Episode 32: Susmita Bhattacharya (Table Manners)

22-02-2021 • 35 mins

Charlie and Susmita Bhattacharya (Table Manners) discuss her world-wide travel and moves abroad - including a visa-less stopover, the experiences of recent immigrants to Britain, and having your work featured and serialised on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 4 Extra.

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Table Manners on BBC Radio 4 Extra
'Old Spice' on BBC Radio 4
Mayflower Young Writers on Artful Scribe
Seacity Museum, Southampton
Tudor House, Southampton

In her role as Writer in Residence during spring and summer at the Word Factory, Susmita is holding 1 to 1 half hour sessions for new writers. Full details and price info are here.

Question Index

01:03 How did the serialisation of Table Manners on BBC Radio 4 Extra come about?
02:18 Your first story for radio was in 2015?...
03:48 You have travelled and lived all over the world, can you tell us about it?
09:22 Is your travel and your experience of living in other places always in your mind when you're writing?
11:40 Tell us about your work with Mayflower Young Writers
17:53 Why is 'Good Golly Miss Molly' the story you've read from for us, the one you read the most?
19:21 Why did you choose to use food as you do - sometimes as an obvious support to a story, other times more vague?
21:26 When did you come up with the title for the collection?
22:50 Can you talk about the use of relationships in this book?
25:01 You have a story that features 9/11 and 7/7, a story about the social affects of Brexit, and a story where a white westerner who wants to see the Real India. Is the present day and situations important to you?
28:21 Going back to what you said about your time as an English language teacher for immigrants to Britain, may I ask what kind of things affected people when they were here, in that context of the present day?
33:12 What's next?