Welcome to Forthwrite, a podcast about creative writing with, for and by women. Formerly called Writing Around The Kids.
Hosts Anna and Sam chat to a variety of brilliant women authors about their creative process. How to write a novel, from finding inspiration to the nitty gritty of the writing/life balance.
Publisher
Forthwrite; creative writing with, for and by women
This week we talk to Mona Dash about writing in different genres, balancing the work/ life balance and the importance of being part of a writing community.
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Mona Dash is an award-winning author based in London. Her work includes the memoir A Roll of the Dice, the short story collection Let Us Look Elsewhere, the novel Untamed Heart, and the poetry collections, Map of The Self, A Certain Way and Dawn Drops. Her work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4, included in Best British Short Stories, and published in more than thirty-five anthologies. She holds an MA and MPhil in Creative Writing and has been listed in Tagore Literary Prize, SI Leeds, Novel London, Bristol Short Story and many more. Alongside her writing she has build a career in business and technology. She is represented by Portobello Literary Agency
7 Oct 2026
Lisa Brace
This week we chat with author Lisa Brace about the benefits of self publishing vs traditional, writing historical and contemporary fiction. We find out what to do when Simon Cowell visits you in a dream plus a reading from Lisa's novel Swim.
Follow Lisa (https://www.instagram.com/lbrace_author/?hl=en)
Lisa Brace is an award-winning writer, who multitasks writing novels with running her own business in the beautiful surroundings of West Sussex.
Her third novel The Fastest Girl on Earth, is out now and is winner of Historical Novel of the Year 2025 (Eyelands Book Awards).
Her second book, SWIM, a historical fiction novel was runner up as Historical Novel of the Year 2024 (Eyelands Book Awards), and finalist in Best Historical Fiction and Best General Fiction in the New Generation Indie Book Awards 2025.
Gill Thompson author of bestselling The Oceans Between Us, described it as " A powerful novel about skill, courage and determination. I was completely invested in the story of Lucy Morton and her quest to become a champion swimmer. Lisa Brace's writing moves seamlessly between tension, poignancy and humour in a compelling story."
Her debut novel, Star Survivor, a dark women's fiction novel was published in March 2024.
30 Sept 2026
Ivy Ngeow
In this episode* we talk all things novel writing with fab author Ivy Ngeow. We hear how Ivy likens the process of writing novels to the process of building houses, that its OK when things go wrong its how you adapt. Plus a reading from Ivy's latest In Safe Hands.
*Apologies, we had some technical issues during this recording so you may need to adjust your sound.
Follow Ivy (https://www.instagram.com/authorivyngeow/)
Ivy Ngeow was born and raised in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. She holds an MA in Writing from Middlesex University, where she won the 2005 Middlesex University Literary Press Prize out of almost 1500 entrants worldwide. The American Boyfriend, published by Penguin Random House Southeast Asia in 2023, was longlisted for the Avon x Mushens Entertainment Prize for Commercial Fiction Writers of Colour 2022 and the winner of the Singapore Book Awards 2024 for Best Marketing Campaign. Her debut, Cry of the Flying Rhino (2017), was awarded the International Proverse Prize in Hong Kong. Her novels include Heart of Glass (2018), Overboard (2020) and White Crane Strikes (2022). She is the commissioning editor of the Asian Anthology New Writing series. Her latest novel, In Safe Hands, was shortlisted for the Joffe Books Prize 2024 and published by Penguin Random House Southeast Asia in October 2025. She lives in London.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
32,722
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Spotify
5.0 / 5
9 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 35 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
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