M John Harrison: 'How do you know who’s alive and who’s the ghost?'

M John Harrison: 'How do you know who’s alive and who’s the ghost?'

Author: Fictionable September 29, 2023 Duration: 30:10

Over the next few weeks, we'll be hearing from Irena Karpa, Seán Padraic Birnie, Shauna Mackay and Catriona Bolt. But we launch this autumn podcast series with M John Harrison and his haunting short story, I Can't Tell.


Harrison tells us how he constructs his stories from fragments of real life, filed in notebooks and then reassembled into uncanny structures on the page. At one stage, this process was "consciously not very fictiony" he says, but by the time you’ve spent ten years exploring the boundary between fiction and nonfiction, "it's stopped being conscious any more, and it's just a thing that you do".


Fiction should be "read like nonfiction", he continues. "It's not there for you to put on like clothes and re-enact."


The past looms large over both I Can't Tell and his recent anti-memoir, Wish I Was Here, but according to Harrison writing has always been a struggle with things that have gone before. That and his "very, very unrelatable" characters, who are uniformly tricky to get on with – tricky, that is, apart from the cats.


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Fictionable is a space for those drawn to the compact power of short stories and the vivid narratives of graphic fiction. Each episode delves into the craft and culture surrounding these forms, featuring conversations with the writers and artists themselves. We explore the techniques behind compelling brevity, the unique challenges of visual storytelling, and the diverse literary scenes influencing work today. The discussion often extends to broader book chat, examining how these shorter pieces fit into the wider landscape of reading and creativity. It’s a podcast built for curious readers who find entire worlds in a few pages or panels, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the stories published in the Fictionable collection. You’ll hear about inspiration, process, and the personal connections that fuel these works, all sourced from a global community of creators. The aim is to deepen appreciation for the art form while celebrating the voices shaping it. This isn’t just analysis; it’s an invitation into the ongoing conversation between author, artist, and audience. Join us for a thoughtful and engaging exploration of narrative in its most concentrated and visually dynamic forms.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 59

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