‘Blithe came to me, not in flashing red or pink neon, but in pastels… in soft, painterly tones…’

This week, Sally has been inspired by a dream of the word ‘blithe.’ Listen for a meditation on the relationship between words, language, and the memories they ignite.

The Muir poem Sally reads can be found here.

The music used in the opening and closing section is, respectively, ‘Sunday’ 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.

‘Rhythm seems to be the first or formal relation of part to part in any whole…’

This week, Sally has been thinking about rhythms, in her life, writing, and the works of others. Listen for a meditation, via James Joyce, Jean Rhys’ Good Morning, Midnight (1939), and Sally’s work in progress, on the suturing of experience, and the spaces between moments of being.

Joyce’s reflection on rhythm, among others, can be found in full here.

Sally is currently in the early stages of writing out the rhythms and images of her next book – a passage from which appears in this episode - following an unlikely set of characters, including Katherine Parnell, from the realm of fable, fairytale, folklore, and history.

The guitar music accompanying Sally’s discussion of the fire is by Dylan Gwalia. The closing track is ‘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.

This week, Sally has been reflecting on her ‘orphan power’, a phrase once applied to her by Will Self, and her relationship with orphaned literary characters such as Jane Eyre. Listen for a meditation on, isolation, belonging, and the communities that art can provide.

The extracts performed here involving Jane Eyre and Miss Marple are from Sally’s first coming of age novel, Girl with Dove (William Collins, 2018).

This episode was partially inspired by Sally being asked to speak at a symposium on ‘The Impact of Lived Experience on Care Associated Research by Care Experienced Researchers’, convened by Dr Annie Skinner, a Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University. More information on Dr Skinner’s 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.