New Spoken Label Session - Adam C Fleming

 

Latest Spoken Label (Author / Artist / Poet) Podcast is from the wonderful Adam C Fleming.

Adam G. Fleming is a novelist and leadership coach from Goshen, IN. Married with four kids, Adam brings his unique blend of cross-cultural humor to his work as a writer, speaker, and professional executive coach. Raised in the Midwest, Adam is a world traveler and has spent significant amounts of time in Zaire/ DRC, France, Ivory Coast, and a dozen or more other countries. Adam's primary current international project is in Egypt.

Adam blogs on a diverse variety of topics from fiction writing, poetry and leadership at www.adamgfleming.com

Can be heard / streamed from:

https://spokenlabel.bandcamp.com/

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/adam-g-fleming-spoken-label-august-2022/id1501847969?i=1000577685271

https://anchor.fm/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Adam-G--Fleming-Spoken-Label--August-2022-e1k4pra

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9kOTA1ZTkwL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz/episode/YjQ4OWYyMTYtMjBjZC00MjVmLThkOTUtZmEyNzExMmU5YWYx?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwj4kanJ8PH5AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

https://youtu.be/Y0G_E1wEFgM (Video Interview Segment)

https://youtu.be/9GGFCGAZbrg (Video Reading Segment)

https://radiopublic.com/spoken-label-6BalgM/s1!9863a

https://castbox.fm/episode/Adam-G.-Fleming-(Spoken-Label%2C-August-2022)-id2678341-id525955497

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/spoken-label/adam-g-fleming-spoken-label-jMkty9Af_KG/

https://www.bullhorn.fm/spokenlabel/posts/adam-g-fleming-spoken-label-a

https://podcastaddict.com/?id=https%3A%2F%2Fanchor.fm%2Fs%2Fd905e90%2Fpodcast%2Fplay%2F53683498%2Fhttps%253A%252F%252Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%252Fstaging%252F2022-5-18%252Ff9553b2b-f55b-c862-f70e-73c6e36c8683.mp3&podcastId=2748767

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-srqzm-1500f3e4

https://podbay.fm/p/spoken-label/e/1661727600

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/bf99fbd5-e0fa-45b4-b35e-197827768e1a/spoken-label-adam-g-fleming-spoken-label-august-2022

https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Spoken-Label-p1317427/?topicId=174551272

https://www.instagram.com/andynpoet/channel/

https://www.owltail.com/podcast/5FvX6-Spoken-Label?fbclid=IwAR3biy7omzksduDi9w5b_QMSrX6MNcejqjr5BbIKyCq6mObz6h62MBD-eTI

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/ITEM_NAME-Podcast/B0BC9N9KNY?ref=a_pd_Spoken_c4_lAsin_0_0&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=KHCF8DETMCH9CX17T6F6

https://open.spotify.com/episode/64hvssnn6Kp7oUhI7kDZjS

Book Review - T Kingfisher (The Twisted Ones)

 

Audio Review of this Podcast will follow on the book review Podcast ‘Reading in Bed’ in September

The Twisted Ones

Bio:

When a young woman clears out her deceased grandmother’s home in rural North Carolina, she finds long-hidden secrets about a strange colony of beings in the woods.

When Mouse’s dad asks her to clean out her dead grandmother's house, she says yes. After all, how bad could it be?

Answer: pretty bad. Grandma was a hoarder, and her house is stuffed with useless rubbish. That would be horrific enough, but there’s more—Mouse stumbles across her step-grandfather’s journal, which at first seems to be filled with nonsensical rants…until Mouse encounters some of the terrifying things he described for herself.

Alone in the woods with her dog, Mouse finds herself face to face with a series of impossible terrors—because sometimes the things that go bump in the night are real, and they’re looking for you. And if she doesn’t face them head on, she might not survive to tell the tale.

From Hugo Award–winning author Ursula Vernon, writing as T. Kingfisher.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

This book gets off to a great start with a decent start with the introduction of Mouse and I did think Mouse’s voice is pitch perfect right from the set up of the book and I found while Horror it certainly wasn’t, I really did like the Psychological element off the book as the book began to build up with Mouse cleaning out her grandmother’s cabin after the latter passed away and Mouse stumbles across her grandfather’s old journal.

I also loved her relationship with Bongo and the Lovecraft kind off start to the book surprised me too but it was a surprising throwback and had me curious to see where this was going next as I had the feeling this was going not a straight forward book in the slightest.

This was certainly the case as it is sadly one of those books which seemed like to take ages to actually get going – say the halfway stage at least and by that point it had lost my interest as the dialogue seemed off key in places leaving me confused was the narrator was in her teens or her 30.

