Amanda Crundall (Spoken Label, March 2026)

 

Latest up from Spoken Label (Spoken Word / Poetry Podcast) features the return of our friend, Amanda Crundall

Amanda Crundall (a.k.a. “The Glam Poet”), is an accomplished and multi-faceted author, poet, spoken word performer, poetry workshop facilitator and radio presenter, at Beverley FM.

She is based in East Yorkshire, UK.Her poetry, known for its raw emotion and honesty, explores vulnerability and resilience, resonating deeply with readers and audiences. She is unafraid to share own vulnerabilities, frailties and her darkest moments as well as her joys and loves. Amanda’s truth, humility, honesty and openness, connects profoundly with those who have encountered her work. Many find comfort, inspiration and empowerment in her writing - enabling them to feel understood, acknowledged and not so alone.

Amanda has performed at various events and festivals: the Festival of Love, Doncaster; Scunthorpe Pride; No Limits Festival; and Ripon Poetry Festival. Her writing has featured in: The Script Magazine; the High Wolds Poetry Anthologies; the Dark Poet’s Society; LiveWire Poetry and Online Anthologies.

As the co-founder and former co-host of “Rabbiting On” spoken word/poetry group, she helped establish a thriving poetry community. Amanda has been delighted to see the group go from strength to strength, since passing over the baton with hosting duties. Amanda has published two poetry books.

The most recent is “The Emboldened Heart” which is the primary focus of this Podcast.

*

https://podcasts.apple.com/.../amanda.../id1501847969...

https://creators.spotify.com/.../Amanda-Crundell-Spoken...

(Chat)

(Reading)

https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/Spoken-Label/B08K5Z65R1?qid=1638096875&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&fbclid=IwY2xjawQa5U9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFJbjc0TkNoQnVVUDRwa0xpc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHqp6ZzVp75VuXbtcg1oXz6PkO_aBJXGyrDZku0DdvUyJu_gZg0v0tLNq3Itr_aem_Fhr1UFdlxmd1ug3GjGfBiQ

Speak Easy March 2026 thank you's

 

Busy, busy, busy night at Speak Easy (Our Spoken Word Open Mic night) at Dulicmer, Chorlton with I guess somewhere 70 to 80 people there in attention.

Want to thank all of the following for attending last night and reading:

Sam Tovey

Steven Waling

Erin Spence

Amy Harris

Joe Gill

Anne Delargy

Hindi Heidi (Heidi Hinda Chadwick)

Joe Tetley

Andy N

Gordon Zola

Steve Smythe

Pip Fowler

Suki Mitchell

John Calvert Calvert

Martin CM

Amanda Nicholson

Lindy Newns

Petrova C Fairhurst

Martin Elder

Nigel Astell

Andy Cash

Grant Curnow

Lots of people in the audience too we know, Kai Luckman, Paul Robb, Anna Percy, Rachel Hammond, Jared More, Becky May Rydian, Cat Quinney, Manisha among others. Heck of a night.

Amanda has put up pictures on the Speak Easy group on facebook.

Next Speak Easy will be Thursday 02 April 2026. Bookings open up from this Sunday 08 March 2026 by emailing me (Andy N) on aen1mpo@yahoo.co.uk from 12 Noon.

Annie Acre - Spoken Label, March 2026

 

* containing topics not suitable for all *

Latest up from Spoken Label (Author / Poetry Podcast) features making her debut, Annie Acre.

Annie Acre is a placemaker / poet and strange storyteller based in Manchester, made in Darwen, Lancashire.

She regularly performs spoken word around her adpoted city and has been published in Ink Sweat & Tears and Worktown Words. Annie is the editor of Urban Scrawl zine.

