Always Take Notes

Kassia and Simon speak with Cal Flyn, a Scottish author and journalist. Cal worked as an investigative reporter for The Sunday Times and data reporter at the Telegraph before turning to literary non-fiction. Her first book Thicker Than Water, which dealt with colonialism in Australia and intergenerational guilt, was published in 2016 and selected by The Times as one of the best books of the year. Her second book, Islands of Abandonment, is expected in 2021. We spoke to Cal about breaking into, and breaking out of, newspaper journalism, about the complexities of writing about her own family, and the art of navigating the world of literary grants and residencies. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon speak to Rory Stewart, the MP for Penrith and the Border and the author of Occupational Hazards and The Places in Between, a New York Times bestseller. We spoke to him about his influences and how his feelings about walking memoirs and travel literature have evolved. He also spoke in greater depth about how he came to write The Places in Between and how his relationship with his father was pivotal to his most recent book, The Marches. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon speaks to Clare Conville, the co-founder of literary agency C+W (formerly Conville and Walsh). Listed by the Observer as one of “Our top 50 players in the world of books”, Clare previously worked as an editor at Random House, before co-founding Conville & Walsh in 2000. Between them Clare’s clients have won or been nominated for nearly every major literary prize in the UK, including the Man Booker Prize, the Orwell Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction. We discussed the development of Clare's career, her long standing interest in children's writing, the art of selling a book and the change in the literary climate fostered by creative writing courses. http://cwagency.co.uk/agent/clare-conville http://cwagency.co.uk/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon chat to Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times since 2005. We discussed his early career in journalism, which included stints at The Scotsman and a fellowship at the Washington Post, before his move to the Financial Times. He also spoke about his plans for the newspaper, both when he first took over as editor in 2005 and how these may have changed more recently as the idea of globalism has become more fraught. We also discussed some recent pieces he's been involved with, including the controversial interview with Steve Bannon. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Nicola Kean. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon and Kassia speak to Joanne Harris, author of the 1999 novel Chocolat, which was filmed a year later starring Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench and Johnny Depp, as well as numerous other best sellers including Gentleman and Players, Runelight and Peaches For Monsieur le Curé. Joanne talked about her early career as a teacher, dealing with unhelpful advice, the experience of writing a huge best-seller and subsequent movie adaptation, and her prolific, and occasionally acerbic, presence on social media. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon and Kassia speak to Niall Ferguson, conservative historian and author of The Ascent of Money and The Pity of War. He talked about his career, financial pressures and the dynamics of writing as a popular historian in the world of academia. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Ed Kiernan edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon and Kassia speak to Louisa Joyner, editorial director at publisher Faber & Faber. Louisa moved to Faber in 2016 from Canongate, and previously worked at HarperCollins, where she published Costa Book of the Year winner Nathan Filer’s The Shock of the Fall and commissioned Curtis Sittenfeld's re-write of Pride and Prejudice - Eligible. Louisa spoke to us about entering publishing from academia, her approach to the editorial process, where Faber fits in today's market, and where she sees the industry going in future. https://twitter.com/louisajoyner You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Liz Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia speaks to Jeremy Gavron, author of The Book of Israel, (winner of the Encore award), A Woman on the Edge of time and Felix Culpa, a novel pieced together from lines from over eighty other books. Jeremy spoke honestly about many of the relationships that have informed his work, including those with agents and editors and also with his mother, whose story he tells in A Woman on the Edge of Time. https://scribepublications.co.uk/books-authors/books/felix-culpa https://scribepublications.co.uk/books-authors/books/a-woman-on-the-edge-of-time1 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon speak to Lucy Hughes-Hallett, author of The Pike, a biography of Italian rake Gabriele d'Annunzio, which won all three of the UK's most prestigious prizes for non-fiction for 2013 - The Duff Cooper Prize, the Samuel Johnson Prize, and the Costa Biography of the Year award. Lucy spoke to us about the rhythms of her work, her relationship with agents and publishers, and her literary treatment of heroism. https://lucyhugheshallett.com/ https://twitter.com/lucyhh You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Ed Kiernan edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon speak to Jonathan Shainin, who runs the Long Read section of the Guardian. He spoke to us about his nomadic career, which took him from New York (and the New Yorker), to Abu Dhabi, India, and back to New York, before coming to London to set up the Long Read in 2014. Jonathan discusses the differences between US and UK editing styles, where the Long Read fits into the wider Guardian ecosystem, and how venturing abroad can fit into the career of an editor as well as a writer. https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/the-long-read https://twitter.com/gdnlongread You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Elizabeth Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon speak to romance novelist Julia Kelly about her portion of the literary universe - romance fiction is a billion-dollar industry. Julia talked to us about how she came to write her first books, the importance of marketing and social media for romance writers, the pros and cons of self-publishing in this genre, and why the happy ending remains non-negotiable. She also discussed the impact of the #metoo movement on the world of romance. http://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/authors/Julia-Kelly/575597749 https://www.juliakellywrites.com/ http://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/The-Light-Over-London/Julia-Kelly/The-Matchmaker-of-Edinburgh-Series/9781501172922 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon interview screenwriter and playwright Peter Moffat, whose work includes the series Cambridge Spies, Criminal Justice - later the basis of HBO's The Night of - and Silk, as well as the TV films Hawking and Einstein & Eddington. Peter spoke about moving from his early career as a lawyer into writing, the distinctions between British and American approaches to producing TV drama, and the role of both intensive research and muzak-free coffee shops in his writing routine. