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BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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Open Book

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Programme looking at new fiction and non-fiction books

Programme looking at new fiction and non-fiction books, talking to authors and publishers and unearthing lost classics

BBC Radio 4 LW

Open Book: 19/09/2010

19/09/2010

BBC Radio 4 - Open Book, 19/09/2010

Mariella Frostrup talks to the award-winning crime writer Val McDermid about her new book.

Mariella Frostrup talks to the award-winning crime novelist Val McDermid about her new book, and author Alexander McCall Smith on the art of writing prolifically.

Mariella Frostrup is joined by the award-winning crime novelist Val McDermid to discuss her latest book, Trick of the Dark. McDermid is best known for her Tony Hill series of thrillers, which were adapted for television as Wire In The Blood. She talks to Mariella about her ongoing love affair with writing crime and why she invented the category of Tartan Noir to describe her books. 

Also on the programme, the writer behind The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith, shares his insights into the art of writing prolifically. Mariella finds out how McCall Smith, like other prolific novelists, is able to continue producing a book a year - something many writers feel clashes with the artistry of fiction writing. 

Plus, as Pakistan continues to reel from the damage created by flood waters, how are the country's writers responding? Two of Pakistan's new generation of novelists, Kamila Shamsie and Daniyal Mueenudeen, join Mariella to discuss, and to shed light on the renaissance that Pakistani writing is undergoing. 

Producer: Sally Spurring.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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19/09/2010

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