ABOUT THIS EPISODE
On this month’s episode Nicole is joined by Susannah Dickey to read from and discuss her story ‘Diplomats’ published in Issue 54 Volume Two of The Stinging Fly magazine.
In their conversation Nicole and Susannah talk about rivalry and jealousy in female friendships, toxic masculinity and femininity, the difficulty of forming a self and identity in early adulthood, AC/DC, the British Empire as enemy, and the pleasure of writing characters in their 20's.
Susannah Dickey is a writer from Derry. She is the author of three novels, most recently Into The Wreck (Bloomsbury, 2026). Her debut poetry collection, ISDAL, won the inaugural PEN Heaney Prize and the Michael Murphy Memorial Prize, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and was a book of the year in the Guardian and The Irish Times. Her second poetry collection will be published in 2027.
Nicole Flattery is a writer and critic. Her story collection Show Them A Good Time, was published by The Stinging Fly and Bloomsbury in 2019. Her novel, Nothing Special, was published by Bloomsbury in 2023. Her new novel Everything is Nice, Everything is Lovely will be published by Jonathan Cape in May 2027.
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Each month on The Stinging Fly Podcast, we invite writers from the latest issue of the magazine to read and discuss their work. Previous episodes of the podcast can be found here. The podcast’s theme music is ‘Sale of Lakes’, by Divan. All of The Stinging Fly’s archive is available to subscribers.
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