Brought to you by Penguin.

Hell ho, ho, ho. I'm Niharathanaka and welcome to the Penguin Podcast, where we talk to writers about writing.

The days are getting colder, the nights are setting in, and I'm making terrible Santa puns.

It can only mean one thing. It's time to relax, crack open the mince pies and pour yourself your winter

drink of choice as we take a look back over the last year in the Penguin podcast.

We've had a great year of guests and it's been really hard to choose just a few for these

end of year compilations. But the good thing is, all the episodes are still there for you to

dip back into. So if you've missed one, scroll back and jump in. There's a lot of good stuff

in there.

We started 2022 with Costa novel of the year winner Claire Fuller, with a lyrical novel

that riffs on resilience and hope. Izzy Sutty was awed by Michael Rosen's memories from

the front line of COVID-19 in a beautiful book exploring what it was like to be treated in intensive care at the height of the pandemic.

Derek Awusu met Alison Hammond

and chatted about finding out about forgotten black people who made history

with an interesting detour about a Terry's chocolate orange.

Chenade Moriarty, now a best-selling author of more than 13 novels, popped in to talk about

the evening classes that started her whole journey, and we even found time to hook up with

Booker Prize winner Damon Galgut at the Hay Festival for a fascinating conversation about his work and how he makes sense of modern

South Africa. So put your feet up and relax as we dip into the present sack for some highlights from

the Penguin podcast. In January, novelist Claire Fuller won the Costa Novel of the Year award for her beautiful book Unsettled Ground.

It's a story about rural poverty, the strength of family and the triumph of hope,

and was partly inspired by a derelict caravan Claire saw on her daily walk.

...