A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley

‘A paragraph made up of waiting…’

We join Sally this week in the process of editing her forthcoming work, Mrs Parnell, focusing in particular on a single paragraph. Listen for a meditation on the creation of space and time in writing, and how a text can carve out a space to pause.

The wonderful piano music in the opening section is ‘Doubt’, by Paul Seba. More on Paul and his work can be found here.

This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.

Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

For “Husband Ron” and Christopher Robin — may he come by again soon.

This week, we join Sally at home, seeing in the New Year in the company of the residents of A.A. Milne’s Hundred Acre Wood. Listen for a reflection on domesticity, hospitality, and the physics of intimacy.

This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.

Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

‘Writing for me is always an embodied experience of flow…’

This week we join Sally at home, as she prepares to start her day, thinking in particular about her morning swim. Listen for a meditation on writing and reflecting on one’s environment, embodiment, and the interaction between thought and space, featuring James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922).

The wonderful piano music in the opening section is ‘Tuesday’, by Paul Seba. More information on Paul and his work can be found here.

This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.

Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

‘A kind of choreography of intimacy, which I return to again and again…’

This week, we join Sally on a cold winter’s morning, as she tries to settle into the rhythm of the day and develop an image from her forthcoming work, Mrs Parnell. Listen for reflections on the writing life, and the development of character from everyday scenes, via the life and work of Katherine Mansfield and Arundhati Roy.

This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.

Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

‘She brought so little personality with her that she seemed scarcely to disturb the air…’

This week, marking the arrival of Autumn, Sally has been thinking about literary arrivals, in particular those in L.P. Hartley’s 1957 novel, The Hireling. Listen for a meditation on the choreography of writing and the arrangement of characters, including those featured in Sally’s forthcoming work, Mrs Parnell.

This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.

Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.