Literary Friction - Writing about Writers with Tan Twan Eng

Literary Friction

Arts

4.9 • 593 Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2023

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Do you like reading about writers? What does good writing about the act of writing do? And what happens when you write a real writer into a novel? Our guest this month is Tan Twan Eng, who joined us to talk about his third novel The House of Doors. Based around the writer W. Somerset Maugham’s stay on the Island of Penang, in what was then Malaya, in 1921, it's also about the stories he learns from the couple he stays with there, and the interplay between their fact and his fiction. We’ll be talking about the real and imagined writers that we’ve loved in fiction, the art of writing about writing, and the authors we’d most love to read a novel about - enjoy! Recommendations on the theme, Writing About Writers: Octavia: Aliens & Anorexia by Chris Kraus Carrie: Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday General Recommendations: Octavia: Greek Lessons by Han Kang Twan: Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively Carrie: Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/may-2023-writing-about-writers-with-tan-twang-eng Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction Email us: litfriction@gmail.com Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction Also, very excitingly, O's memoir This Ragged Grace has been selected as the Bookshop.org book of the month for June! So, if you'd like to read it, they're offering all wonderful Literary Friction listeners free shipping and 10% off if you pre-order it from them at the following link, using the code Ragged10: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/this-ragged-grace-a-memoir-of-recovery-and-renewal-octavia-bright/7400323?ean=9781838857462

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Literary Friction. I'm Carrie Plitt here as always with my co-host, Octavia Bright,
0:25.7	down the line from London. Hi, Octavia. How are you? Hi, Carrie. I am at the end of a really filthy cold,
0:34.3	so I'm just going to apologize straight up for whatever weird, creaky, croaky noises
0:39.0	my voice decides to make today. But other than that, I'm okay. How about you? I'm also okay.
0:45.0	I feel that I have been enjoying some cherry blossoms. I feel that a lot of my feelings lately
0:53.1	have been about the natural world, which is nice, but on to the show.
0:58.6	Today, we're delighted to welcome the writer Tan Tuanang to talk about his third novel, The House of
1:04.9	Doors. The House of Doors is based around the writer Somerset Moms stay on the island of Penang in Malaysia in 1921.
1:13.8	It is also about the stories he learns from the couple with whom he is lodging,
1:17.6	and the interplay between their fact and his fiction.
1:21.1	So we thought this was a perfect springboard for a show that explored writing about writers.
1:26.7	We'll be talking about the real and imagined writers that we've loved in fiction, the art of writing about writers. We'll be talking about the real and imagined
1:28.2	writers that we've loved in fiction, the art of writing about writing, and the authors we'd most
1:33.2	love to read a novel about. But before we get started, can you tell our listeners a little bit
1:38.6	more about Twan, Octavia? I sure can. Tansuan Eng was born in Penang, Malaysia. His debut novel, The Gift of Rain, was long listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2007 and has been widely translated. His second novel, The Garden of Evening Mists, won the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2012 and the 2013 Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction and were shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012 and also the 2014 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
2:09.9	He divides his time between Kuala Lumpur and Cape Town.
2:12.8	Also, a quick reminder that we are on Patreon.
2:15.8	If you would like to support the work we do and get an
2:18.8	exciting extra minisodes every month, you can become a patron at patreon.com forward slash lit friction.
2:25.3	You will get monthly exclusive minisodes. You will also get the chance to suggest topics for us
2:29.4	to wang on about and we love to wang on about them for you. Our latest Patreon was all about Paris,
2:34.8	both as a city and a literary idea. Also, as you probably know, because we've been announcing
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