The Writers’ Gym Podcast

Joanne Harris (OBE, FRSL) joins Dr Rachel Knightley at the Writers' Gym

Joanne was born in Barnsley in 1964, of a French mother and an English father. She studied Modern and Mediaeval Languages at Cambridge and was a teacher for fifteen years, during which time she published three novels, including Chocolat (1999), which was made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche .
Since then, she has written over 20 more novels, plus novellas, short stories, game scripts, the libretti for two short operas, several screenplays, a stage musical (with Howard Goodall) and three cookbooks. Her books are now published in over 50 countries and have won a number of British and international awards. She is an honorary Fellow of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, has honorary doctorates in literature from the universities of Sheffield and Huddersfield, and has been a judge for the Whitbread Prize, the Orange Prize, the Desmond Elliott Prize, the Betty Trask Award, the Prima Donna Prize  and the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science, as well as for the Fragrance Foundation awards for perfume and perfume journalism (for which she also received an award in 2017). She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2022.
She is a passionate advocate for authors’ rights, and was the Chair of the Society of Authors (SOA) for four years. She was a member of the Board of the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) between 2018 and 2024.
Her hobbies are listed in Who’s Who as: “mooching, lounging, strutting, strumming, priest-baiting and quiet subversion of the system”, although she also enjoys obfuscation, sleaze, rebellion, witchcraft, armed robbery, tea and biscuits. She is not above bribery and would not necessarily refuse an offer involving perfume, diamonds,  foreign travel or pink champagne. She works from a shed in her garden, plays in the band she first joined when she was 16, and lives with her husband in a little wood in Yorkshire.
Joanne's website: https://www.joanne-harris.co.uk
The Society of Authors: https://societyofauthors.org
ALCS: https://www.alcs.co.uk
Vianne/Sarah McCartney scent collaboration: https://www.joanne-harris.co.uk/news/4690/

What makes you write

Build confidence in writing through focus on the inspiration already in your writer's artist palette – with author and coach Dr Rachel Knightley.
 
This week, we're exploring what makes you write.

Plots and protagonists

Build confidence in writing through focus on the inspiration already in your writer's artist palette – with author and coach Dr Rachel Knightley.
 
This week, we're exploring plots and protagonists.

Antagonist exercises

Build confidence in writing through focus on the inspiration already in your writer's artist palette – with author and coach Dr Rachel Knightley.
 
This week, we're exploring antagonist exercises.

Symbols and characters

Build confidence in writing through focus on the inspiration already in your writer's artist palette – with author and coach Dr Rachel Knightley.
 
This week, we're exploring symbols and characters

The brain is a toy cupboard

Build confidence in writing through focus on the inspiration already in your writer's artist palette – with author and coach Dr Rachel Knightley.
 
 

Setting and character

Build confidence in writing through focus on the inspiration already in your writer's artist palette – with author and coach Dr Rachel Knightley.
 
This week, we're exploring setting and character.

Rachel Knightley in conversation with British Fantasy Award 2025 nominee Steve Toase

Steve Toase is a British Fantasy Award 2025 nominated fiction and non-fiction author. He was born in North Yorkshire, England, and now lives in the Frankenwald, Germany. Steve’s debut short story collection ‘To Drown in Dark Water’ is published by Undertow Publications, and his archaeology themed horror collection Dirt Upon My Skin is out now from Black Shuck Books. Dirt Upon My Skin is shortlisted for the British Fantasy Award 2025 Best Collection.
Steve writes for magazines, and is a regular contributor to Fortean Times. In the past he has written for Kerrang, and The Author, as well as motorbike magazines, such as BSH, 100% Biker, and The Classic Motor Cycle. fiction has appeared in Analog, Nightmare Magazine, Three Lobed Burning Eye, Shimmer, and Bourbon Penn, and Deadlands amongst others, and his stories have been selected for Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year series, and Paula Guran’s Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror. 
He recently worked with astrophysicist Dr Chris Harrison as script editor for a planetarium show designed for people with a vision impairment. From 2014 he worked with Becky Cherriman and Imove on Haunt, the Saboteur Award shortlisted project inspired by his own teenage experiences of being no fixed abode and vulnerably housed, about Harrogate’s haunting presence in the lives of people experiencing homelessness in the town.
He also likes old motorbikes and vintage cocktails. 

Green Ink Sponsored Write 2025

From creation to publication in 48 hours: Green Ink Sponsored write for Macmillan Cancer Support unites a team of published and developing authors at the Writers' Gym to create entirely new work on a theme inspired by Macmillan's mission of quality of life for all affected by cancer. Founded by Dr Rachel Knightley in 2009, this year's title was selected by Rhianna Pratchett: Somewhere That's Green: Paradises, Utopias and Happy Places. The cover image is by Writers' Gym member Elspeth Hannen and anthology design will be by Steve Shaw.
 
Visit and share the page here:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/somewhere-thats-green

Green Ink Sponsored Write 2025 with Sarah Brooks

From creation to publication in 48 hours: Green Ink Sponsored write for Macmillan Cancer Support unites a team of published and developing authors at the Writers' Gym to create entirely new work on a theme inspired by Macmillan's mission of quality of life for all affected by cancer. Founded by Dr Rachel Knightley in 2009, this year's title was selected by Rhianna Pratchett: Somewhere That's Green: Paradises, Utopias and Happy Places. The cover image is by Writers' Gym member Elspeth Hannen and anthology design will be by Steve Shaw.
 
Visit and share the page here:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/somewhere-thats-green