A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley

Inhabit the Garden

‘Other echoes inhabit the garden. Shall we follow?’
 
This week, Sally is reading T. S. Eliot in preparation for her performance at the Oxford Chamber Music Festival on the 6th of October. She explores the landscape of ‘Burnt Norton’ (1936), improvising scenes on the theme of memory via rose leaves, purses, lightbulbs, and dry crackling lawns. The Oxford Chamber Music Festival, run by Priya Mitchell, takes place from the 4th to the 7th of October. All are welcome, please come along!
 
The Festival website is here: https://www.ocmf.net/2023-festival/
 
The poem, ‘Burnt Norton’ from the Four Quartets, is available to read here: http://www.davidgorman.com/4quartets/1-norton.htm
 
The wonderful music is by Paul Clarke. This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen
 
Special thanks to Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

Froggie and the Golden Ball

‘For all the Froggies of the World...'
Inspired by her amphibian lifestyle, Sally offers an everyday fable of the writer. Froggie and the Golden Ball is a cautionary tale of the writerly career and the lure of acclaim, interspersed with reflections on nature, Emily Dickinson, and hairdressing.
Dickinson’s poem about the frog is available here: https://poets.org/poem/im-nobody-who-are-you-260
The producer of this episode is James Bowen.
The extra voice in this episode is Emma Fielding.
The beautiful piano music heard in the opening section is written and performed by Paul Clarke.
Thanks to everyone who has supported us so far. Special thanks go to Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

The Farrier

Sally has just finished a lesson with a student who is writing a story in the vein of Thomas Hardy about a young man on a farm. Searching for visual references, they latch on to a painting of a farrier, shoeing a horse. Now the image, haunted by  a spectral figure, has lingered in Sally's mind and she reflects on how visual and physical memory can inspire writing; and how writers are like ghosts, absent-present in the scene.
In a heat haze, the sound of a dog barking prompts her to think about the importance of creating barriers against the noise of the world.
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 go to Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

A Field Guide to Reality

Sally is reading A Field Guide to Reality, the debut novel by the Granta Best of Young British author Joanna Kavenna, originally published in 2016 and set in a surreal, quantum alternative Oxford University. 
Sally will be in conversation with Joanna Kavenna and fellow writer Elizabeth Lowry 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 here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/s-bayley-e-lowry-and-j-kavenna-a-reading-life-a-writing-life-tickets-688044298017
You can find out more about Joanna's writings here:
http://www.joannakavenna.com/
And Elizabeth Lowry here:
https://elizabethlowry.co.uk/
 
 
 
 
 

The Chosen

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 here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/s-bayley-e-lowry-and-j-kavenna-a-reading-life-a-writing-life-tickets-688044298017
Elizabeth Lowry's The Chosen has been shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. You can find out more here:
https://elizabethlowry.co.uk/
You can find out about Joanna Kavenna, who is also appearing in the event, here:
http://www.joannakavenna.com/
 
 
 
 

Sally talks to Will Self Part Two

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 intersection with life and living - and it's free to attend! More details here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/s-bayley-e-lowry-and-j-kavenna-a-reading-life-a-writing-life-tickets-688044298017
Our thanks to Will Self and to Blackwell's Bookshop. You can find out more about Will Self's book here: https://will-self.com/why-read/
 

A short announcement and a live event

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

Mrs Robinson

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 go to Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.