A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley

‘I follow her behind, as a bridesmaid…’

This week, Sally is preparing to travel. To do so, she goes on an imaginative journey with her character, Mrs Parnell, the centrepiece of her forthcoming book of the same name. Listen for a meditation on routine, intimacy, and the journeys, real and imagined, that make up our days.

The wonderful piano music in the closing section is ‘Scorpio’, 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.

‘Conduct had kept chaos at bay.’

This week, we join Sally once again at work on her next novel, Mrs Parnell, making use of Shirley Hazzard’s The Great Fire (2003) and trying to ignore a mounting number of distractions. Listen for reflections on the embodied nature of the writing ritual, and the process of developing intimacy with character.

This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.

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

‘Keep your threads firmly tied together…’

This week, we conclude our episode on paragraphs and the writing process. Listen for an insight into Sally’s process of expanding her narratives from the visual towards the historical and biographical, continuing to consider Transit in Venus.

This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.

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

‘Most of writing is…trying to organise the paragraph into a unit of thought.’

This week, in the first of a two part episode on the writing process, we join Sally in the midst of editing her next novel, Mrs Parnell, considering the organisation of her paragraphs with the help of Shirley Hazzard’s Transit in Venus (1980). Listen for a reflection on visual language, and the choreography of ideas which shape narrative.

This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.

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

‘I am trying to draw succour and strength from their song, because I need to sing too…’

This week, we join Sally, amidst distractions both natural and otherwise, reflecting on her latest work, Worm in the Bud. Listen for a meditation on the need for solace, character, and the narrative significance of suspense.

Worm in the Bud is published by The New Menard Press, and is available from all good booksellers. It can be ordered here.

This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.

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