Two Novelists in Conversation: Simon Crump and Sheena Kalayil

Simon Crump
Simon Crump is an author of experimental fiction including composite novel My Elvis Blackout.
Other books include historical non-fiction work They Call it U-Boat Hotel.
He lived in Sheffield for 40 years and in 2017 received a suspended sentence for environmental activism.
Simon's latest book, Post It Notes from Underground, was published by Bluemoose Books in 2026.Sheena Kalayil
Sheena Kalayil's third novel The Wild Wind is based on her childhood, split between Zambia, Zimbabwe and Kerala, India. She arrived in the UK aged 18 and has worked as a teacher all over the world.
She teaches at the University of Manchester. Her debut novel, The Bureau of Second Chances, won Writers' Guild Award for Best First Novel.
The Others is her fourth novel and was long-listed for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2026.Interviewed by Bec Evans.