I didn't finish it, the pacing was off for me throughout and while I am always a believer off books taking their time getting going but this book suffered from a lack of movement / development and caused me to drop it at 300 pages.

4/10

Special Guest Host - Speak Easy 1st September - Perry Gasteiger.

 

Following on from the list of Speak Easy readers for our show on 1st September 2022 here, we am also pleased to announce we have a guest MC helping us out for the night, Perry Gasteiger.

Perry Gasteiger  in her words "is a Canadian, queer, nonbinary poet who loves to examine the human experience, and how that experience morphs and changes through our encounters in the world. Their debut chapbook, "Meditations for the Dead and Dying" discusses the corporeal experience and the politics of the body in glorious gore and horror. Perry is passionate about teaching and learning, enjoys giving workshops and facilitating editing and reading groups."

Perry is both a amazing writer and host in her own right and we are grateful for her assistance here and we will be around as always on the night if you have any questions etc. 

Two new Publications

 

Two bits off good news publication wise. 

1) One of my poems 'Longford Theatre' will appear in the the good news emporium issue 1 on September 2022.

The Good News Emporium is "A positive, people-empowered newspaper bringing inspiring and intriguing stories from around the world to our readers in the UK and Europe."

More details here:

https://www.instagram.com/thegoodnewsemporium/

https://www.patreon.com/TGNE

https://www.facebook.com/TheGoodNewsEmporium

2) My dear friend, Alta H Mabin has recently produced a book called Poems from the Rising Sun which is a collaboration of 6 poets sharing their love for Haiku, Tanka and Senryu Poetry collaborating to fill the blank canvas with their minds and hearts rising to become one literary adventure.

I have new, previously unpublished 12 Haikus all about the end of Summer featured.

This book is on Amazon and can be purchased for example from: 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BBPKGXPJ?fbclid=IwAR2SKpsWeeXgUCLCuNLavXyL9fGVGhQcBL334OtYG-9xzyfwtnRyc9TRV0E

OR

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BBPKGXPJ?fbclid=IwAR2SKpsWeeXgUCLCuNLavXyL9fGVGhQcBL334OtYG-9xzyfwtnRyc9TRV0E

New Spoken Label Session - Polly Anna Rose

 

Latest Spoken Label (Author / Artist / Poet Podcast) sessions features currently Huddersfield based.Polly Anna Rose.

Polly Anna's bio states "Polly teaches yoga, manages projects, and likes to run, meditate, talk, think and make art about reframing (dis)ability and justice issues. She has recently launched a Podcast - Well-Healed, on just these topics, and is taking submissions. Polly writes as a means for survival. She performs from a place of compassionate rage. Her narratives interrogate the endemic corruption within our global political and economic systems. Sometimes an incantation, but more often a call for action, such as Matka Země (mother earth), her work draws on a range of influences from Mary Oliver to Saul Williams, Kae Tempest to Ted Hughes.

Born in Oxford, hailing from Welsh and Czech lineage, Polly’s work walks the line between protest poetry and autobiographical sojourning.

Living in the South of England she always felt a profound and melancholic hiraeth. Polly moved to Salford in her twenties to complete her studies in Visual Arts, and was adopted as an honorary Northerner. Her voice is worth a listen, whether you hear it spoken, or written. Her recent poetry collection - Severní Někde (North Somewhere) - will be published later this year. Alongside this release, is a second installment of an artist collective zine, produced by international collaborations with poets, visual artists, writers and photographers. As mentioned, she is also is in the process of producing a series of Podcasts under the moniker- Well Healed. "

So//Journ 2 is out for print in September 2022. Email: pollyannasteiner@gmail for submissions or follow @hiclamour and @yogawithpollyanna for updates."

NB. The band / project I was referring during this session with Polly now has a name "Polly Ocean" (decided on after this session) and our debut EP will be following in September all being well and will be available from oceaninabottle.bandcamp.com

https://spokenlabel.bandcamp.com/album/polly-anna-spoken-label-august-2022

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/polly-anna-rose-spoken-label-august-2022/id1501847969?i=1000577148787

https://anchor.fm/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Polly-Anna-Rose-Spoken-Label--August-2022-e1kk0f4

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9kOTA1ZTkwL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz/episode/MmExOWI0YTItZGE5Ny00MjQ5LWE1NjUtNGNlNmUxNzcyNTVl?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwjIzJjv-uj5AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgUOyFGHtZU

https://radiopublic.com/spoken-label-6BalgM/s1!f8498

https://castbox.fm/episode/Polly-Anna-Rose-(Spoken-Label%2C-August-2022)-id2678341-id524660815

