Podcast
A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley
Hosted by Sally Bayley, Andrew Smith · EN
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 Richter-Mahr, and Dylan Gwalia.
To find out more about Sally please visit: https://sallybayley.com.
24episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Night Contradicts the Day
2w ago01:24:10Tap to summarize‘Hölderlin’s lovely blueness you hold to you, it is tensile through the smeared glass’ This week, we join Sally in conversation with poet, critic, and translator Stephen Romer, following the recent publication of his latest poetry pamphlet, Night Contradicts the Day. Listen for reflections on the intimacies - or otherwise - of care, empathy and its absence, and the challenge laid down by the neurodivergent mind. The poems in this pamphlet also stress the redemptive power of the aesthetic. Stephen’s pamphlet is published by Dare-Gale Press, and can be purchased here. The Lizst piece mentioned is the famous B-Minor Sonata, and can be listened to here. This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen. Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.
Transcribe →On Doubt
May 1600:21:46Tap to summarize‘To find a way in, through the door, beyond the doubt…’ This week, we join Sally wrestling with the problem of doubt, having just sent her latest novel, Pond Life, to the printers. Listen for a reflection on writing, the body, and the generative possibilities of doubt, via Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Pond Life will be published in September 2026 by The New Menard Press, and can be pre-ordered here. The wonderful piano music in the closing section is the appropriately titled ‘Doubt’ by Paul Seba. More information on Paul and his 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.
Transcribe →Poppies in October Revisited
Mar 2200:23:37Tap to summarize‘Even the sun-clouds this morning cannot manage such skirts.’ This week, Sally returns to Sylvia Plath’s ‘Poppies in October.’ Listen for a mediation on the mouth, sound, and their essential role in approaching the lyric. The wonderful piano music in the closing section is ‘Sirens’ by Paul Seba. More information on Paul and his 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.
Transcribe →Worm in the Bud: A Fable
Feb 2200:52:06Tap to summarize‘Enter Lillian…’ This week, we join Sally once again in conversation with the producer, James Bowen, on the subject of Sally’s latest work, Worm in the Bud: A Fable. Listen for a conversation on interpretation, ambiguity, and the instructive value of narrative. Worm in the Bud is published by the New Menard Press, and is available from all good booksellers. The wonderful piano accompanying Sally's reading of 'The Forest' is ‘Monday’, by Paul Seba. More on Paul and his work can be found here. This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen. More information on James and his work can be found here. Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.
Transcribe →Sweeping and Editing
Jan 2400:21:52Tap to summarize‘A paragraph made up of waiting…’ We join Sally this week in the process of editing her forthcoming work, Mrs Parnell, focusing in particular on a single paragraph. Listen for a meditation on the creation of space and time in writing, and how a text can carve out a space to pause. The wonderful piano music in the opening section is ‘Doubt’, by Paul Seba. More on Paul and his 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.
Transcribe →On Living in Hundred Acre Wood
Jan 200:20:30Tap to summarizeFor “Husband Ron” and Christopher Robin — may he come by again soon. This week, we join Sally at home, seeing in the New Year in the company of the residents of A.A. Milne’s Hundred Acre Wood. Listen for a reflection on domesticity, hospitality, and the physics of intimacy. This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen. Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.
Transcribe →River Ruminations
Nov 3000:15:22Tap to summarize‘Writing for me is always an embodied experience of flow…’ This week we join Sally at home, as she prepares to start her day, thinking in particular about her morning swim. Listen for a meditation on writing and reflecting on one’s environment, embodiment, and the interaction between thought and space, featuring James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922). The wonderful piano music in the opening section is ‘Tuesday’, by Paul Seba. More information on Paul and his 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.
Transcribe →The Choreography of Writing
Nov 1600:23:06Tap to summarize‘A kind of choreography of intimacy, which I return to again and again…’ This week, we join Sally on a cold winter’s morning, as she tries to settle into the rhythm of the day and develop an image from her forthcoming work, Mrs Parnell. Listen for reflections on the writing life, and the development of character from everyday scenes, via the life and work of Katherine Mansfield and Arundhati Roy. This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen. Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.
Transcribe →Arrivals
Oct 400:21:46Tap to summarize‘She brought so little personality with her that she seemed scarcely to disturb the air…’ This week, marking the arrival of Autumn, Sally has been thinking about literary arrivals, in particular those in L.P. Hartley’s 1957 novel, The Hireling. Listen for a meditation on the choreography of writing and the arrangement of characters, including those featured in Sally’s forthcoming work, Mrs Parnell. This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen. Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.
Transcribe →A Conversation on Difficulty and Ambiguity
Sep 2000:47:19Tap to summarize‘From Waterloo Station to the small country town of Ramsgard in Dorset is a journey of not more than three or four hours, but having by good luck found a compartment to himself, Wolf Solent was able to indulge in such an orgy of concentrated thought, that these three or four hours lengthened themselves out into something beyond all human measurement.’ We rejoin Sally this week in conversation with the producer, James Bowen, discussing how to navigate, and ultimately teach, ‘difficult’ literature, drawing on John Cooper Powys’ Wolf Solent (1929) and James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922). Listen for a discussion of ambiguity, pedagogy, and the role of the author in narrative resolution. More information on Powys can be found here. Sally’s fable, Worm in the Bud, will be published in November of this year by The New Menard Press. It will be available from all good booksellers. You can also find out more about James and his work here. This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen. Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.
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