*Originally released 20 January 2022*

Literature helped the New York-based writer and academic Douglas Berman escape from his troubled early years but he struggled to find the confidence to write. Success as a teacher and lawyer waylaid him further but now – helped by his extensive reading and dazzling wordsmithery – he is fully focused on poetry and prose, and the pandemic diary that has helped him stay on track over the last couple of years. 

In Episode 14 of First Impressions, which kicks off Season 2, we learn about Doug's writing life; some inspiring authors who ducked the limelight; the home invasion that led to him writing a short story now being translated into Japanese; how writing workshops and a book group formed in Hong Kong renewed his vigour; the advantages of taking the New York subway, and much else besides. 

Doug shares his writing advice and reads extracts from his diary throughout the show, seasoning his insights and meditations with poetry from Allen Ginsberg and Frank O’Hara. Rarely short of wit and wisdom, Doug concludes our chat by improvising a Christmas message for Boris Johnson and sharing his new year's resolution for 2022.