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/spoken-label/polly-anna-rose-spoken-label-zGAojquTLwk/

https://www.bullhorn.fm/spokenlabel/posts/polly-anna-rose-spoken-label-

https://podcastaddict.com/?id=https%3A%2F%2Fanchor.fm%2Fs%2Fd905e90%2Fpodcast%2Fplay%2F54181796%2Fhttps%253A%252F%252Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%252Fstaging%252F2022-5-29%252Fe8f15b6a-bd51-4691-1648-a6e260ad267c.mp3&podcastId=2748767

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-nbcav-14ec1648

https://podbay.fm/p/spoken-label/e/1661295600

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/89552a6e-fb7f-44a7-8986-ec948c17043b/spoken-label-polly-anna-rose-spoken-label-august-2022

https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Spoken-Label-p1317427/?topicId=174429722

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Polly-Anna-Rose-Spoken-Label-August-2022-Podcast/B0BBPB999Y?ref=a_pd_Spoken_c4_lAsin_0_0&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=Q25GK2XAS01BZZX1Y7AG

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7xfjmuPbf3v7xrjqKEklc8

Book Review - Eve Nortley - Born to Brum

Bio:

From the Jewellery Quarter to the Bull Ring, from Victorian Arcades to colourful bear sculptures and ‘the Floozy in the Jacuzzi’ Birmingham is full of hidden treasures… and for, Poet Eve Nortley powerful and sometimes poignant memories. Join this daughter of Brum as she writes the heartbeat of her Midlands past’

Review: 

I first met Eve Nortley a few years ago pre lockdown certainly through a Spoken Word Open Mic night Gordon Zola used to run in Prestwich and somewhere over this period purchased a copy of “Love And Lust In Bury And Rochdale” (the first split book she has done with the wonderful Chris Bainbridge which is due to get reissued also shortly) and considering I know she is now active as a member of the Poetry / Comedy act Chalk N Cheese with Gordon Zola, I was a little surprised to then she is her first solo poetry collection.

Reflecting on her background in Birmingham, this is a vibrant easy to read but most of all well written collection starting off with the excellent ‘6am’ Birmingham, U.K. which is a great introduction to the book and her upbringing in Birmingham. Her description of Grand Central made me think of Manchester at 6am in my own not too far away past and it’s own tinfoil brittle beauty that I firmly believe you can only really see just before the day begins.

Besides the use of real life places like the BullRing (which I have being stuck nearby in traffic at least twice), Eve’s book has a loving of food in particular her poems Cadbury’s World / Chocolate City Dreams (which I had forgotten was established in Birmingham all the way back in 1824 and Brummie Bacon Cakes (which I haven’t heard off before but am curious about now) from her piece ‘Food to Improve your mood’.

Apart from the finale piece ‘Seamus twomey’ which finishes the book on a surprisingly downbeat note, my favourite piece ‘Can you feel it?’ explores the multi culture of Birmingham’s music scene like Manchester and Liverpool’s touching on stories involving The Deltas, Spencer Davies and his group onto Steel Pulse etc displaying how in it’s own way Birmingham is as much a cultural city as Manchester or Liverpool’s

and Eve Nortley deserves our attention and respect for reflecting about it in such a beautiful way.

8/10

Speak Easy Readers (Spoken Open Mic) Readers - September 2022

 

The September show of our monthly spoken word open mic night at Dulicmer in Chorlton Cum Hardy is next week on Thursday 01 September @ 7.30pm.

Hosted as always by Steve Smythe, Andy N and Amanda Nicholson with special Guest MC Perry Gasteiger. 

Confirmed readers for our September show include:

Roy Page

Regi Agulha Jr.

David Bond

Gordon Zola

Eve Nortley

Isabelle Pandora Byrne

Cherrelle Anne

Keith's Brother

Selina Helliwell

Siobhan Hoy 

Michael Burton

Jo Somerset

Karen Lewis

Maria Byrne

Maria Angotti

Jodie Brooksbank 

Phil Carter

Linda Downs

April Manderson

Leon Johnson

Andy N

Amanda Nicholson

Perry Gasteiger

If you think you have being missed off the list / wish to go on the Subs List - email Andy N on aen1mpo@yahoo.co.uk

New from Spoken Label (Author Chat Podcast) Jan Foster

 

Latest Spoken Label Podcast session (Author / Artist / Poet) features the wonderful Jan Foster.

Jan lives in the North West of England, where it rains too much for her liking. However, despite a busy household filled with children, dogs, several businesses and books, she retreats into her writing world as much as possible. Time permitting!

