A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley

Sadler's Birthday

‘Silence, quietness, that’s a way of living…’
This week, we join Sally in the attic room of her family home, where she has been reading Rose Tremain's first novel Sadler’s Birthday (1976). Follow her on a journey through the spaces in life where we find quietness, and the ways we make ourselves fit into them, in writing or otherwise.
The piano music in the closing section is ‘Tuesday’, by Paul Sebastian.
This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

The Gleaners

‘But the darkness is a kind of blanket, and she comforts me…’This week, we join Sally on a sleepless night, on a journey through Millet’s The Gleaners (1857), via her character Pond Man. Follow her through this meditation on voice, place, and the spaces in between events.More information on the painting can be found here.The wonderful piano music in the opening section is ‘Doubt’, by Paul Sebastian. The guitar piece is by Dylan Gwalia.This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

Bleak House

‘London. Michaelmas Term lately over and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln’s Inn Hall…’
This week, Sally has been reading and teaching Charles Dickens’ Bleak House (1852). Follow her on a journey through his London, in the company of its climate, characters, and the bewildering legal bureaucracy not very far from our own….
Music used throughout includes ‘Tuesday’ and ‘Thursday’ by Paul Sebastian.
This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

The Weatherhouse

‘I’m wondering what happiness sounds like, these days…’
This week, Sally has been reading Nan Shepherd’s The Weatherhouse, and reflecting on her relationship with happiness and contentment. Join her for a meditation on acceptance, simplicity, and our connections to life’s natural rhythms.
The guitar music throughout is by D. Gwalia.
This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

Pond Man Beneath the Date Palm Tree

This week Sally is experimenting with location and atmosphere for her character Pond Man. She asks her friend Dylan, to come and join her, as they improvise their way into Pond Man's world. This episode celebrates the value of creative collaboration and experiment.  
Music by D. Gwalia.
Produced by D. Gwalia.
 

Mary Crow

“She glanced up at the great broken tower-columns of the vanished nave of the Abbey Church….” 
This week, Sally continues to read John Cowper Powys’ 1932 novel A Glastonbury Romance, dwelling on the character of Mary Crow, whose form gives shape to the flat Glastonbury plain. Join her for reflections on visual art, our search for meaning through symbolic structure, and our deeply human need for form and rhythm. 
More information on Powys can be found here: https://www.powys-society.org/JCPowys.html
The guitar piece (05:28) is by D. Gwalia. 
This episode was produced by Lucie Richter-Mahr. 
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

Cloud Patterns

“On this particular day the weather conditions had assumed a cloud-pattern…”
This week, Sally continues to read John Cowper Powys’ 1932 novel, A Glastonbury Romance, asking: how does writing produce depth and dimension? And what role do images play in our creative and emotional lives? Join her on a spring morning by the river for reflections on craft, inspiration, and literature as a visual language. 
Note: in Greek mythology, Clytemnestra traps and murders her husband, king Agamemnon, by tangling him in a net. More information on Powys can be found here: https://www.powys-society.org/JCPowys.html
The original piano piece (08:47) is ‘Monday’ by Paul Sebastian. The original guitar piece (14:53) is by D. Gwalia. 
This episode was produced by Lucie Richter-Mahr. 
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

A Glastonbury Romance

‘There’s no life that frees anyone so completely from unhappiness as does the mystic life…’
This week, Sally has been reading John Cowper Powys’ 1932 novel, A Glastonbury Romance. Join her for a meditation on attachment, possession, desire, and being with others.
More information on Powys can be found here: https://www.powys-society.org/JCPowys.html
The wonderful piano music in the opening section is by Paul Sebastian.
This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Paul Clarke, and Maeve Magnus.