She hopes you like what she’s doing with the the place x

anniesacre.co.uk

@annies.acre

urbanscrawlmag.co.uk

@urbanscrawlmag

*

Can be heard at:

https://andynartist.substack.com/p/annie-acre-spoken-label-march-2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAhr4OpQXB8 (Chat)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7YvjDMOEaA (Reading)

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/annie-acre-spoken-label-march-2026/id1501847969?i=1000751749319

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Annie-Acre-Spoken-Label--March-2026-e3fen18

https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/Annie-Acre-Spoken-Label-March-2026/B0GQBSTM1G?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=DSZ2WATCN5AJEYHSAFV8&plink=PndhSERTjS4c7JV1&pageLoadId=SKjD2nFwKgnFbvFb&creativeId=43463e8d-6f2b-4d01-a759-854a1034c4b8&ref=a_podcast_S_c4_lAsin_0_0

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/72404cd0-6946-4afa-9400-3ad63d8babe8/spoken-label-annie-acre-spoken-label-march-2026

Speak Easy (March 2025)

 

Back hopefully just in time for Spring, Speak Easy (Our Spoken Word Open Mic night’s) March show this week, coming on Thursday 05 March 2026 at Dulicmer, Chorlton, features the following readers who will be reading their spoken word (poetry, fiction, non fiction etc) in 4-minute segments: -

Andy N

Amanda Nicholson

Steve Smythe

Petrova C Fairhurst

Mark Quinn

Andy Cash

Martin CM

Joe Gill

Anne Delargy

Heidi Hinda

Martin Elder

Alison Knowles

Jared More

Rachel Hammond

Gordon Zola

Grant Curnow

Pip Fowler

John Calvert

Steven Waling

Nigel Astell

Joe Tetley

Ayish aul haq

Maile Gabriel

Night will start around 7.30 pm.

Free admission. All are welcome to watch.

Cancellation list/enquiries: aen1mpo@yahoo.co.uk (Andy N)

I am Nature Part 2 - Patricia and Andrew Sumner (Spoken Label, Feb 26)

 

Next up from Spoken Label (Our Spoken Word / Writer Podcast) features Part 2 of our extended chat with the Environmental Poetry collection ‘I am Nature’, this time an extended chat with the wonderful Andrew Sumner and Patricia (Pat) Sumner.

Andrew Sumner grew up near Stroud in Gloucestershire, surrounded by deep woods and floriferous meadows thronged with butterflies.

These places he explored with his mother, father and younger sister. Sadly, all that rich nature has since gone under the plough and the conifer. Later, his father’s work took the family south to Somerset and the new and different landscapes of the Somerset Levels, the Quantock Hills and the Mendip Hills.

Andrew’s poems have been published in group anthologies and poetry collections, including ‘Travelling with the Saints’ (Y Lofa, 2013) and ‘Both Sides of the Border – An Anthology of Writing on the Welsh Border Region (Gwasg Carreg Gfwlach, 1998).

He has illustrated a children’s book written by his wife, Pat and enjoys walking, gardening, turning wood, drawing, painting, and researching family history.

*

Patricia Sumner (Pat) grew up on the Isle of Anglesey and now lives in the Vale of Clwyd. She has loved creative writing ever since she was very young.

As an adult, she studied under the poet and author Dr Gladys Mary Coles,namong other writers. It was at these Creative writing classes in Chester that she met her husband, Andrew.

As a poet, she has had two collections published. Her pamphlet ‘Beyond the Glass’ came first in a national poetry competition run by Thynks Publications.

Pat’s second collection of poems and readings, ‘The Promise of Dawn: Rites of Passage for all Beliefs’, is published by Veneficia Publications.

Pat has won awards for some of her poems and plays, and her poetry has appeared in magazines and anthologies. Pat has a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Philosophy, and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education.

This book (which is recommended) can be found here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Am-Nature-Environmental-Poetry-ebook/dp/B0FH7PRW78/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1SAZ97SPX6WAQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.boHw9Hvv-eiwk0u6a82ZqWgjmK5G_sB28inaUJj0xhnHDE2LARcrHr8SrLCATjQSwE33nT3rAzsmfAznxsyx5IGxWZdQS_e_hS0b6ZwycAw.ulpWQy3YfH1rRkpCS96xbDozvPLa_m20qWAIz00uIUc&dib_tag=se&keywords=andrew+sumner&qid=1771620249&s=books&sprefix=andrew+sumner%2Cstripbooks%2C591&sr=1-1

*

Stream from: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oViIt4gazOM (Chat)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmj1E5lcqgE (Reading)

