Northern Voices

On Northern Voices this week, a first as Not the Booker Prize-winner Michael Stewart joins us for a chat. We talk about his latest novel, Black Wood Women, the decline in editorial work from some publishers and how he met his wife at a conference on the Brontës.

Find out more:
https://www.michael-stewart.org.uk/
https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/black-wood-women-michael-stewart
https://brontewritingcentre.uk/

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/michaelstewartwriter
https://www.instagram.com/harpercollinsuk
https://www.instagram.com/bronte_writing_centre

Music credit: 'Water of Tyne' performed by Edinburgh University Brass Band (2009) arranged by Jack Stobbs, edited and scored for brass band by David Dye. Used with kind permission of the publisher, arranger and performers.

In this week's episode, I'm joined by emerging writer Victoria Ferguson to talk about her exciting new projects. We delve into the issues with accessibility in the UK publishing industry, the craft of writing folk horror and why she's writing dialect fiction set in the North East of England despite being a Scouser herself.

Music credit: 'Water of Tyne' performed by Edinburgh University Brass Band (2009) arranged by Jack Stobbs, edited and scored for brass band by David Dye. Used with kind permission of the publisher, arranger and performers.

This week's episode is the second in the mini-series: Publishing Unpacked. In each of these special episodes I'll be joined by Northern writers discussing the publishing process from submission to publication. Today's guest is debut author Louise Powell, whose novel Underdogs was published by John Murray Originals. We delve into our joint adventure into the submission trenches, unpacking everything from agent edits to publisher rejections, and our very different outcomes.

Find out more:
https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/louise-powell/underdogs/9781399828826/
https://louisepowell.co.uk/

Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/louisepowell.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/johnmurrays.bsky.social

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/louisepowellauthor
https://www.instagram.com/johnmurrays
https://www.instagram.com/ymuliterary

Music credit: 'Water of Tyne' performed by Edinburgh University Brass Band (2009) arranged by Jack Stobbs, edited and scored for brass band by David Dye. Used with kind permission of the publisher, arranger and performers.

In Episode 121 I'm joined by cli-fi writer Kay Inckle to talk about her new novel, Overspill. We also discuss why her main character is a wheelchair user, the lack of representation of menopausal women in fiction and why being Northern is the least of her worries when it comes to the UK publishing industry.

Find out more:
https://srlpublishing.co.uk/product/overspill-kay-inckle
https://www.lavidaliverpool.co.uk/liverpool-book-festival-summer-special-coming-soon/
https://wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk/our-cycle-stories-kay-inckle/

Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/kayinckle.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/srlpublishing.bsky.social

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/srlpublishing

Music credit: 'Water of Tyne' performed by Edinburgh University Brass Band (2009) arranged by Jack Stobbs, edited and scored for brass band by David Dye. Used with kind permission of the publisher, arranger and performers.

In this week's episode, I'm joined by three emerging writers from York St John University's creative writing degree: Charlie Mason, Hannah Neave and Henry Wileman. We talk about the anthology they've produced, Beyond the Walls, their writing and their view of the North in the UK publishing industry.

Find out more:
https://valleypressuk.com/products/beyond-the-walls-2026
Charlie: https://open.substack.com/pub/charlottefaymason
Henry: https://substack.com/@mega0fauna
Hannah: https://substack.com/@sunflowersscribe

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/valleypress/
Henry: https://www.instagram.com/mega_.fauna
Charlie: https://www.instagram.com/sunny.writes.stuff
Hannah: https://www.instagram.com/sunflowers.scribe
https://www.instagram.com/yorkstjohn/

Music credit: 'Water of Tyne' performed by Edinburgh University Brass Band (2009) arranged by Jack Stobbs, edited and scored for brass band by David Dye. Used with kind permission of the publisher, arranger and performers.