode to life and to nature, and Seán presents a reading of one of his earliest poems in his Babble interview - as well as a hilarious story about camping in the moors when writing it.

His memoir, ‘All Down Darkness Wide’, is forthcoming from Jonathan Cape in the UK and Penguin Press in the USA in 2022. He is also the winner of the Northern Writers Award, the Resurgence Prize and an Eric Gregory Award, and was chosen by The Sunday Times as one of their "30 under 30" most promising artists in Ireland.

‘Tongues of Fire’ was a Spectator, Guardian, Attitude, Irish Times and Irish Independent book of the year - as well as interviewer Megan’s, who is very excited to be able to pick Seán’s brains about his work, his anthology and his creative process. The two discuss prizes and Seán’s views on them, as well as how honoured he is to have been shortlisted amongst so many young, talented writers.

Jan 28, 202130:24
Poetic Babble with Christina Thatcher

Poetic Babble with Christina Thatcher

Christina Thatcher is an award-winning poet, a creative writing lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University, poetry editor of The Cardiff Review, tutor for The Poetry School, and runs Wales’ largest writing group, Roath Writers.

Christina’s debut poetry anthology, ‘More Than You Were’, grapples with the loss of her father from addiction and was written as the creative component of her PHD in Creative Writing from Cardiff University. The critical component deals with writing about death and using writing as liberation from disenfranchised grief. Her most recent anthology, ‘How To Carry Fire’, is in part a follow on from ‘More Than You Were’, but it is clear that Christina felt a cathartic sense of freedom and expansion when writing it. Both were published by Parthian Books.

Christina talks in her interview about moving to Wales from America and about how she started writing poetry from a young age as a form of escapism; she offers sound advice to aspiring poets about finding one’s voice and talks us through how the title of ‘How To Carry Fire’ came into being through retrospection of her family’s trauma; and she explains how poetry helps her make meaning of the world and her place within it. Her words are as inspiring on the page as they are when she babbles with Megan Thomas and if you aren’t rushing out to buy her collections after listening, you’ll be rushing to your notepad to write yourself.

Jan 21, 202138:48
All The Words Unspoken, Spoken and Babbled with Serena Kaur

All The Words Unspoken, Spoken and Babbled with Serena Kaur

Serena Kaur’s debut novel ‘All The Words Unspoken’ was published by RedDoor Press in 2020, so Babble kicks off 2021 with an interview with her. The interview might start with a bit of a horror story of Serena’s first experience with finding an agent, but the happy ending is imminent based on the existence of her delightful novel. 

Serena tells us why it was important for her to write a story that spoke to her own British-Asian community, and how often books are written for the white gaze. Serena manages to pack vitally important societal and interpersonal issues into a readable and enjoyable novel, including mental health, arranged marriage, prejudice, abortion, grief, loss, love, homophobia, self-love and self-hate, friendship, fulfilment, and all the secrets we keep and words we choose not to speak as a means of preservation.

Jan 14, 202123:40
A Babble Safari with James Hendry

A Babble Safari with James Hendry

You might know of James Hendry as a conservationist and wildlife presenter who has been the host and presenter of 50 odd TV shows, including Nat Geo Wild, SABC (South Africa) and CGTN (China). You may instead have read one of his three "and a half" books, Whatever You Do, Don't Run, A Year In The Wild, Back To The Bush, and Reggie & Me, which transport you between the South African wild under the bright African sun and into the zenith of Apartheid in suburban Johannesburg. You might not know him as a rockstar just yet, but he's working on that.  


James reveals to Megan Thomas his plans for future creative ventures, which include movie scripts and an addition to his wildlife book series, and he shares his thoughts on the process behind everything he writes and writers he admires. He talks about everything from his original plan to be a musician after university to the commentary he is always hungry to hear: that he’s made people laugh. His books will certainly do the trick on that front, but so will this interview.

Dec 24, 202029:40
Claire McGowan with Babble in the Library

Claire McGowan with Babble in the Library

Northern Irish author Claire McGowan joins us on Babble this week, where she not only talks about her very successful career writing crime fiction novels, but also her career writing women's fiction, which she does under the pseudonym Eva Woods. If you’re after a juicy crime thriller that has you playing detective throughout, you've got the recently published novel The Push and many more to choose from, including the fantastic Paula Maguire Series, which has been optioned for TV. If you'd rather nestle yourself into the world of love, loss, and the heartwarming humour of everyday life, then you should be eyeing up one of the books Claire writes under the pseudonym Eva Woods, such as The Man I Can't Forget, How To Be Happy, The Ex Factor and more. 

Claire and Megan Thomas babble about the benefits of writing under pseudonyms, on writing different genres, as well as how Claire gets her ideas. For all the aspiring authors out there, Claire has also given really helpful tips from both her teaching and personal experience. We can't wait to hear what you think!

