Guest Interview – JC Niala - Writer, poet, and playwright.

Episode 70 - Guest Interview–JC Niala

JC Niala is a writer, poet, and playwright, and a keen grower. She is specifically interested in how our imaginations of nature affect how we treat it. 

Her artists' journal of poems Portal: 1918 Allotment (Fig, 2022) uses poetry, prose, and art to document her recreation of an English allotment in the style of the year 1918. In 2022, she received the Social History Society’s Public history prize 2022 for this project. 

JC’s nature writing debut, 'A Loveliness of Ladybirds, was shortlisted for the Nan Shepherd Prize for Nature Writing in 2019 and will Little Toller will publish this in 2023. 

'Never throw anything away!' You never know when your words will become useful.

Laura and Peter ask JC:

Tell us about yourself and your journey. How did you get started with writing?As an experienced researcher, what advice do you have for a writer who wants to experiment with research, and use this in their work or as an inspiration for their work?Can you provide three tips or techniques to help our listener use history/past events for creative inspiration?Last year, you attended our poetry collection course. Can you talk about this experience and what this has led to?What challenges have you faced working as a writer? How have you overcome these?Congratulations on the upcoming publication of your work. Can you tell us more about your book ‘A Loveliness of Ladybirds? You’ve got lots of exciting projects on the go. Please, can you tell us more? What’s next for you?

Links to work:

Online Exhibition of 1918 Allotment 

The Root of the Matter podcast with Wellcome Collection 

Listen to JC Niala reading some of her poetry. 

You can find JC Niala on

Website: www.jcniala.com

Twitter: @jcniala

Instagram: @jcniala