Jhumpa Lahiri on paring back, building bridges and her new book Whereabouts

Featuring: the way books begin, the conversation between languages, on teaching and writing, untranslatable words, finding a way to get rid of excess, translating her own novel from Italian and the intense scrutiny involved, Jhumpa's upcoming book of short stories called Roman Stories, the anthology of Italian writers Jhumpa edited, those authors with whom Jhumpa feels an affinity, the machinery of publishing and the differences between countries, advice on starting out as a writer, having a threshold for uncertainty and how rejections are crucial. * There’s background noise in a few places, apologies.

Om Podcasten

The Secret Life of Writers is a series of rambling conversations with some of the world’s most interesting and visionary writers and creative icons about how they got where they are, what they’re working on now, and how they balance art and life. These warm and personal interviews take you behind-the-scenes of the writing world. Hosted by Jemma Birrell, formerly of the Sydney Writers' Festival and Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and now the Creative Director at Tablo. Subscribe to hear a new episode (released on a Thursday every few weeks). For writers, readers and anyone who loves great life stories.