The Exophonic Writer Podcast
Hi, I'm Zoe! 🙋♀️ I'm a Visual Linguist and Exophonic Writer based in Melbourne, Australia. Join me each episode while I podcast my quest to understand how exophony is changing the world. Exophony (or the art of creative writing in a non-native language) is an old practice that's getting more and more prominence in recent years. Some questions that keep me awake at night (which fuel this podcast) are: ✨Why do writers choose to write in a non-native language over their mother tongue? How does this choice impact their work? ✨Is the world welcoming the works of exophonic writers? Or are they treated as less good than native authors? ✨Are exophonic writers embracing our own imperfect styles or are we trying to appear as close to native as possible? ✨ What will normalising exophonic practices mean for global readers and literature? If that sounds like what you need to hear right now, press play and embark with me in an exophonic creative journey! 🎧 SEASON 2, COMING AUGUST 1ST 2025! 🎧
Episodes
Hi, exophonics! ✨
Let me share with you all that I'm learning as a newly self-published exophonic author. We'll talk about:
- why your friends may not read your book
- stocking your book in real-life bookstores and libraries
- where is a good place to promote your indie-publish book.
Plus, if you stick until the very end I'll tell you one surprising marketing technique I'm deploying 🙃
Whether to reach a wider audience, or to detach yourself from saying hard things, or because your native language has a very complex writing system. Whatever the reason that brings you to write in a non-native language... this is a story that only you can tell, so write it!
In conversation with author and book coach Karmen Spiljak, we talked about grammar skills, cultural expectations, opportunities for exophonics...
Once upon a time... when I was researching for exophonic resources (right before launching the very first episode of this podcast) I came across a website that was boasting exophonic poetry and short stories. I was surprised because honestly there wasn't much for and about exophonic writers other than a bunch of articles that were all recounting the same thing.
Danae Spyrou is behind Lite House, a website for Exop...
Hiiiii 🙃
The Exophonic Writer Podcast is back, baby! 💪 😎 And we have a great season ahead...
In this season, we'll talk about early lessons of a self-published author, a website that's especially looking to publish exophonic writers, a book coach who works with exophonic writers, the relationship we have with our second language, the exophonic landscape of Melbourne, Exophony as taught in university, and ...
Hi, exophonics. I know... it's been a minute.
But I have a really good excuse. I've been working on the publishing process of my first novel: TANGO MASALA!!!
Tango Masala is a psychological coming-of-age drama written in verse, about Bianca, a language teacher living in Buenos Aires and Milan, an Indian businessman bearing a job proposal that will change Bianca's world.
It&ap...
Hello, Exophonics!
In this episode I'll share with you a map of the milestones of my (still very young) trajectory in this writerly life. My aim is to inspire you to do the same with your own journey and, like that, beat IMPOSTER SYNDROME, once and for all!...Or at least try. 😉
Let's gooo!✨
Show notes:
My Paris blog (in Spanish):
https://unaciudadenelmundo.wordpress....
Welcome, exophonic friends!
It's almost impossible to talk about exophony without talking about Identity, since it's such a fundamental pillar for this practice.
Matters of Identity emerge during the phase of choosing to become an exophonic writer as well as during the phase after one has already been writing in a second language for a while (well, duh, matters of identity govern almost...
Hop, hop, hop 🐰
Look at what the Easter bunny brought...a brand new episode of the Exophonic Writer Podcast!
In this episode I talk with Cher Chidzey who's an author from Singapore living in Australia. Cher wants to bring aspects from her culture to English speaking societies and what other way to do it if not writing in a language that they will understand, but how to be authentic?
Click h...
Hello exophonics and exophonic lovers!
In this new episode of The Exophonic Writer Podcast I bring you a new exophonic guest. Meet... Madhuri Karra, who's from Vizag in India and came to Australia in 2013. She writes fantasy novels in English and was highly influenced by the literary tradition running in her family.
Likewise, her mother tongue, Telugu, has a particularly rich literary tradition ...
Hello friends, welcome.
Omg, this novel of mine is a real challenging linguistic something! 🙀
It l includes English, Hindi and two varieties of Spanish.
Oh, and it's also... written in verse! And there are plenty of calligrams.
(Watch this awesome video about calligrams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ0x1YOuMwQ )
Why did I enclose myself in this linguistic labyrint...
Hello friends, please join me in my conversation with our first guest to the podcast.
(Woohoo!)
His name is Fabio Motta and he's an award-winning, Italian-born Australian actor and educator who kindly joined us to chat about the importance of bringing our first language selves to the stage (or the page, or the canvas, etc.)
We also talked about his language-related struggles when he first m...
Hi, friends!
In this mini teaser episode, I'll tell you what I have planned for this year (spoiler alert: plenty of awesome stuff).
You can expect some episodes about:
✨ Writing a novel in 3 languages
✨ A chat about Identity when being an exophonic writer
✨A chat about Translation VS. Exophonic Writing
✨More cool literary stuff, such as Constricted Writing
...aaaaa...
If you only think poetry is rhyming short texts about love or heartbreak... well, you may be missing out!
Listen to today's episode to find out some cool sides of poetry. ✨
SHOW NOTES
📜What is poetry?
https://poets.org/glossary/poetry#:~:text=The%20following%20definition%20of%20the,language%3B%20an%20experience%20through%20words.
📜Infrathin: an experiment in micropoetics ...
Here are some titles and resources explored in this episode, enjoy! ✨
What is Science Fiction Writing?
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-science-fiction-writing-definition-and-characteristics-of-science-fiction-literature
8 Sci-fi sub-genres:
- Fantasy fiction.
- Supernatural fiction.
- Utopian fiction.
- Dystopian fiction.
- Space opera.
- Space western.
- Cyberpunk.
- Steampunk.
My fa...
Welcome and I hope you enjoy the topic of today:
fiction that is playful and magical and interactive and fun. 🌈✨
As I mention in the episode, this is not a category that already exists in libraries and bookstores, but a rather personal mix of my own.
These are the books and authors mentioned:
🪄Alice in Wonderland - By Lewis Carroll
🪄The Jabberwocky:
https://www.youtube.co...
This is a tiny one, just to chat a bit about our favourite November writing challenge: Nanowrimo!
Nano website:
https://nanowrimo.org/dashboard
Redy, Set, Novel! - writer's workbook
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12590721-ready-set-novel?ac=1&from_search=true
Author Sarah Crossan, from whom I discovered the amazing free verse novel writing technique 😍
https://www....
Happy Halloween and welcome to spooky episode 8!
👻🎃🧟
These are some of the things mentioned on the episode:
💀Zombie Teenagers on a Train
https://www.instagram.com/p/CkXI3YRPOz9/?img_index=1
💀Edgar Allan Poe's lesser know story 'Berenice'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berenice_(short_story)
💀Julio Cortazar's story 'CASA TOMADA' (has Fa...
What´s Bizarro Fiction?
Bizarro is like:
- Franz Kafka meets John Waters
- Dr. Seuss of the post-apocalypse
- Takashi Miike meets William S. Burroughs
- Alice in Wonderland for adults
- Japanese animation directed by David Lynch
Read more at: https://www.bizarrocentral.com/about/
👽 Favourites Authors/ Stories:
- Candy-coated - by Carlton Mellick III
Hello! 👋 It's been a minute...
This minisode is about 2 things mainly:
-The podcast passing from being weekly to biweekly (sort of, consider subscribing if you don't want to miss any episode).
-Introducing a BONUS series on genre. These especial episodes are going to be:
Ep #7 BIZARRO FICTION
Ep #8 SCI-FI
Ep#9 MAGICAL/PLAYFUL FICTION
Ep#10 HORROR/GOTHIC
...
SHOW NOTES
In this episode I share a bit of how my seeking publication looks like and also I share (as always) some pretty cool resources related to this.
Future Me (write a letter to your future self!)
https://www.futureme.org/
Hannah Lee Kidder (check her self-publishing course on SkillShare)
https://www.youtube.com/@HannahLeeKidder
My first ever publication 💕
Sleep...
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