I spoke to Sally Hayden about her book My Fourth Time, We Drowned.
It's about people who tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Africa to Europe but ended up locked in detention centres in Libya. The book won the Orwell Prize and was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize. She describes it as a 'book of evidence'.
We talked about:
her early reporting on the story while working for Vice
the role played by business cards
the importance of making yourself contactable
having to respond to sources at all hours
how the story took over her life
struggling to get the story commissioned
how journalism awards helped change that
warnings from MI6 that her life was in danger
working out what the book would be
finding an agent and publisher who believe in what you're doing