Dec 17, 202020:34
Babble Lights Up with Pamela’s Power

Babble Lights Up with Pamela’s Power

When Megan Thomas interviewed Pamela Power for Babble, Megan was in Summery London and Pamela in a chilly Johannesburg. At the time of publishing, the weather roles have reversed, but the babble between them will either warm you up like a cosy fire or cool you down like a breath of fresh air no matter where in the world you're joining us from.

Pamela has written three books, ‘Ms Conception’ and ‘Delilah Now Trending’, published by Penguin South Africa, and ‘Things Unseen’, published by Clockwork Books. She is the resident blogger at Go See Do media, a scriptwriter for one of South Africa's most famous soap operas, and one of the city of Joburg’s biggest fans, which shines through her writing.

The interview covers all manner of topics, from writing scripts which are translated into multiple languages (there are 11 official languages in South Africa), to the writer’s loss of autonomy that takes place when agents, publishers and fictional characters with a life of their own get involved.

Dec 10, 202032:09
Waxing Lyrical with Edward Carey

Waxing Lyrical with Edward Carey

Some people write books for adults, some write books for children, others narrate audiobooks, illustrate them, write plays, are lecturers... Edward Carey does all of it.

His books are illustrated by hand, or feature photographs of the sculptures made by him. These include Observatory Mansions, Alma & Irva, The Iremonger Trilogy, Little, and his most recent novella, The Swallowed Man, and we chat about each of them.

We babble about how his career has gone from being an employee of Madam Tussauds to writing a book about its founder, about our inner child and whether there’s any need to distinguish children’s books from adult books, his lockdown experience of narrating all his stories for audiobooks and the odd experience of being reintroduced to characters he’d written 10 years ago, as well as how he finds writing to be one of the most freeing, limitless art forms.

Our interview is as varied as Edward's experience, and we can't wait to hear what you think.

Dec 03, 202032:17
Babble Bells All The Way with Gary Raymond

Babble Bells All The Way with Gary Raymond

Gary Raymond is interviewed by Megan Thomas, and babbles about his career as a novelist, a film critic, the editor of the Wales Arts Review, broadcaster, presenter of The Review Show on BBC Radio Wales, and, if his latest book “How Love Actually Ruined Christmas (Or Colourful Narcotics) is to be used to create a title: Professional Party Pooper. Although even Megan, who considered herself a Love Actually admirer, admits he’s not wrong...

The book was released on 2 November by Parthian Books and is available for purchase at all good bookshops. It’s Christmas-stocking sized… Just saying.

Nov 26, 202033:28
Lauren Goldstein Crowe Wears the Babble Hat with Style

Lauren Goldstein Crowe Wears the Babble Hat with Style

Author and journalist Lauren Goldstein Crowe has written three books and had a fascinating career in business and fashion, all of which she talks about in our Babble interview with Megan.

She talks about her business book, "The Towering World of Jimmy Choo: A Glamorous Story of Power, Profits, and the Pursuit of the Perfect Shoe", as well as the process of co-writing it with Sagra Maceira de Rosen. She talks about her fashion biography of the late Isabella Blow, "A Life In Fashion", and comments on the life of this tragic but fascinating fashionista and socialite. She also discusses her coffee table book, "50 Shades", which includes pictures of the 50 most influential people in sunglasses from the last century.

Nov 19, 202030:40
Tim Ewins: Are We Animals or Babblers?

Tim Ewins: Are We Animals or Babblers?

When Tim Ewins hasn’t been babbling with Megan Thomas in the Babble virtual studios, he’s been on the stand-up comedy circuit, working a career in finance, maintaining a "fake" bookish Instagram, and of course writing hilarious debut novels in the space between. 


His debut, 'We Are Animals', was published in e-book first format by Eye Lightning Books’ new digital imprint, Lightning ‘Bolts’, and so Babble’s aim to reach as international and varied an audience as possible just got easier through the book’s digital nature. 


Tim’s book was published just before lockdown, and instead of letting it get him down, he made a plan, which seems a pattern throughout Tim’s career. Tim started to read extracts of his book “in the style of” on social media after a Twitter post, and the stories and videos followed. Megan asked Tim if he’d consider doing one in the style of Whitney Houston, and the rest is podcast/video history.

Nov 18, 202029:16
Ghostly Babble with Sarah Wragg

Ghostly Babble with Sarah Wragg

Sarah Wragg is a bit of a wordsmith: from copywriting, speechwriting and playwriting, to poems, short stories and open mic nights. Her individual poems have appeared in print before, in anthologies by publications such as Beautiful Dragons Press and Indigo Dreams. Ghost Walk is her first solo collection, published by Hedgehog Press, which is a selection of spine-chilling poems which double up as tiny ghost stories comparable to those written by the haunted Victorians.

Megan Thomas attended the launch of Ghost Walk the night before Sarah’s interview, so arrives armed with a series of questions about ghosts, what we love so much about them, the importance of brevity in ghost stories and the process of writing them. Also discussed is Sarah’s publication journey, which involved winning a competition for Ghost Walk.

Nov 06, 202027:04
Babbling Food and Science with Melanie Warner
Oct 29, 202026:32
Babble Launches with Sue Nyathi
Oct 22, 202035:20