As a volunteer reader within a local school, Jan realised that some children have a great fear about trying something new – especially if they are not ‘sporty’ kids. This led her to write a humorous introduction to different activities, the Mitch and Mooch Try Series. Dyslexia friendly font and dialogue in speech bubbles, the books aim to be as inclusive as possible and cater also for children on the autistic spectrum.

History has always fascinated Jan, and she revels in being left alone in ruins to ponder the ‘What If’s.’ Her passion is the Tudor Age, a rich tapestry of events and people which formed the foundations of modern British society. She also loves the idea that there may be something as yet undiscovered about the world as we know it – what if there was a parallel world where magic happens? How would it impact the lives of ordinary people? And extraordinary people… 

Find out more in the Naturae Series where fantasy and reality collide with surprising consequences.

This Podcast can be streamed / downloaded at: 

https://spokenlabel.bandcamp.com/album/jan-foster-spoken-label-august-2022

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/jan-foster-spoken-label-august-2022/id1501847969?i=1000576062140

https://anchor.fm/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Jan-Foster-Spoken-Label--August-2022-e1jl2c3

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9kOTA1ZTkwL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz/episode/MjMzMmUyZGMtNWY5NC00OGExLWE1N2EtYmQwNTIxZTZkMTRh?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwjwivOmutf5AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC2vzjc88XI

https://radiopublic.com/spoken-label-6BalgM/s1!f7653

https://castbox.fm/episode/Jan-Foster-(Spoken-Label%2C-August-2022)-id2678341-id522178347

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/spoken-label/jan-foster-spoken-label-FvGtRfnSxJs/

https://www.bullhorn.fm/spokenlabel/posts/jan-foster-spoken-label-augus

https://podcastaddict.com/?id=https%3A%2F%2Fanchor.fm%2Fs%2Fd905e90%2Fpodcast%2Fplay%2F53167939%2Fhttps%253A%252F%252Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%252Fstaging%252F2022-5-7%252Fb49bec65-bae5-aaa2-fa22-e288823cfbd5.mp3&podcastId=2748767

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-bfb6c-14cbbc49

https://podbay.fm/p/spoken-label/e/1660518000

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/a474c33a-6465-4853-84b5-4cd464d9959d/spoken-label-jan-foster-spoken-label-august-2022

https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Spoken-Label-p1317427/?topicId=174213236

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChVSRmWDHRi1lt15syntTJOb0Fspcu3LYZ3_4U0/

https://www.owltail.com/podcast/5FvX6-Spoken-Label?fbclid=IwAR10yoGsTrHBbnx2O4REB03S_P9z4l97jI04fstNQVSrR4KPhCuVcEoNbP4

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Jan-Foster-Spoken-Label-August-2022-Podcast/B0B9GQ14QY?ref=a_pd_Spoken_c4_lAsin_0_0&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=GMXY0EXN8ZQ1J689SKRS

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5u1JzrbTi48nhrsNSdYyPS

Book Review: Billie Jade Kermack: Awoken (Shadowed veil series)

 

Blurb:

Love is hoped for, life is a trial, death is inevitable.

Grace is still deeply haunted by the untimely death of her father when the handsome Beau walks into her life. There is just one problem. Behind Beaus cool exterior lurks a deadly secret, an unexplainable gift, Grace comes to discover that maybe death isn’t final. With freaky twists and spine tingling turns Grace finds herself buried deep in an extra ordinary world of the supernatural and unearthly. Plagued by the sadistic spirit of a serial killer that is long dead Grace must hold onto her sanity and fight for her life, or join the growing list of his other victims. He plays hard, he plays rough and his weapon of choice is a six inch hunting knife.

There are two sides to this cautionary tale – Heaven and Hell, good and evil, love and hate.

Two men - who mean the difference between life and death.

Ghost stories aren’t just for bedtime and the bogey man isn’t just a myth to scare kids.

The shadowed veil dividing our world and that of the deceased has been torn and all hell is breaking loose....literally.

Keep the lights on and set yourself up for the creepy and the demented - nothing is as it seems.

Strengths:

An audio version of this review will appear on the Book Podcast Review series ‘Reading in Bed’. ‘Reading in Bed’ broadcasts from September 2022 two episodes a month, and will appear on one of them. ‘Reading in Bed’ can be found on all the usual places including ‘readinginbed.bandcamp.com’

This book was sent in by the Author herself directly for a fair and honest review both here and also on Reading in Bed and is certainly recommended for those who like their books in the genre off young adult, new adult, romance, and paranormal.

While I am not the target market for this book, the book is well told talking about Grace and Beau who met at college and well… I won’t go any further there apart from just encourage you to read the book if this is your genre.

