Mothers' Struggles and Societal Expectations

In this episode of The Writing Life, former NCW Communications Assistant Molly speaks with author Naomi Wood about writing subversive women.

Naomi Wood is the award-winning author of three novels, including the bestselling Mrs. Hemingway. Her stories have been published in the Mid-American Review, Washington Square Review, Joyland and Stylist, and have been shortlisted for the Manchester Fiction Prize, the London Magazine Short Story Prize and longlisted for the Galley Beggar Press Story Prize. 'Comorbidities' won the 2023 BBC National Short Story Award.

In this episode, Molly and Naomi discuss Naomi's experience writing subversive, malicious women in her debut short story collection This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things. They also discuss themes of motherhood, family connections and perceptions of pregnant women, and how to craft a range of different voices in short story writing.