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
28 episodes
28 - Exophonic Storytelling for Brands and Transcreation - A chat with Mages Ruiz Diaz
Hello friends and welcome to the last episode of the Exophonic writer Podcast of 2025.I have great company! Join me on my chat with Mages Ruiz Diaz from Acts of Imagination, as we discuss how we both brought our Argentinian cult...
27 - Cultural Literacy and Exophonic Writing - with Dr Gabriel García Ochoa
Hi exophonic friends,We are here again with yet another amazing guest! Dr Gabriel García Ochoa is a Mexican-born academic and writer based in Melbourne, Australia. He teaches at Monash University, where his ...
26 - Hand out a sample of your work (my novel "Tango Masala" read aloud)
Hello Exophonics,As promised, here are the first few chapters (poems) of my debut novel Tango Masala.I tried my best and I hope you like it (but much respect for voice actors!)I read the first 46 pages, and the following poems:
25 - Early and surprising lessons from self-publishing my book
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 bookstocking your book in real-life bookstores and li...
24 - Recognising what you're doing right as a writer - a chat with book coach Karmen Spiljak
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 o...
23 - "Lite House" a special platform for Exophonic Writers - with Danae Spyrou
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 th...
22 - Season 2 teaser: amazing guests, be a supporter of the show and exophonic MERCH! 🤩
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 exoph...
21 - SEASON FINALE: I've self-published my first novel and I'll tell you everything I've learnt
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 ver...
20 - Mapping your Writing Journey to Beat Imposter Syndrome
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 SYNDROM...
19 - Identity (or Are the Literary Voices of Exophonic Writers Compromised by Cultural Expectations?)
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 d...
18 - Exophonic Chats: Write about your culture in a language that they will understand, but how to be authentic? With Cher Chidzey
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...
17 - Exophonic Chats: Telugu and a Rich Literary Tradition with Madhuri Karra
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 novel...
16 - Help! I'm writing a novel in 3 languages
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...
15- Exophonic Chats: How First Language Identity is a Fundamental Part to Bring into Theatre Play with Fabio Motta
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 th...
14 - MINISODE: ✨ 2024 Teaser ✨
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 abou...
13 - Bonus series: 📜Poetry 📜
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?
12 - Bonus series: 🛸 Sci-fi 🛸
Here are some titles and resources explored in this episode, enjoy! ✨What is Science Fiction Writing?
11 - Bonus series: 🪄 Magical/Playful Fiction 🪄
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 persona...
10 - Minisode: A NaNoWriMo chat
This is a tiny one, just to chat a bit about our favourite November writing challenge: Nanowrimo!Nano website:https://nanowrimo.org/dashboardRedy, Set, Novel! - writer's workbook...
9 - Bonus series: 🦇Gothic/ Horror🦇
Happy Halloween and welcome to spooky episode 8!👻🎃🧟 These are some of the things mentioned on the episode:💀Zombie Teenagers on a Trainhttps://www.instagram.c...
8 - Bonus series: 👽 BIZARRO FICTION 👽
What´s Bizarro Fiction? Bizarro is like: Franz Kafka meets John WatersDr. Seuss of the post-apocalypseTakashi Miike meets William S. BurroughsAlice in Wonderland for adultsJapane...
7 - MINISODE: Introducing a ✨BONUS✨ series on genre
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 ser...
6- My publishing process (or lack thereof)
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!)
5- My writing routine (or lack thereof)
Welcome to episode 5, where I'll talk about my (messy) writing routine, plus the software (or lack thereof) that I use, my favourite places to write, and much more.This episode is packed with inspiration triggers and curated resources t...
4- Are you an exophonic reader? - Read more to write better! :)
To write exophonically, first you need to read lots in the language you're seeking to write in.In this episode I talk about:-How I wasn't a reader growing up and became one only recently.-Changing schools mid-first grade...