It’s not mine I have to be honest as I am too old for this and don’t really read books like this, but the book is well told, and the book is structured good and I felt was paced enough to ensure the four hundred pages flowed quickly enough.

Of course the twist with Beau I saw coming a mile off without giving any spoilers, but sometimes I think when you are reading books like this it is too be expected as Grace has lots of her secrets too and the crunch in this book which I guess will happen in Book 2 are the two characters are able to work their way through the secrets they both hold?

Weaknesses:

Yeah, there was a segment in the book at the two thirds stage where the viewpoint went in-between Grace and Beau which I felt came way too sharply and lost my attention for the pages it did it.

Also, the twist at the end I felt ensured the book was finished off way too sharply for me and it annoyed me enough as I don’t mind too books leaving you on a cliff hanger. I’ve reviewed two for Reading in Bed last year which did this, one of which almost had one throwing the book at the wall. This didn’t have the same impact I have to be honest, I didn’t think it was as good as that I have to be honest and whether I will read any of the sequels I am not sure yet, but whether that I am part of the one target audience is perhaps a better answer.

7/10

New Spoken Label Podcast Session Now Available - Jo Somerset

 

Latest up from Spoken Label (Author/Poet Podcast) is the wonderful Jo Somerset.

Jo Somerset is a Manchester-based writer. She has lived in Manchester for over 40 years, during which time she has been a student, feminist, peace activist, skilled tradeswoman, housing officer, local government officer, mother, equality consultant and company director. Now that her children are grown up Jo is going backwards, revisiting the powerful feminist and lesbian movements of the 1980s and looking for untold stories. Her aim is to make sense of the twentieth century, so we can understand it for today’s world.

Her writing found a voice through the Northern Gay Writers group at Commonword, Manchester’s community writing organisation, and honed her craft with the help of Arvon Foundation courses and groups led by writers Charlotte Keatley and Heather Leach. In 2020 she completed a MA in Creative Writing at Salford University, where she received the inaugural Leanne Bridgewater Award for Innovation and Experiment.

In a former life, Jo was a founding director, alongside her partner Liz Clarke, of Manchester-based cycle training company BikeRight! Under their leadership BikeRight! became the leading UK company in its sector, winning four awards for women in business / business growth in 2009, 2014 and 2018. She was also a non-executive director of Central Manchester Hospitals NHS Trust, and a Governor for Manchester Health Academy.

Previously she won the Prince’s Trust Quality Award (2000) and a British Diversity Award on behalf of Manchester City Council (1998).

Having jointly brought up five children, Jo is passionate about lifelong learning. In 2016 she gained a distinction for her Graduate Certificate in History from Birkbeck College, London, and made it a double when she graduated with distinction from Salford University MA in Creative Writing: Innovation and Experiment in 2020.

As a keen cyclist, Jo commutes by bike, and is a member of Team Glow Women’s Road Cycling Network. She has undertaken several bike tours, triathlons and 100-mile cycling sportives, and led a Team Glow women’s charity ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

You can speak to Jo at: josomersetwriter.wordpress.com  

https://spokenlabel.bandcamp.com/album/jo-somerset-spoken-label-august-2022

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/jo-somerset-spoken-label-august-2022/id1501847969?i=1000575434547

https://anchor.fm/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Jo-Somerset-Spoken-Label--August-2022-e1ltrlv

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9kOTA1ZTkwL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz/episode/YTI2ZGRjNDEtNTMwYi00MWU5LTljOGEtOGY2ZDQyMzMyNzkw?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwi4zJ_h58X5AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgG59OoFls4

https://radiopublic.com/spoken-label-6BalgM/s1!54414

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/spoken-label/jo-somerset-spoken-label-kUAngys9V7c/

https://www.bullhorn.fm/spokenlabel/posts/jo-somerset-spoken-label-augu

https://podcastaddict.com/?id=https%3A%2F%2Fanchor.fm%2Fs%2Fd905e90%2Fpodcast%2Fplay%2F55553151%2Fhttps%253A%252F%252Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%252Fstaging%252F2022-6-31%252Fb65593c5-85eb-fd98-fe33-983afa7db675.mp3&podcastId=2748767

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-ds38z-14b66432

https://podbay.fm/p/spoken-label/e/1659999600

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/c5d141ea-68f8-4f21-8816-c98d9a709b38/spoken-label-jo-somerset-spoken-label-august-2022

https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Spoken-Label-p1317427/?topicId=174090373

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChKjmQ6D2iqbcDv6DoWZGvQSVhbh2jGvAQWlE00/

https://www.owltail.com/podcast/5FvX6-Spoken-Label?fbclid=IwAR3kL9RilZ0XDqQo8Ol_Oiu5Zx36HAV5TIxxnj46om4a2ookUdlcfeLOn-k