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/i-am-nature-podcast-2-patricia-andrew-sumner-spoken/id1501847969?i=1000750719610

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2q0hoJ0lxJZ4qQdJmEBhtZ

https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/I-am-Nature-Podcast-2-Patricia-Andrew-Sumner-Spoken-Label-February-2026/B0GPGZ9LW1?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=EFC7A02K7TMTND7GV64X&plink=OHFE4DwZps79rvzI&pageLoadId=Pq9wXja3RwMPoMxS&creativeId=43463e8d-6f2b-4d01-a759-854a1034c4b8&ref=a_podcast_S_c4_lAsin_0_0

https://andynartist.substack.com/p/i-am-nature-part-2-patricia-and-andrew

Genevieve F Ray

Just being informed that the wonderful Genevieve F Ray, who was on Spoken Label (My Author / Artist Podcast), has sadly passed away. I had Genevieve on Spoken Label last year, which should have been, as it is usually about an hour or so, but we had such a laugh, it went on for well over 2 hours and a bit and became a 2-Part Podcast. 

I wanted to share this now as a tribute, she was really a character and somebody I was defo going to have back on again towards the end of this year, just as a catch-up, even if she didn't have anything else out. 

Sadly, this won't happen now, but I still have this which I want to share tonight. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utlBWvD6hZw (Episode 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPdHP49_zuc (Episode 2 - Part 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFiZ3IrfAWM (Episode 2 - Part 2).

Rest in peace, Gen. I'm delighted to have known you. R.I.P. x

Amanda Nicholson - Spoken Label / The Writing Way - February 2026

 

New from Spoken Label, an returning chat with Amanda Nicholson.

Amanda Nicholson is the author of ‘Ghost of Me’ which was a finalist in the thriller category of The Author Elite Awards after its release in March 2020. It is now being re-released this February.

She also runs the Substack page ‘I Am Not Calm’.

***

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/amanda-nicholson-spoken-label-february-2026/id1501847969?i=1000749577621

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Amanda-Nicholson-Spoken-Label--February-2026-e3evgi1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C164MBg-ruU&pp=0gcJCYcKAYcqIYzv

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/c0a1169e-4064-416a-b4ab-57620593b8c6/spoken-label-amanda-nicholson-spoken-label-february-2026

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0GN95FWGM?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=JG5G9ENZXPT4MFN17VR6&plink=SuY0tSgQMHfQjauw&pageLoadId=kb3tg7X7n7SJC5xA&creativeId=43463e8d-6f2b-4d01-a759-854a1034c4b8&ref=a_podcast_S_c4_lAsin_0_0

https://open.spotify.com/episode/31eoeNeHkCQEfmovNEod4S

https://andynartist.substack.com/p/amanda-nicholson-spoken-label-february

https://nowriteway.substack.com/p/ghost-of-me-special?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web

Speak Easy - thank you's for Feb and how to book Mar 26

 

A big thank you to everybody who attended Speak Easy (Our spoken word open mic night) at Chorlton’s Dulicmer.

A very enjoyable night all in all with a decent crowd of somewhere around 50, and me, Amanda and Jo Somerset all wish to thank the following for attending to read:

1.      Jo Somerset

2.      Anne Delargy

3.      Mark Quinn

4.      Joy Wasell Tims

5.      Martin Elder

6.      Joe Tetley

7.      Alison Knowles

8.      Amanda Nicholson

9.      Andy N

10.  Joe Gill

11.  Becky May

12.  Anna Percy

13.  Ella Holmes

14.  Martin CM

15.  Andy Cash

16.  Jenny Pilkington

17.  David Bond

 

A full set of pictures can be found here –

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=speakeasymanchester&set=a.1436558534929593&__cft__[0]=AZbUFhoUiFXm5FUZwwd0ZF970-7H-J87URniLCxgKkIKbJMhUJXvQgpGx8pAfcS3wV59OrQOEaDL_vZLshRyvh4Lo7Hq21xavAE9HZO1w7fEgRlWMSbk7JJJd4mciO9Q-Z7mg77PfYUOzcp4f2EvW7n2Do5Q5QAZ2OutlVhZYoF679fG58DKF4I3xDoYcdO-EiY&__tn__=-R

The next Speak Easy will be on Thursday 05 March 2026.

