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 can have the power to change our lives. 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 even in the most difficult times. This podcast series is produced by BAFTA and Emmy Award winning producer Andrew Smith
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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 can have the power to change our lives. 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 even in the most difficult times. This podcast series is produced by BAFTA and Emmy Award winning producer Andrew Smith
‘He stood still in the gloom of the hall, trying to catch the air that the voice was singing and gazing up at his wife. There was grace and mystery in her attitude as if she were a symbol of something.’
A special episode this week, as we join Sally in conversation with James Bowen, the podcast’s producer and a fellow teacher of literature. Listen for a conversation on the role of objects in narratives, and the way in which characters reduce one another to symbols in modernist literature, ranging across Joyce’s short story ‘The Dead’ (1904) to Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway (1925) and To the Lighthouse (1927).
You can find out more about James and his work here.
Alice Jolly’s novel, The Matchbox Girl, discussed near the end of the episode is forthcoming with Bloomsbury, and is available to pre-order from all good booksellers.
The wonderful piano music in the closing section is ‘Monday’, by Paul Seba. You can listen to more of his work here.
This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.
A note on the sound: We are still experimenting with this format, and apologise that the sound levels are a touch more uneven than normal. As such, you may need to set the volume at a slightly higher level than you normally might when playing this episode!
A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley
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 can have the power to change our lives. 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 even in the most difficult times. This podcast series is produced by BAFTA and Emmy Award winning producer Andrew Smith