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Jo-Somerset-Spoken-Label-August-2022-Podcast/B0B8S6K5BH?ref=a_pd_Spoken_c4_lAsin_0_0&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=HYZPHQFT4GZ4EWH2QFA3

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4J7qEsLawKkby7819gUbsn

Un-used portrait pictures from 2014

 

My friend the excellent photographer Russ Holt took this back in 2014. Brought a lot of memories looking back at these before. They were took just after I had come out of a fairly long term relationship which had ran its course and prior to meeting Amanda. Feel a bit weird looking back at them - think they were possible pictures for going inside my second poetry book 'the end of summer'. Forget why I never used them. I likely forgot lol

Book Review - Vamp: The Rise and Fall of Theda Bara - Eve Golden

 

* The audio version of this will appear in either the September or October 2022 of the book review Podcast series ‘Reading in Bed’ – available from all of the usual networks including readinginbed.bandcamp.com

Blurb:

Theda Bara became an overnight superstar with her film debut in the scandalous 1915 hit, A Fool There Was, and for the rest of that decade stayed at the top of the heap, along with Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. Despite her fame and notoriety as the movies' first "sex symbol," no biography of the original Vamp has ever been written, even though Bara threatened to pen her own "because nobody ever wrote a true word about me." Finally, someone has. Bara had one of the most bizarre and colorful careers of the silent era, starring in Cleopatra, Salome, and scores of other hit films before vanishing mysteriously from the screen. Now, read for the first time how a nice Jewish girl from the Midwest became "Satan's Handmaiden," scandalized a nation, and abruptly fell from the height.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

First of all, the term Vamp hasn’t always being referred to Vampires like Dracula and whatever but for the spell during the 1910s at the birth of cinema in Hollywood where a Vamp was very fashionable for a time is and is a character deemed on Wikepida as “of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of literature and art. Her ability to enchant, entice and hypnotize her victim with a spell was in the earliest stories seen as verging on supernatural”

Theda Bara Bwas one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema's early sex symbols primarily active between 1914 and 1919 where she filmed over 40 films, sadly only a few surviving to this day.

This book must have being a tricky book to research about Ms Bara about there is so little surviving of her work and all of the studio publicity for example billing her as the Egyptian-born daughter of a French actress and an Italian sculptor. They claimed she had spent her early years in the Sahara Desert under the shadow of the Sphinx, then moved to France to become a stage actress. Her life of course was nothing like that and almost boring.

This must have been a difficult book to research as we have so little of her suriving and to make this book I suspect would have took the Author months of research from often limited information to make this book.

Is it a success as a book? Well, yes and no if I am honest as the Author does a good rather than great recreation showing the Ms Bara was a somewhat opposite of her film persona certainly showing a somewhat quieter lifestyle than what the studios said and more normal if that is the right word.

The one problem I have with this book is the summarising of films which are lost which she seems to have a dislike off despite the fact they are lost. It would have being cool to have all of these films available but to draw conclusions from without being able to see the film is a tricky one and something I am not 100% at ease with and while I did enjoy the book, I do think Episode 17 of Karina Longworth’s essential Podcast series ‘You must remember this’ is better than this book.

7/10

Unused photography from 'The End of Summer'

 

Being archiving through some old files recently and I came across a file of unused photographs for my 2nd book 'the end of summer' which never got used. This got took in 2014 in August actually at Guide Bridge Train Station. Could well be the front cover for a photography book.

Poems from the Rising Sun Split Book

 

Should be out beginning of September I believe on Amazon etc. 

Dead Darlings Podcast

 

Amanda and me (incorrectly advertised as Andy Nicholson lol) are both featured in the latest episode off Dead Darlings Podcast. We both think you will enjoy this.

https://soundcloud.com/deaddarlingspod/episode-33-open-mic-special

Bonus Spoken Label Episode - Liz Gibson

 

Another Bonus Mini Episode today from Spoken Label features the wonderful Liz Gibson talking about work she will be showing shortly on 10th August 2022 at Islington Mill on the theme of Worker’s rights with assistance of several actors.

A bio about Liz is (in her own words):

“Hello! I'm Liz.

I am a writer, performer and tutor based in Manchester. I write poetry and fiction, reviews, essays, and opinion pieces. I am inspired by themes of community, city life, queerness, body image, and mental health, as well as by travel, the natural world, and folklore. I was awarded a DYCP grant by Arts Council England in Spring 2021, to develop my poetry and performance.

In early 2021, I was chosen by Dibby Theatre for the competitive First Dibs programme for LGBTQ+ theatre-makers, and am working on my spoken-word show about walking in an empty city, and finding comfort in the places, nature, and animals around me.

