Solid Gold Podcasts #BeHeard The Hidden Lives of Writers

S07 E08 Nadia Davids

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Nadia Davids is an award-winning playwright, novelist, and short story writer. She won the Caine Prize in 2024 for her short story 'Bridling'. Her latest novel CAPE FEVER has been released to great acclaim, published by Simon & Schuster.

Nadia joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how postcolonial fiction does not have to be bleak or hopeless and why she chose the Gothic form for her most recent novel.
She talks about the special relationship she has always had with Cape Town and why CAPE FEVER could not have been set anywhere else.

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Chapters
  • 00:00 Introduction - Writing Gloom and Comparison Anxiety
  • 04:01 Recent Reading: V.E. Schwab and Ali Smith
  • 09:09 Introducing Nadia Davids
  • 10:08 Nadia's Writing Routine and Longhand Process
  • 12:25 Craft Philosophy: Beats, Not Word Counts
  • 14:24 Cape Town, Community, and Early Influences
  • 16:48 Moving Between Theatre, Novels, and Short Stories
  • 18:21 Plotting vs Pantsing: Question and Answer Structure
  • 21:01 Bridling: The Scold's Bridle and the Caine Prize
  • 22:06 Writing Toward Difficult Subjects
  • 23:54 Daily Journaling Practice
  • 25:11 The Long Genesis of Cape Fever
  • 31:16 Research, WWI Poetry, and 1920s Cape Town
  • 34:22 The Gothic Revival in South African Literature
  • 39:17 The Trance State and Flow in Writing
  • 42:20 Voice Appropriation as a Colonial Act
  • 45:11 Hope and Agency in Colonial Narratives
  • 49:58 Writing Residencies and Hedgebrook
  • 52:55 PEN South Africa and The Empty Chair Podcast
  • 55:30 Current Reading and Viewing Recommendations
  • 58:03 Key Takeaways: Each Project Directs Its Own Sail
11 May English South Africa Books · Arts

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