Irish novelist Jennifer Johnston was born in Dublin, the daughter of actor and director Shelah Richards and writer Denis Johnston. In this episode, she explains how she avoided their influence by delaying the start of her writing career until her thirties. Johnston then explores themes in her writing, discusses how her first play and novel were both rejected, her move to Derry and her admiration for Anton Chekhov. Her writing process is examined – how the emotional landscape of her books take over her life, how she hears her characters’ voices in her head and how loneliness and self-sufficiency are the unifying themes of her work.