In 2020, my poem "Arrival" was selected by Manchester City of Literature to be part of the Tartu Bus Poetry Project in Estonia, and it currently appears on bus windows in Tartu, representing Manchester.

I am a graduate of the Writing Squad and Young Identity (who I represented at One Mic Stand in 2019), and a member of Out on the Page.

https://spokenlabel.bandcamp.com/album/bonus-episode-liz-gibson-spoken-label-august-2022

(Bandcamp)

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/bonus-episode-liz-gibson-spoken-label-august-2022/id1501847969?i=1000575074030

(Apple)

https://www.owltail.com/podcast/5FvX6-Spoken-Label?fbclid=IwAR0Da5OP0UG4kF4RvAl0_phJ_HIJ-HHRDy4mZR4RPn9f_yFnuZGBdKjeP-A

(Owltail)

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Bonus-Episode-Liz-Gibson-Spoken-Label-August-2022-Podcast/B0B8T61D21?ref=a_pd_Spoken_c4_lAsin_0_0&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=9BE7T9PNFF40DDZKG59Q

(audible)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7ugKPltmv85gJcD0fZsTH6

(Spotify)

https://anchor.fm/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Bonus-Episode-Liz-Gibson-Spoken-Label--August-2022-e1ltlch

(Anchor)

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9kOTA1ZTkwL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz/episode/Y2RlZmQ5NGYtNTc4YS00NmEyLWI1MmEtZTU1OTJkNjYwYTVj?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwjg4Ze917X5AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

(Google Podcasts)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg9f4p-VpZc&t=13s

(Youtube)

https://radiopublic.com/spoken-label-6BalgM/s1!e90fc

(Radiopublic)

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/spoken-label/bonus-episode-liz-gibson-bQwYcy5qXGf/

(Listennotes)

https://www.bullhorn.fm/spokenlabel/posts/bonus-episode-liz-gibson-spok

(Bullhorn)

https://podcastaddict.com/?id=https%3A%2F%2Fanchor.fm%2Fs%2Fd905e90%2Fpodcast%2Fplay%2F55546705%2Fhttps%253A%252F%252Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%252Fstaging%252F2022-7-2%252F9ed3d840-1ea0-c87d-6352-0bbaf602ff34.mp3&podcastId=2748767

(Podcastaddict)

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-rte9k-14a526c5

(Podbean)

https://podbay.fm/p/spoken-label/e/1659661140

(Podbay)

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/e0360705-617f-4b4f-8c52-6e4959ce381d/spoken-label-bonus-episode-liz-gibson-spoken-label-august-2022

(Amazon)

https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Spoken-Label-p1317427/?topicId=174018957

(Tunein)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7ugKPltmv85gJcD0fZsTH6

(Spotify)

Reading in Bed (Book Review Podcast) Episode 56 Now available

 

Back with their 56th Book Review Podcast, Amanda Nicholson and Andy N are back with a review of classics, end of the world, what if's and experimental novels about relationships.

This can be found at the following websites:

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/27ffaf50-9ff2-41f3-98d8-e023aae111f3/episodes/a53cfc48-f044-4bdd-bde5-123de6374b8e/reading-in-bed-reading-in-bed-episode-56?fbclid=IwAR1nXOfzNuHaKnMXFNp65vSm4oGCvqlLfpfRw2XKw4NvtSvs2sgw-IySu_s

(Amazon)

https://anchor.fm/amanda-steel/episodes/Reading-in-Bed-Episode-56-e1lucq3/a-a8atvgf?fbclid=IwAR28ZKa2gOUh6-KxBjh0csRJO0s23BvVdRtBqXh2Psvbvvaeb-5nqKy18bI

(Anchor)

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reading-in-bed-episode-56/id1501554795?i=1000574572312&fbclid=IwAR1UQ2AHXTwTyAS-Z0-MdppfaO1dmpYI1Az689kFjZCXcNmQknER7Uiytuo

(Apple)

https://readinginbed.bandcamp.com/album/reading-in-bed-episode-56-august-2022?fbclid=IwAR33O0afjELT6U0-Gu5p57TpCDO5P8c96wy17I_zMTbH5EqNXbbL6JPMnUw

(Bandcamp)

https://www.bullhorn.fm/readinginbed/posts/reading-in-bed-episode-56?fbclid=IwAR0sEecrN70008DUa46H3hURfrHQXMUCpucp_OMtpjHnwKRiZbZUjiHK1Mc

