In this episode of The Writing Life Podcast, novelist and essayist Matt Greene shares the process of writing his latest novel, The Definitions – a work of dystopian fiction which interrogates and plays with the relationship between language, memory and the self.
He sat down with NCW’s Steph McKenna to discuss the genesis of the novel, which began as a philosophical experiment, and how working within the dystopian genre allowed him to explore how language shapes identity. They also touch on his approach to writing characters who lack memory or a sense of self, and how their gradual understanding of the world was conveyed through a playful, vivid use of simile and metaphor.
Matt is a novelist and essayist. His first novel, Ostrich, published in 2013, won a Betty Trask Award and was a Daily Telegraph book of the year. His memoir, Jew(ish) was published in 2020. His latest novel, The Definitions, was published in October 2025. He lives in London with his partner and two sons.
The Definitions is an elegant and haunting dystopian novel about a group of individuals gathered to relearn how to navigate the world after a mysterious illness strips them of their memories.
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Edited by Omni Mix
The Definitions
An elegant and haunting dystopian novel about a group of individuals gathered to relearn how to navigate the world after a mysterious illness strips them of their memories.
Nestled in an idyllic locale beside the sea, The Centre is a place of rehabilitation and rebuilding. Students arrive nameless, their memories and sense of identity wiped by a strange illness.
Each day, they attend classes that will help them relearn the right ways to speak and live; they practice the roles they’ll assume once they’ve graduated and returned to society. In their free time, they negotiate a burgeoning social hierarchy and watch old videotapes together; stories of characters whose names they adopt: Maria, Chandler, Chino, Gunther… But as shards of memories – of pets, lovers, errands, and beloved music – begin to threaten the strict curriculum of The Centre, some students start to question the definitions given to them, and explore the ways in which they might define themselves.
A stunning, intimately told story about what makes us who we are, The Definitions examines the limits of language, the power of human connection, and the ways the human spirit can flourish even under the most oppressive conditions.
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