Chitra Ramaswamy's guest appearances

Chitra Ramaswamy

The Writing Life

Radio Gorgeous

The Shift with Sam Baker

Sara Collins

Denise Mina

Val McDermid

Kate Mosse

Elif Shafak

Esther Freud

Ruth Ozeki

Julia Cameron

Jess Phillips

Dorothy Koomson

Will Harris

Philippa Perry

Jojo Moyes

Paula Hawkins

Jane Fallon

OwlTail

My guest this week is the award-winning journalist Chitra Ramaswamy. And, lucky me, Chitra lives in Edinburgh so - before I go any further - let me revel in the joy that was recording this episode IRL! With an actual RL person! I know…Anyway, back to Chitra. Her first book, Expecting: the inner life of pregnancy was garlanded with praise and won the Saltire First Book award. Her new memoir-come-social-history, Homelands, is the moving story of a most unlikely friendship - between Chitra, who was born in London in the 1970s to Indian immigrant parents, and Henry Wuga, a 98 year old jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany in 1939. Sitting in Chitra’s kitchen (with her rescue dog, Daphne, who you will hear plenty of snoring in the background!) we discussed the importance of finding commonalities, learning to talk about shame, living with a mother-shaped hole and what her friendship with Henry taught her about a talent for happiness. We also talked about the midlife “gift” of responsibility, the tyranny of the life list, and why she hopes she’ll age eccentrically.You can buy all the books mentioned in this podcast at Bookshop.org, including Homelands by Chitra Ramaswamy and the book that inspired this podcast, The Shift: how I lost and found myself after 40 - and you can too, by me!And if you'd like to support the work that goes into making this podcast and get a weekly newsletter, please join The Shift community. Find out more at https://steadyhq.com/en/theshift/• The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker and edited by Emily Sandford. If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate/review/follow as it really does help other people find us. And let me know what you think on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week is the award-winning journalist Chitra Ramaswamy. And, lucky me, Chitra lives in Edinburgh so - before I go any further - let me revel in the joy that was recording this episode IRL! With an actual RL person! I know…Anyway, back to Chitra. Her first book, Expecting: the inner life of pregnancy was garlanded with praise and won the Saltire First Book award. Her new memoir-come-social-history, Homelands, is the moving story of a most unlikely friendship - between Chitra, who was born in London in the 1970s to Indian immigrant parents, and Henry Wuga, a 98 year old jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany in 1939. Sitting in Chitra’s kitchen (with her rescue dog, Daphne, who you will hear plenty of snoring in the background!) we discussed the importance of finding commonalities, learning to talk about shame, living with a mother-shaped hole and what her friendship with Henry taught her about a talent for happiness. We also talked about the midlife “gift” of responsibility, the tyranny of the life list, and why she hopes she’ll age eccentrically.You can buy all the books mentioned in this podcast at <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-shift-podcast-guests-books" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Bookshop.org</a>, including Homelands by Chitra Ramaswamy and the book that inspired this podcast, The Shift: how I lost and found myself after 40 - and you can too, by me!And if you'd like to support the work that goes into making this podcast and get a weekly newsletter, please join The Shift community. Find out more at <a href="https://steadyhq.com/en/theshift/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://steadyhq.com/en/theshift/</a>• The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker and edited by Emily Sandford. If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate/review/follow as it really does help other people find us. And let me know what you think on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker. Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Chitra Ramaswamy on memory, mothering & the "mid-life gift" of responsibility

Rebecca Watson

We have a new Early Career Writers' Resource Pack, and it's all about STRUCTURE. On the podcast we're thrilled to have journalist Chitra Ramaswamy interviewing Rebecca Watson about her stunning debut Little Scratch, which was shortlisted earlier this year for the Desmond Elliott Prize. Rebecca details the book's unique design and how the story and its structure are inseparable. Find more resources on 'Structure' here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/pack-7-structure/  Our resouce packs are available for free thanks to support from Arts Council England. Meanwhile, Simon and Steph celebrate the launch of the 2021 Noirwich Crime Writing Festival, which you can attend virtually here: https://noirwich.co.uk/  Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Music by Bennet Maples.

We have a new Early Career Writers' Resource Pack, and it's all about STRUCTURE. On the podcast we're thrilled to have journalist Chitra Ramaswamy interviewing Rebecca Watson about her stunning debut Little Scratch, which was shortlisted earlier this year for the Desmond Elliott Prize. Rebecca details the book's unique design and how the story and its structure are inseparable. Find more resources on 'Structure' here: <a href="https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/pack-7-structure/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/pack-7-structure/</a> Our resouce packs are available for free thanks to support from Arts Council England. Meanwhile, Simon and Steph celebrate the launch of the 2021 Noirwich Crime Writing Festival, which you can attend virtually here: <a href="https://noirwich.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://noirwich.co.uk/</a> Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Music by Bennet Maples.

Structuring a novel: Rebecca Watson talks to Chitra Ramaswamy about Little Scratch