Bookings open this Sunday 08 February 2026 from 12 Noon by emailing Andy N on aen1mpo@yahoo.co.uk

Lucy Beth - Spoken Label, February 2026

 

Latest Podcast from Spoken Label (Author / ArtistPodcast) features making her debut, Lucy Beth.

Lucy Beth (she/her/hers) is a multi-award-winningemerging performer, theatre-maker and lecturer from Inverurie, Aberdeenshire.

​​She graduated with Distinction from the University of Glasgow’s MLitt Theatre & Performance Practices Course after being awarded a PGT Excellent Scholarship bythe University.

​​Lucy has worked on various stage, screen, and audioprojects. Her recent credits include Blanca in Ten Feet Tall’s production of “Guilty” by Rona Munro at Granite Noir Festival. Penny in “How To Train Your Dad To Be A Feminist” at the Aberdeen Arts Centre, and she has also starred in TMM Recruitment’s Christmas Advert, “Scary Tale of New Work,”

​Beyond conventional performing, part of Lucy’s practiceconcerns dialect preservation. She speaks Doric and seeks to create and perform works in Doric as a means of continuing to render the dialect present. Her Doric works have reached critical acclaim and have earned Lucy several awards.

​Her Doric solo theatre show, “Ma Name Is Isabelle” wasperformed at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was highlighted as one of SNACK Magazine’s Picks of the Fringe. It also received an Edinburgh Fringe TheatreAward from the Fringe Theatre Awards. The show has received 5-star reviews in the press.

Lucy won the Best Newcomer Award at The Doric FilmFestival for her film, “Fit Wye Nae” in 2024. In 2025 she performed in “Sticky Business”, winner of the Best Film Award at the 2025 Doric Film Festival.

​​Lucy’s Doric poetry won her a place in the finals of the Loud Poet’s Slam Poetry Competition in Aberdeen in June 2025 and made a guest appearance at the LoudPoet’s Edinburgh Fringe show, which was awarded 5 stars.

​​She was one of the Young Women’s Movement’s 30 Under 30 Honourees for 2025.

​​Lucy was also a 2025 Scottish Emerging Theatre AwardsWinner.

*

https://andynartist.substack.com/p/lucy-beth-spoken-label-january-2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDoe7c5EeH8 (Reading)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlGVj1wpBgg (Chat)

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Lucy-Beth-Spoken-Label--February-2026-e3e5h11

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/spoken-label/id1501847969

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6YYusBA9I8PXTXS7cnLi4w

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0GLHWY45V?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=ST0KMB2WRPTBX2ARQX6M&plink=vJqX2z0GgAvOsihN&pageLoadId=GQ52ffl2KjwwtfjI&creativeId=43463e8d-6f2b-4d01-a759-854a1034c4b8&ref=a_podcast_S_c4_lAsin_0_0

I am Nature Podcast 1 (Leaf Pettit and Diana Sanders) (Spoken Label, February 2025)

 

First of a two part Podcast today from Spoken Label (Spoken Word / Poetry Podcast) features discussing 'I am nature' an Environmental Poetry book with two of their poets, Leaf Pettit and Diana Sanders.

Leaf Pettit lives in the vale of Clwyd with her husband and three children.

Rural north ales has been her home since she was three years old and she has developed a deep connection with its landscape and environment, choosing to raise and home-educate her children.

Leaf has been active in caring for local green spaces and has played a leading role in a community project to develop a green space at the heart of her village, including planting native hedging to forma wildlife corridor and wildflower areas.

Leaf has a BA (Hons) in Literature Life and thought and imaginative writing and an MA in Creative Writing.

Leaf's work has also appeared in the writer's wheel magazine and a couple of local publications, including the 'stillness' pamphlet produced from the Wellbeing Weekend at Saint Eidan Pilgrim Church in 2023.

Diana Sanders is a composer and award winning poet. She is the composer of six published works for flute and has curated several events that combine music and poetry, some of which have been on podcasts and local radio.

