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PODCAST

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley

Sally Bayley, Andrew Smith

Acclaimed writer Sally Bayley lives on a narrowboat, surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature, sustained by reading and writing. In this series, she invites us into her life, showing us how books have the power to change your life. Sally has recently been diagnosed with an auto-immune disease, but this is not a misery memoir podcast; she shows us how literature and connection to nature can console and give courage and insight. The series is produced by Andrew Smith, James Bowen, Lucie

arts books

All Episodes

15:46

The Chosen

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/08/28

Starting a new book is like starting a new relationship, and Sally is reading Elizabeth Lowry's The Chosen, a ghost story and a love story about Thomas Hardy and his estranged wife. Sally will be in conversation with Elizabeth Lowry and fellow writer Joanna Kavenna at Blackwell's Bookshop in Oxford, from 6pm on September 5th. They will discuss many of the themes of the podcast; reading, writing and the intersection with life and living - and it's free to attend! More details

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37:44

Sally talks to Will Self Part Two

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/08/23

This is the second half of the chat between Sally and Will Self, held at Blackwell's Bookshop in Oxford, in which they discuss the German emigré writer WG Sebald, their reading and writing habits, parenthood, children and eccentric families. Sally is hosting another evening of literary chat with friends and fellow writers Joanna Kavenna and Elizabeth Lowry, also at Blackwell's Bookshop in Oxford, from 6pm on September 5th. They will discuss many of the themes of the podcast; reading, writing and the

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02:07

A short announcement and a live event

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/08/22

Just a short announcement by Sally about an exciting event coming up - recorded with the help of Magnificent Maeve Magnus.

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08:07

Mrs Robinson

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/07/26

This episode is a meditation, inspired by the themes and characters of Sally's latest book, The Green Lady; it's Sally's elegy for Mrs Robinson, a woman who was shut out of life, not seen or heard; but Sally knew her, and remembers her. You can find out more about The Green Lady here: https://sallybayley.com/ The producer of the podcast is Andrew Smith: https://www.fleetingyearfilms.com The extra voice in this episode is Emma Fielding. Thanks to everyone who has supported us so far. Special thanks

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22:02

The Exquisite Melodrama of the Writer

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/07/25

It's the launch day for Sally's new book, The Green Lady, and Sally is feeling the pressure, especially as her neighbours have left her alone on the boat. In the middle of the night, she reads an 18th century classic, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, finding commonality in its psychological upswings and downswings, the melodrama, the despair and the comforts, of its narrator, who has turned to writing in his journal to cope with his lonely castaway life. Brought back to the world by the sound of

en

32:47

Sally talks to Will Self: Part 1

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/07/23

Something different for this episode - Sally interviews writer Will Self about his latest book of essays, Why Read. They discuss not just why we read, but how we read; digital reading versus physical books; and Will discusses the writers who had a formative effect on him, including Lewis Carroll, Franz Kafka and W.G. Sebald. The event took place at Blackwell's Bookshop in Oxford. Our thanks to Will and to Blackwell's. You can find out more about Will Self's book here:

en

21:50

Haunted

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/07/13

In this episode, Sally reads extracts from her forthcoming book, the Green Lady, released next week. The Green Lady is the third part of a literary coming of age story that began with Girl with Dove, a combination of memoir and storytelling from the perspective of a child in search of a way of expressing herself. The book is a tribute to the women who raised Sally, and the often unappreciated and unnoticed teachers, nurturers and maternal spirits of history and the present day. The Green Lady is

en

18:26

Sunshine of the Heart

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/06/29

Sally treads old familiar pathways through fields of corn and wheat in Sussex, very close to the place she grew up. Her thoughts are with Charlotte Brontë, who wrote haunting poems about her own complex, equivocal feelings towards her childhood and the place she grew up. Sally reads the famous opening passage from Brontë's novel Jane Eyre. Jane, an unwanted orphan who retreats into the world of books was a pivotal figure in Sally's psychological development as a young teenager. Charlotte Brontë

en

25:30

A Bright Metal World

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/06/14

"Why do we write?" Sally asks herself this week, as she reads a novella by the 20th century writer DH Lawrence, a story of longing, dreams, desire and self-liberation. Sally is interrupted by the arrival of a gang of noisy pheasants, who annoy the local cat, the aloof and enigmatic Plucky. Sally reflects on the unknowable interiority of everyone - not just cats; and while spring cleaning, she finds a talismanic object - a faded cover of a much-loved, much-read book. Returning to Lawrence, she

en

27:19

The Body in the Library

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/05/31

This week, Sally is entertaining a visitor to the narrowboat - her eight-year-old neighbour Maeve Magnus - for their regular evening ritual of watching Poirot and honing their impressions of the TV show’s characters. Sally harkens back to her eight-year-old self, reading her way through Agatha Christie’s stories, each tale representing a world of fresh possibilities and alternative ways of living. She savours one of her favourite passages, the opening of The Body in the Library, with its skilful

