In-depth interviews with writers living outside of their home country (and culture). Why did they move? What were they looking for that they couldn't find in the country of their birth? What's it like to write in English when everyone around you speaks Spanish (or French or Czech or [insert the language of your choice here] and foreign words keep popping up in your writing? Tune in to hear fascinating stories of moving, adapting, being inspired and (possibly) frustrated all at once.
margaritagokunsilver.substack.com (https://margaritagokunsilver.substack.com/s/writers-abroad?utm_medium=podcast)
I’m now recording these podcasts online and judging by the audio quality of this one, it’s not so bad. Anyway, I hope you enjoy Andreas’s story of how almost being arrested on the border gave birth to a book that’s been translated into 12 languages and how the literary festival he founded in his home town has grown from one afternoon to nine-days and is celebrating ten years this October.
More about Andreas:
Books (https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/5826936.Andreas_Loizou)
Margate Bookie (https://www.margatebookie.com/)
Training (https://www.andreaslearning.com/)
Music: "Under Umbrellas" by Dagmar Christine Bayer from the “Turning the Camera” album. Available on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/artist/6nPTvxsamkZd4sXudiQKPh).
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit margaritagokunsilver.substack.com (https://margaritagokunsilver.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
6 Sept 2024
From the Magic Kingdom to Madrid
A terrible thing happened after we recorded this podcast. The owner of the studio with whom I was collaborating on taping ‘Writers Abroad’ wrote to me two weeks after the recording was made and told me that he wasn’t going to edit it. Nor was he going to add the episode to his YouTube channel (all I ever wanted for this series was to be a podcast but his goal was to grow his channel and so my previous conversations with writers automatically went onto his channel just as they landed here on my podcast).
He wasn’t going to edit this episode or add it to his channel because my guest was gay. And because at the root of our conversation were my guest’s experiences with being gay in the 1970s-1990s America.
When he told me that he wouldn’t edit or add this episode to his channel because he was an evangelical Christian I stared at his message for a long while. My brain couldn’t compute I was hearing this in 2024; until that moment I’d never run into this kind of straightforward homophobia. I’ve dealt with plenty of antisemites—being called a ‘kike’ and swallowing it was my every day during my childhood and adolescence. In fact, the trauma of being othered and despised was so present in my bones that I could never stand up for myself and call people out for their antisemitism. The first time I did it was after October 7 — at 55 years old.
Perhaps that’s why it took me a few days before I summoned enough courage to write back and tell him that because of his bigotry, I was no longer going to collaborate with him. Sending that message generated the same heavy boulder in my chest that challenging antisemitism does — confronting someone for their intolerance still unnerves me. I survived my youth by hiding and keeping my mouth shut and, apparently, this instinct continues to dominate me. Thankfully, though, I’m becoming more adept at recognizing it. Better later than never as they say.
Anyway, enjoy this episode — it’s a great one. Bill has a beautiful voice and a fascinating story; below are all the links to his writing and his famous song.
Bill's links:
I Ran Away to Disney World by Myself at 14. It Saved My Life. (https://www.thedailybeast.com/i-ran-away-to-disney-world-by-myself-at-14-it-saved-my-life)
For 5 Years, I Endured LGBTQ+ Conversion Therapy. It Was A Living Hell (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/conversion-therapy-gay-lgbtq_n_62b20bfbe4b0cf43c85cc16b).
Women Pay Me To Teach Them How To Give Great Head. (And Their Boyfriends Thank Me.) (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-to-give-a-blow-job_n_62cf55c7e4b02074ac91e1bc)
I Want A Bear (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VM1ir7sfqA) by DaddyB (single)
Intimacy Coaching Practice The Intimate University (http://www.theintimateuniversity.com/)
Music by Dagmar Christine Bayer
"Under Umbrellas" by from the “Turning the Camera” album. Available on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/artist/6nPTvxsamkZd4sXudiQKPh)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit margaritagokunsilver.substack.com (https://margaritagokunsilver.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
15 Aug 2024
From Education to Erotica and Back Again
“If you say you’re a single mother, you’re the object of a lot of men’s anger even though single mothers exist because of single fathers who have generally left them in that situation. People take time and energy to find you on Facebook and LinkedIn and tell you how much they hate you. Or—because they want to date you.”
Tune in to hear what it’s like to write and publish personal essays for which trolls and various other unsavory characters will abhor you—as well as to hear about the difficulties of being a freelance writer in Spain and the role writing communities play in writers’ creativity.
More about Nicola and her work:
* Books (https://www.amazon.es/stores/author/B00H5MIKIU)
* Learn to Invest (for the ELT Community) with the Chilled Investor (https://chilledinvestor.com/)
Music: "Under Umbrellas" by Dagmar Christine Bayer from the “Turning the Camera” album. Available on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/artist/6nPTvxsamkZd4sXudiQKPh).
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit margaritagokunsilver.substack.com (https://margaritagokunsilver.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
2 Aug 2024
From the House of Commons to Madrid
This second episode delves deep into why knowing history is important and how a British historian who worked for the late Robin Cook (and wrote a speech that Tony Blair didn’t approve of) came to write a book about the Spanish Civil War and, later, about Hitler.
Enjoy!
Links and credits:
Music: Under Umbrellas by Dagmar Christine Bayer from the “Turning the Camera”. Available here (https://open.spotify.com/artist/6nPTvxsamkZd4sXudiQKPh).
David Mathieson's Books:
Frontline Madrid (https://www.signalbooks.co.uk/2015/12/frontline-madrid/)
A Guide to Hitler’s Munich (https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/A-Guide-to-Hitlers-Munich-Paperback/p/17653)
Radical London in the 1950s (https://www.amberley-books.com/radical-london-in-the-1950s.html)
Learn more about David’s guided tours here (https://spanishsites.org/).
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit margaritagokunsilver.substack.com (https://margaritagokunsilver.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
4 Jul 2024
From Marvel Comics to Madrid
In this inaugural episode Lance Tooks talks about how he started, his work with Marvel comics in New York, his move to Madrid, and his love for queso Manchego. Tune in to hear what it's like to be a foreign writer in Spain and in which Madrid bars you can witness Lance do his sketching.
If you'd like to see the interview on YouTube and see Lance's artwork go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsFj2HgCsGQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsFj2HgCsGQ)
Follow Lance Tooks on Instagram: @lancetooks
Check out Lance Tooks movies, commercials and others: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5-SV2MCHvxAeB6OhqrB65UoAR_OgGZfX (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5-SV2MCHvxAeB6OhqrB65UoAR_OgGZfX)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit margaritagokunsilver.substack.com (https://margaritagokunsilver.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
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