Her poetry publisjed has been published in magazines and anthologies in the UK, USA and India and her poem 'Birth' was third in the Welsh Poetry Competition in 2016. She has a BA from Nottingham Trent Creative University in Creative Arts (Music and Drama),

In partnership with her friend, Pat Sumner, she runs a monthly writing group.

She is the editor of the local Friends of the Earth magazine and is passionate about caring for the environment.

More about this book can be read here:

https://www.veneficiapublications.com/product-page/i-am-nature

*

Can be downloaded / streamed from:

(Chat)

(Reading)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4opmyZ5d02dgKvPutAjK3K?go=1&sp_cid=ac6242ee86cad14746912d883cb19282&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=f8cfc05257cc4162

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/28c13279-68c2-4efa-841c-08ab34304cbb/spoken-label-i-am-nature-podcast-1---diana-sanders-and-lea-petit-spoken-label-february-2026

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4opmyZ5d02dgKvPutAjK3K?go=1&sp_cid=ac6242ee86cad14746912d883cb19282&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop

 

Latest up from Spoken Label (Poetry Podcast) features the return of our friend Sarah James (also known as Sarah Leavesley ) talking about her new poetry book 'Darling Blue'.

Darling Blue interweaves ekphrastic poems with a book-length fictional poetry narrative of love, lust and letting go. The poems inspired by Pre-Raphaelite artworks include QR codes, which readers can scan to view the pieces after or alongside their reading. Blue here is more than a colour or inspiration; it is desire, secrecy and sorrow – the essence of ‘feeling / really alive’, yet ‘distance’s illusion’.

“A fascinating creative hybrid weaving ekphrasis and cohesive narrative, Darling Blue deftly balances its fictional speaker’s personal response to various Pre-Raphaelite artworks, with rich descriptive hints that resonate way beyond the mere visual. Exploring the complex tensions between the public sphere and private activities, this collection is a gallery tour of the narrator’s unfulfilling relationship with an unattainable partner, through to the ultimate redemption of self-worth and new love. James’s finely crafted and intelligently controlled poems brim with vivid imagery and lush sensory detail, reminding the reader ‘how brightly sunlight shines through // when freed from a cracked mirror’.”

Sarah Doyle, Pre-Raphaelite Society Poet-in-Residence

“James uses the lyric and ekphrasis to create a profound and moving collection on the cost of love; what endures and how we survive its wake. As vivid and emotive as its pre-Raphaelite sources, Darling Blue is also startlingly direct, eloquent and consoling on the things we find hardest to put into words. An unmissable collection.”

Luke Kennard

More details about said book can be found here;

https://www.sarah-james.co.uk/?page_id=17191

*

Available from: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/sarah-james-also-known-as-sarah-leavesley-spoken-label/id1501847969?i=1000745962511

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Sarah-James-also-known-as-Sarah-Leavesley---Spoken-Label--January-2026-e3drecm

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/ec2ec25a-59d7-4ef6-8690-fa2be8279c59/spoken-label-sarah-james-also-known-as-sarah-leavesley---spoken-label-january-2026

https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/Sarah-James-also-known-as-Sarah-Leavesley-Spoken-Label-January-2026/B0GHT38YG6?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=AF9075KXG0FR6557W24Z&plink=OVkMaLAycNniNOEm&pageLoadId=xd4LWDMaSTrYxDip&creativeId=43463e8d-6f2b-4d01-a759-854a1034c4b8&ref=a_podcast_S_c4_lAsin_0_0

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0h69J2AH42H3a0p0gv5JQA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiP8ehND-a8 (Chat Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA36FpxaQv0 (Reading Video)

https://andynartist.substack.com/p/sarah-james-also-known-as-sarah-leavesley

Suzy Aspell (Spoken Label, January 2026)

 

Latest up from Spoken Label (Spoken Word / Poetry Podcast) and our 2nd Podcast of the year, features making her debut, the wonderful Suzy Aspell.

Suzy advises she writes in her spare time. She lives and works in Bedfordshire, UK, with her cheeky, very pampered cat. She has worked in the Airline industry for nearly forty years, apart from a year working as a travel rep in Spain and five years teaching English as a second language in Taiwan.  While in Taiwan, Suzy wrote, produced and performed two plays at the Tainan Civic Centre, for her fellow teachers.

