Martin Nathan and Tabitha Potts interview writer Miki Lentin about his new novel Winter Sun, published by Afsana Press in 2024.

A nine-day winter break in Tenerife. Nothing is quite good enough. A son tries in vain to ask his ailing, elderly Irish Jewish father questions about their past before it is too late. The absurdity and hilarity of family holidays in the sun are brought to life in this sharp and fiercely honest novel that crosses borders, carrying the reader on a ride of childhood pain, a search for identity, and growth.

Miki talks about auto-fiction, package holidays, memory and meals in this fascinating interview.

Miki Lentin took up writing while travelling the world with his family a few years ago.

Miki completed an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck in 2020, and was a finalist in the 2020 Irish Novel Fair for his first book, Winter Sun.

Miki has been placed highly in competitions including Fish Publishing Short Memoir Prize, Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Award, and Leicester Writes, and has been published in Litro, Storgy, Story Radio, MIR amongst others.

In 2022 he brought out a collection of short stories with Afsana Press, Inner Core, that cover death, anxiety, masculinity, family and children and social good. The book was called 'consistently enthralling... funny, moving and disturbing in equal measure' by Francis Gilbert, author of I’m a Teacher Get Me Out of Here.

Miki volunteers with refugee charity Breaking Barriers and with foodKIND in Greece, and dreams of one day running a café again.

Martin Nathan produced this episode.

Martin Nathan’s short fiction and poetry has appeared in a range of journals and his novel – A Place of Safety is published by Salt Publishing. His dramatic writing has been shortlisted for the Nick Darke award and the Woodward International Prize.