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0595584/ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hbos-night-how-peter-moffat-who-wrote-bbcs-original-version-inspired-story-915914 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Ed Kiernan edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon interview Helen Lewis, deputy editor of the New Statesman. She spoke to us about what her current role entails, the training she received as a sub-editor at the Daily Mail (and what it was like to work there). Helen candidly discussed the importance of networking, feminism, sub-editing and longform journalism. She also revealed a brilliant tip for powering through writers' block. https://www.newstatesman.com/2016/01/where-bodies-are-buried-0 https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/27/hot-feminist-by-polly-vernon-reducing-revolution-to-sloppy-self-help You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Elizabeth Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon speaks to Max Hastings, the best-selling military historian and erstwhile foreign correspondent and newspaper editor. They discussed Max's early career - how 1960s and 70s Fleet Street really was, without the benefit of rose-tinted spectacles - his experiences in the Falklands in 1982, the development of his book writing, from early ventures to his doorstopper World War Two histories, and the evolution of military history as a genre. http://www.maxhastings.com/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon speak to Hannah Westland, the publisher at Serpent's Tail, an independent imprint that published Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin and Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpent. She spoke to us about her early career — she started out as a literary agent — some of the projects she's currently working on and the role of independent firms in the publishing marketplace. https://serpentstail.com/ https://twitter.com/hannahwestland?lang=en You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook atfacebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Ed Kiernan edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon speaks to Laura Palmer, publishing director for fiction at Head of Zeus, an independent publishing house in London. Laura co-founded Head of Zeus in 2012, having started her career at Quercus Books, and she also worked at Corvus, the commercial fiction imprint of Atlantic Books. We spoke about what 'commercial fiction' precisely means, whether 'women's fiction' is still a useful label, best practice for aspirant writers and editors, and whether the Kindle has boosted public appetite for erotica. http://headofzeus.com/ Sophie Hannah - Why and How I Plan My Novels https://sophiehannah.com/why-and-how-i-plan-my-novels/ Save the Cat! - A step-by-step guide to telling the perfect story https://www.amazon.co.uk/Save-Cat-Only-Screenwriting-Youll/dp/1932907009 Head of Zeus - Submissions portal http://headofzeus.com/submissions-login Head of Zeus - Internship application http://headofzeus.com/about-us You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Liz Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon chat to Ben Judah, the journalist and author of This is London and Fragile Empire. He told us about how he got into writing, the influence on his work of Polish reportage styles and why he's decided to take a little break from Twitter. (We were on Skype, so please excuse the odd rough patch.) https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-London-Life-Death-World/dp/1447274792 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fragile-Empire-Russia-Vladimir-Putin/dp/0300205228 http://standpointmag.co.uk/dispatches-jan-10-ben-judah-siberia-gulag-stalin http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/dispatches-january-february-2014-hunting-lynx-with-the-old-believers-ben-judah-tuva-siberia You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Ed Kiernan edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon interview Patrick Kingsley, a correspondent with the New York Times. Patrick previously covered migration and the Middle East for The Guardian, based in Cairo and Istanbul. His first book, How To Be Danish (2012), was an exploration of contemporary Danish society. His second book, The New Odyssey (2016), chronicled the European refugee crisis, and was one of NPR's books of the year. Now based in London, Patrick is also a past winner of the annual foreign reporting award at the British Journalism Awards. We spoke about how foreign correspondency works — the intricacies of fixers, bureau chiefs and deadlines, Patrick's motivation to go abroad, some of his major pieces for the Guardian, his earlier experiences of student journalism and how he has combined his newspaper reporting and book writing. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2010/sep/06/gap-year-thailand-full-moon-party https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/22/cairo-prison-abu-zabaal-deaths-37-prisoners https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/09/hashems-journey-a-lesson-in-humility-and-heroism https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/world/middleeast/the-jihadi-who-turned-to-jesus.html?_r=0 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Ed Kiernan edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia interviews Nikesh Shukla, a TV and fiction writer. We spoke about his novels Coconut Unlimited and Meatspace, and how he came to edit The Good Immigrant, the collection of essays about race and immigration and what it means to be a model "good immigrant" in the UK. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon interview Antony Beevor, the celebrated military historian. Best known as author of Stalingrad, the runaway success which on publication in 1998 transformed military history as a genre, Antony has also written on the Spanish Civil War, the battles of Crete and Berlin, and D-Day. His latest book Arnhem – The Last German Victory, will be published in May 2018. Antony, who is also a former chairman of the Society of Authors, has sold more than seven million books in 32 languages. They discussed Antony's early move from serving as an army officer to writing, the experience of an unexpected smash with Stalingrad, the techniques he uses to marshal vast quantities of material, and his creative collaboration with his wife Artemis Cooper, who is also a writer. http://www.antonybeevor.com/ https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/antony-beevor/5016/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon interviews Sam Knight, a British writer who works mainly for the Guardian and the New Yorker and specialises in longform pieces on unusual topics, such as the UK sandwich industry and the psychology of a stalker. They discuss his entry into journalism, his love of classic American nonfiction and how he puts features together. https://harpers.org/archive/2014/02/a-god-more-powerful-than-i/ https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/24/how-the-sandwich-consumed-britain https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/30/follow-the-white-ball You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Ed Kiernan edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia speaks to Joelle Owusu, an editor at Unbound, the innovative publishing company that aims to use crowd-funding to shake up the way books are produced, paid for and disseminated. Joelle explained how Unbound's business model works, how it compares to traditional publishing, and how they aim to give voice to writers that have traditionally faced a sceptical response from the industry. She also discussed her own career, which has seen her make an unlikely move from petroleum geology to editorial. https://unbound.com/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Liz Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon interview Candice Carty-Williams, senior marketing executive at Vintage Books. She spoke to us about the nuts and bolts of marketing a book and the role data play. She also discussed how she wrote her debut novel "Queenie", which was acquired by Orion earlier this year for a six-figure sum and will be published in 2019. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon spoke to Nick Summers, a features editor for Bloomberg Businessweek who at time of recording was based in London but is now in New York. Nick talked us through his commissioning and editing process and spoke about some fascinating pieces he's worked on recently including one on an Wall Street informant who double-crossed the FBI and another that looked into exactly what it is that IBM does (and whether it's any good at it). Stories discussed: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-03-23/-bro-i-m-going-rogue-the-wall-street-informant-who-double-crossed-the-fbi https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-05-22/ibms-eps-target-unhelpful-amid-cloud-computing-challenges You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Liz Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon interviews Oliver Franklin-Wallis, commissioning editor at British Wired. Oliver edits — and writes — longform features for the magazine. He discusses his background and entry to journalism, dos and don'ts of the pitching process and stories about the future of death, the Ebola crisis and the 'Hyperloop.' Stories discussed: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/alkaline-hydrolysis-biocremation-resomation-water-cremation-dissolving-bodies http://www.wired.co.uk/article/post-ebola-syndrome http://www.wired.co.uk/article/hyperloop-hype-machine Books discussed: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mountains-Mind-Fascination-Robert-Macfarlane/dp/1847080391 https://www.amazon.co.uk/H-Hawk-Helen-Macdonald/dp/0099575450 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Liz Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon interview Kiran Millwood Hargrave, an award-winning children's novelist as well as a poet and playwright. She revealed what motivates her to write, her previous struggles with her mental health, and how she manages her finances. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Stars-Kiran-Millwood-Hargrave/dp/1910002747 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-at-End-Everything/dp/1910002763/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=P971NT2SPAQHBKY75N6Y https://www.chickenhousebooks.com/authors/kiran-millwood-hargrave/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Olivia Crellin edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon interview Tom Standage, deputy editor of The Economist. They spoke about Tom's long career at the publication, why there is a no-bylines policy and some of The Economist's newer projects, such as a virtual-reality reconstruction of the Mosul Museum in Iraq, containing artefacts destroyed by Islamic State in 2015. More information on this project can be found below: https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2016/05/virtual-reality You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Elizabeth Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon and Kassia interview literary agent Patrick Walsh, who runs PEW Literary in London and formerly co-founded Conville & Walsh. They discuss the complexities journalists can face moving into book writing, the art of the nonfiction proposal, the expansion of the Chinese market and the thrill of the deal. http://www.pewliterary.com/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Elizabeth Davies edited this episode. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon interviews Tom Jennings, director of the Logan Nonfiction Programme at the Carey Institute for Global Good in upstate New York in the US, where Simon stayed earlier this year. They spoke about Tom's career and the importance for writers of grants and fellowships like the one organised by the Carey Institute. If you're fascinated — or slightly intimidated — by residencies and grants, this episode is for you. More information on the Logan Programme and the Carey Institute is available at the links below: http://careyinstitute.org/programs/nonfiction/ http://careyinstitute.org/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia and Simon interview Alice Fishburn, editor of the Financial Times Weekend Magazine. They discuss how she got her start in journalism, where the magazine sits within the rest of the FT’s offerings, and why longform journalism seems to be valued less in the UK than the US. Some of the FT Weekend Magazine pieces mentioned in the interview are: ‘Has science cracked the peanut allergy?’: https://www.ft.com/content/682bb942-4583-11e7-8d27-59b4dd6296b8 ‘Out of road: driverless vehicles and the end of the trucker’: https://www.ft.com/content/2d70469c-140a-11e7-b0c1-37e417ee6c76 You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia interviews Irish novelist Sara Baume on the publication of her second book, 'A Line Made By Walking.' Sara spoke candidly about switching careers, what makes her write, how she got her first book deal and the financial realities of life as a full-time novelist. Her first book, published in 2015, was 'Spill Simmer Falter Wither. https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Line-Made-Walking-Sara-Baume/1785150413/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501513781&sr=1-1&keywords=a+line+made+by+walking https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Line-Made-Walking-Sara-Baume/1785150413/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501513781&sr=1-1&keywords=a+line+made+by+walking You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon and Kassia interview Stig Abell, editor of the Times Literary Supplement and former managing editor of the Sun. Stig has also reviewed books for the Spectator and ran the Press Complaints Commission. We discussed his career, his plans for the TLS, the impact of Facebook on print media and why he remains optimistic about its future. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon and Kassia interview Sharmaine Lovegrove, who is the publisher at Dialogue Books – a new Little, Brown imprint that aims to showcase work by writers neglected by traditional British publishing. Sharmaine has previously run a bookshop in Berlin, been literary editor of ELLE Magazine and co-founded Dialogue Scouts, a consulting company that looks for books to be adapted for film and television. Sharmaine talks about the importance of bringing new voices into the often cliquey world of British publishing, how she got her start in the industry, and what she aims to achieve at Dialogue. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kassia interviews Nicola Solomon, chief executive of the Society of Authors, the British trade union for all types of writers, illustrators and literary translators. The SoA specialises in protecting authors' interests in negotiations and disputes with agents and publishers. Nicola discusses freedom of expression, explains how the publishing industry has changed over the past century and how to get a fair book contract. www.societyofauthors.org/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon and Kassia interview Peter Frankopan, a historian at Oxford University and director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research. His latest book 'The Silk Roads : A New History of the World' proved a No 1 bestseller all over the world, topping the nonfiction charts in India, Pakistan, China and the UK, where it remained in the Top 10 for 10 months. Peter discusses what it feels like to be at the centre of a publishing whirlwind, the unlikely circumstances in which he first got his literary agent, and his views on the current political scene. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Simon interviews Giles Wilson, the founding editor of the BBC News Magazine and now creative director at Harpoon Productions. Giles discusses how and why the BBC started commissioning longer written pieces online, and the future of longform journalism in the UK and beyond. The three stories Giles mentions are: * Reykjavik Confessions www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/…ec_7617/index.html * The Village and the Girl www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt…-a0eb-4ef064900f92 * The Uncatchable www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/…ec_8700/index.html You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook atfacebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. This episode was edited by Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Thanks to The Two Chairmen pub in Westminster for hosting our live events. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the third episode of Always Take Notes, Simon and Kassia interview Laura Barber, publishing director at Portobello Books and editorial director at Granta. Laura discusses the differences between the two imprints she works on; how books can be both bought off-proposal from agents or — less often — commissioned by publishers; and the kinds of writing that she finds exciting. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook atfacebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. This episode was edited by Ed Kiernan. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Thanks to The Two Chairmen pub in Westminster for hosting our live events. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the second episode of Always Take Notes, Simon and Kassia talk to Imogen Pelham. Imogen is a literary agent at Marjacq, an agency based in London, where she represents both literary fiction and non-fiction authors. She explains the mysteries of book advances and the different ways she sells novels and non-fiction to publishers. Imogen also spoke about how to get into the industry, and gives tips to aspiring authors and agents. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, @takenotesalways on Twitter, and facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Kassia St Clair and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. This episode was edited by Olivia Crellin. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Thanks to The Two Chairmen pub in Westminster for hosting our live events. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the first episode of the Always Take Notes podcast Simon and Kassia interview Jonathan Beckman, the deputy editor of 1843 (the lifestyle and culture magazine from The Economist) and author of the award-winning 'How to Ruin a Queen.' Jonathan previously worked at the Literary Review, where he ran the Bad Sex Awards – indeed that's how Kassia first met him… You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, @takenotesalways on Twitter, and facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Kassia St Clair and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. This episode was edited by Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Thanks to The Two Chairmen pub in Westminster for hosting us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices