An Yu, writer of 'Braised Pork' - Hyped debut author on discovering characters, trying to tame creativity, and nocturnal Beijing.

An Yu has just released her debut, 'Braised Pork'. It's tipped to be one of the literary debuts of the year, was acquired in a 7 way auction, and tells the story of nocturnal Beijing. It focuses on Jia Jia, who returns home to find her husband dead in the bathtub. Next to him is an image that she won't ever forget. It's an exploration of myth-making, loss and her journey to find herself.

We talk about why she writes in her second language, why this story took time to develop and how her characters twisted and turned along the way. Also, there's an interesting balance in here about taming her creativity. She's in the throes of writing her second novel now, and hearing how she tackles that, and how many words she's trying to get down a week is unique, and almost a world away from other authors we've had on the show.

Also, we try and finally bust the myth of why some people pants, and others plot!

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