en

29:43

The Girls of Slender Means

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/05/16

This week, Sally is reading The Girls of Slender Means, a novella by one of her favourite writers, Scottish novelist, poet and essayist Muriel Spark (1918 to 2006). During the Second World War, Spark came to London to work in British intelligence. She took up residence at the Helena Club in London, a hostel in Lancaster Gate, described as “a strict club for young ladies”. In 1963, she published A Girl of Slender Means, based on her experiences at the Helena Club. Spark was also editor of the Poetry

en

36:25

Almost Being Said

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/05/11

Sally starts the podcast with a brief poem by Philip Larkin, a complex poem of springtime, grief, and renewal. The trees all around the boat take Sally’s mind back to the horse chestnut tree of her youth, where she and her brother used to play, and which became a companion to her as she started to read books. A hunt for a pack of pesky wasp invaders, headed by an indignant Queen, ends up with Sally pruning the nearby hawthorn and willow trees, in whose branches the neighbourhood water vole has been

en

16:43

A Retreat

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/05/01

Sally reads Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem Frost at Midnight, and reflects on the importance of finding ways to escape, now and again, from a stressful world - to find a place of tranquillity, where we can think and create, connect with ourselves and with the natural world. It's a fundamental need, but very hard to achieve. So Sally outlines a plan - to create a "retreat", a way to provide our listeners with a temporary but meaningful respite from the world. As Sally explains, we are thinking of

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26:21

Baby David

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/04/10

Sally starts by telling us the tale of the Boiler That Went Bang in the Night, and the Bird That Never Was. She’s preparing a zoom class for some schoolchildren which draws on her first book of memoirs – or anti-memoirs, as she prefers to call them – called Girl With Dove. Sally pulls out the book's manuscript and we hear about her upbringing in a slum area on the south coast, and her earliest memories of her granny and Mum, growing roses on a scrubby patch of land. She tells us about her baby

en

28:40

The Wind In The Willows

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/03/29

Sally does her washing on the narrowboat, and with spring in the air, her thoughts turn to the past. She reads from an old favourite, the children’s classic novel, The Wind in the Willows, and discusses its characters and themes with her friend from next door, Maeve Magnus, who is reading it for the first time and sees close parallels between the book and their own lives on the river. Sally recalls her fierce search for meaning and direction of her university days, and how she plunged into the

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24:11

The Devil Lives Among Us

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/02/22

In this episode, released on the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, Sally reads the works of great Ukrainian writers and poets of previous generations. Her thoughts turn to the novelist Joseph Conrad, who was born in a region which is now part of Ukraine. She reads passages from his masterpiece, Lord Jim, about the tangible presence of evil in the world. In a lighter vein, she reads an extract from her own fictional essay about the joys and freedoms of walking. Further Reading Sally’s fictional

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43:45

A Country Doctor

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/02/07

In this special, double-length episode, Sally leaves her boat to seek refuge at a friend’s house on another island in Oxford, as the rains have flooded the meadow of her narrowboat community. Returning to the boat as the waters subside, she reads a poem by Elizabeth Bishop, then settles down to study a collection of essays by Will Self. The essays lead Sally to reread a chilling short story by the surrealist writer Franz Kafka - and a striking phrase reminds her of one of her favourite sentences in

en

23:29

Pond Life

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/01/24

Sally wakes up at dawn and thinks about the book she's currently writing – Pond Life, a fictional biography of two women who live on the south coast of Britain in the years after the Second World War. The book addresses themes of loneliness, disconnection and the consolations and snares of film, art and the imagination. Sally consults her own memorandum, a note to herself and the reader, about the composition of the book; and she reflects on the need for calm, away from the distraction of screens,

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25:53

Evelyn

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/01/17

Sally takes time off from trying to unblock her sink to conduct a creative writing lesson with her student, Evelyn. They discuss a single sentence in a short story written by Katherine Mansfield, the modernist writer who died 100 years ago this month. After Evelyn leaves, Sally settles down to read Mansfield’s diaries, immersing herself in her scribblings both funny and profound. Further Reading: Katherine Mansfield was a writer, essayist and journalist who primarily wrote short stories and poems

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18:50

Reading Jean Rhys

A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley ·

2023/01/10

Sally takes a trip on her shiny blue electric scooter to Oxford Public Library, where she picks up a novel by the iconic British modernist writer Jean Rhys. After a disturbing experience at the hospital, she seeks refuge in Rhys’ existentialist narrative of rootless but indomitable women, who eke out a living on the margins of society while searching for love, beauty and a sense of belonging. Further Reading: Jean Rhys was born in 1890 and brought up on the Caribbean island of Dominica. She was sent

en

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