(Bullhorn)

https://castbox.fm/episode/Reading-in-Bed%3A-Episode-56-id2672597-id518414955?country=gb&fbclid=IwAR3Z_1Ufj1wHTQ5wL4TUaXmXlEml9C4vPb7A50cWrc98sRX7WH5ZvBaiops

(Castbox)

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9kNGNiZGFjL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz/episode/M2VmN2IzMzEtMGJjMS00NmNhLWJkMTgtOGRmYzFkY2U1ZjEz?fbclid=IwAR1S20z2cH9jiYeP5T8guSnDCErjjnCwAilKJmn5IZO44hHZ03nkiyptCTY

(Google Podcasts)

https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cgpk3kmDFRVVGyOAk9p5v5X-ZMqFVNeNRe3V9Q0/?fbclid=IwAR2fMZJlfesMzfRhx66Nmz31DNtOYh0m4OwsrlQR-l1kLBIXVOzoEvuAfCw

(Instagram)

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/reading-in-bed/reading-in-bed-episode-56-vI4xWCfjG5Y/?fbclid=IwAR2smPxyANSQqmYlTa-7juzHP5btszLbi8QhL9Xbn11-u5UsFCUrx1Sn7F4

(Listennotes)

https://pca.st/2zfgiito?fbclid=IwAR3Z_1Ufj1wHTQ5wL4TUaXmXlEml9C4vPb7A50cWrc98sRX7WH5ZvBaiops

(Pocketcalls)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/65bQDAwVxCoutCBUX89bla?fbclid=IwAR3efsAN_CsH8_b-R8spiTaWBXvG-pnQr4zm7C3SoiJ9uGy5bjg2riOkCjw

(Spotify)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpvcOUjfZWo

(Youtube)

Book Review - Margaret Atwood - My Evil Mother

 

(An Audio version of this will appear on the August Book Review Podcast – Reading in Bed which can be found on all of the usual networks including readinginbed.bandcamp.com - out now)

Blurb:

Life is hard enough for a teenage girl in 1950s suburbia without having a mother who may—or may not—be a witch. A single mother at that. Sure, she fits in with her starched dresses, string of pearls, and floral aprons. Then there are the hushed and mystical consultations with neighborhood women in distress. The unsavory, mysterious plants in the flower beds. The divined warning to steer clear of a boyfriend whose fate is certainly doomed. But as the daughter of this bewitching homemaker comes of age and her mother’s claims become more and more outlandish, she begins to question everything she once took for granted.

Strengths / Weaknesses:

Lot time listeners of ‘Reading in Bed’ My Book Review Podcast with my wife, Amanda Nicholson will know at one point growing up I was a massive fan of Margaret Atwood’s work – reading her now classic ‘The Handmaid’s tale’ in 1988 I seem to recall just before I left school and was left spellbound by it’s power surprising more than a few teachers and to a frequent level of mocking by some of the kids at school (I was never mister popular at school) who I suspect learnt how far I was ahead of most of them reading years ago, then Cat’s Eye which is still my favourite book of hers, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace (which is a really interesting case to read up she made a fictional version from) and The Blind Assaisn – all not long after they came out.

A lot of Ms Atwood’s later work I haven’t read after simply moving to other writer’s work (and I haven’t seen The Handmaid’s tale TV series before you ask) but this simply came on Prime Reading on Amazon and noting it was a 32 page short story, I thought oh let’s go for it, I’ll be able to read that during one journey to and from work which was for sure.

What did I think off it? Well, it’s not a patch on any of the novels I’ve mentioned above but it’s okay but not a classic. Perhaps if Ms Artwood had expanded it, she could have gone further into the relationship between the two main characters, but for what the story is a short and certainly not sweet study of a daughter’s utter (and very normal) contempt for her mother.

The story itself was a strange one, curious, certainly engaging and mysteries. Did I buy the narrative? Speaking from a male point of view, I am not sure I did in particular the references to witchcraft. I also found the references to the main character’s father when she met him for the first time since she was a child curious also considering she hadn’t seen him since she was a child a little off.

I was a little surprised she met him, let alone described him in such a reasonable tone and then promptly killed the character not that much later and had both her and her mother both at the funeral when her mother hadn’t spoke to him in years, let alone no reference to his other children.

The ending however in this story was great after her mother died, and the main character’s relationship with her own daughter coming full circle onto the next generation wondering whether the barriers will ever be fixed or like with most parent’s relationships, is the damage done by the previous generation and the one before that.

I am undecided which is what I am with this story to be honest, as I think it should have being more to be honest, but I felt by the end of the story I didn’t really know the two main characters and the father and to get to grips with what they wanted and needed simply to be teased out.

I was quite disappointed with it, but that could well be just be me.

6/10