In this episode of The Writing Life, writers Alex Allison, George Harrison, and Ashley Hickson-Lovence share their insights into writing about sport and modern masculinity.
Alex Allison is a writer from London. He is the author of two novels, published by Dialogue. His second novel, Greatest of All Time, was released on 30th January 2025. With humour, heart and a touch of rebellion, Greatest of All Time explores queer love and the trials of growing up in the hyper-masculine world of sport.
George Harrison is a writer based in Norwich. His debut novel, Season, is published by Eye Books. Set on the terraces of a fictionalised football club and old through thirty-eight chapters – one for each game of the Premier League campaign – Season is a lyrical, hypnotic and gently uplifting study of loneliness and modern masculinity. He wrote Season while participating in our Escalator New Writing Fellowships.
Ashley Hickson-Lovence is a novelist, poet, literary critic and Lecturer of Creative Writing. His second novel Your Show, published by Faber in 2022, was shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Awards. Your Show is the thrilling story of one man’s pioneering efforts to make it, against the odds, to the very top of his profession as a football referee and beyond.
Together, they discuss their novels Greatest of All Time and Season, and how they capture the unifying role of football. They also touch on the framework of their novels, the importance of writing a novel that you would want to read, and the challenge of balancing modern masculinity with intimacy and vulnerability in their writing.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.