In this episode of Turning Points, Patricia Killeen speaks with husband-and-wife team Jonathan Ruppin and Emma Claire Sweeney, who run the Ruppin Agency Writers’ Studio. Their retreats in Paris (https://www.ruppinagency.com/paris/) and North Wales, along with their mentoring programmes, have become sought-after experiences for writers. Their upcoming Paris retreat (18–23 May), hosted by the Véranda Association Culturelle, will take place in a stunning house in the 15th arrondissement, often featured in architectural publications.

Emma Claire Sweeney is an award-winning author and senior lecturer at the Open University. Her novel Owl Song at Dawn was named Nudge Book of the Year (literary category), and her co-authored biography A Secret Sisterhood received praise from Margaret Atwood for its contributions to literary history. Emma’s work has appeared in The Paris Review, TIME, and The Washington Post, and she has won the Society of Authors, Arts Council England, and the Royal Literary Fund awards.

Jonathan Ruppin is an editor and former literary agent with over 30 years of industry experience. He led the Ruppin Agency from 2016 to 2024, where every novel sold was award-nominated, with wins including the Portico Prize and the Somerset Maugham Award. He has collaborated with English PEN, the Booker Prize Foundation, and New Books in German, and served as a judge for the Costa Novel Award, Guardian First Book Award, and the RNA Awards.

Check out Emma and Jonathan’s site: ruppinagency.com or contact Emma and Jonathan by email at studio@ruppinagency.com to book a retreat or for literary mentoring.

What happens when war is fought from behind a screen? In this episode, host ARBL Murray speaks with Canadian writer and Afghan war veteran Matt Jones about his new novel, Predators, Reapers, and Deadlier Creatures. Set in Kandahar in 2010, the book follows a drone operator wrestling with the moral and psychological weight of remote warfare.

Now based in Paris, where he teaches creative writing at SciencesPo, Jones explores the challenge of writing about war for divided audiences—drawing on his journey from soldier to storyteller.

Discover more about the author | Buy the book in France | Buy the book in the USA

In this Episode of Lost in Frenchlatin we talk with lauded French filmmaker and screenwriter Arnaud Desplechin about his new film ‘Spectateurs!' (Filmlovers!)

His film screened at the beautiful Jeu de Paume in the Tuileries Gardens, during the Lost in Frenchlation event. Manon Kerjean and ARBL Murray were able to chat with Arnaud about his films, his inspiration, and what it was like to put together his own personal ode to cinema. Arnaud tells us why he used the mixed forms of narrative and documentary, what his earliest interactions with art were and why Pretty Woman occupies his thoughts from time to time.

In this Episode We Discuss:

Films of Arnaud Desplechin

Philosopher:

Stanley Cavell

Films:

Shoah by Claude Lanzmann

Killer of Sheep by Charles Burnett

The Exiled by Johnnie To

Pretty Woman by Garry Marshall

Arnoud’s must see recommendation for recent films:

Souleymane's Story by Boris Lojkine

Listen to Arnaud give a talk about why he loves the film Pretty Woman (In French)

LISTEN HERE ON APPLE PODCASTS

For more information about Lost in Frenchlation and to buy tickets go to:

https://lostinfrenchlation.com