Suzy was known as the ‘English Nerd’ in school but paused her love for literature due to having day jobs, in which she embraced her fervour for travel instead. Returning to the UK to bring up her daughter, Suzy enrolled in the Open University and emerged with a BA in Humanities with English Literature.  Armed with her degree, Suzy has tutored many students since 2008, mainly GCSE English students struggling with dyslexia and ADHD. Suzy’s nerves are shredded every August in anticipation of GCSE results.

Whilst furloughed during COVID, Suzy joined numerous poetry workshops which have now become an essential part of her life.  It is thanks to these Poetry Mentors that Suzy has been published, and encouraged to perform at Spoken Word events.

Just like her nan, Suzy nurtures a novel inside, watch this space!

You can follow Suzy here:

Bluesky – @susisu371.bsky.social

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/susan.aspell

Instagram/Threads – @susisu37

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzy-a-95040839/

Twitter – @susisu371

This Podcast discusses her debut book 'Webstrung' published by Poetic Edge Publishers

which is described as by Wendy Pratt "Suzy Aspell’s poems take the reader on a magical journey:  often profound and always imaginative the poems bloom from their ekphrastic origins into whole worlds of their own. A very special collection and one to revisit.

~Wendy Pratt, Author of The Ghost Lake and Blackbird Singing At Dusk"

More details on the book can be found here: 

https://poeticedgepublishers.com/suzy-aspell/

*

available at:

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/suzy-aspell-spoken-label-january-2026/id1501847969?i=1000745195635

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Suzy-Aspell-Spoken-Label--January-2026-e3d4p5e

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMvtkstZZTw&t=1s (Chat)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiYP_kAdVlo&t=1s (Reading)

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/bcffb2e2-9e1f-4a18-86a7-40a111bb1ba4/spoken-label-suzy-aspell-spoken-label-january-2026

https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/Suzy-Aspell-Spoken-Label-January-2026/B0GGVHTVH8?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=MA5ZEDFW67J9RBMNVV2R&plink=FFOsLt4PM6Pwkx6a&pageLoadId=bJZeSbIdFVjhaem4&creativeId=43463e8d-6f2b-4d01-a759-854a1034c4b8&ref=a_podcast_S_c4_lAsin_0_0

https://open.spotify.com/episode/20vBMQhzkcdw8nyl9irGT9

https://andynartist.substack.com/p/suzy-aspell-spoken-label-january

Hongwei Bao (Spoken Label, January 2026)

 

Back with our first Podcast of 2026, Spoken Label (Spoken Word / Poetry Podcast)'s 1st show of the year features Hongwei Bao.

Hongwei Bao (he/him) is a Nottingham-based queer Chinese writer, translator and academic. He is part of the Fifth Word Playwrights, GOBS Spoken Word Collective and Nottingham Playhouse Writers’ Room. He is also a Middle Way Mentee for writing fiction and a New Earth Theatre theatremaker. His work explores queer desire, Asian identity, diasporic positionality and transcultural intimacy.

Hongwei is the author of Dream of the Orchid Pavilion (poetry pamphlet, Big White Shed, 2024), The Passion of the Rabbit God (poetry collection, Valley Press, 2024) and Queering the Asian Diaspora (nonfiction, Sage, 2024). His short story ‘A Postcard from Berlin’ was a runner-up for the Plaza Prize for Microfiction in 2023.

Hongwei has performed poetry at Bad Betty Live, City Arts Nottingham, Dandelions Poetry, DIY Poetry, ESEA Authors LitFest, ESA NE Newcastle, Five Leaves Bookshop, Fluent in Both, Lighthouse Bookshop Edinburgh, Kif Kif Antwerp, Nottingham Central Library, Nottingham Poetry Festival, Nottingham Playhouse, Notts Poetry, Nowhere Netherlands, Paper Crane Poetry, Prague Pride, Shaded Writers, Speech Therapy, and The Common Press London.

This Podcast discusses his newest book on Poetic Edge Publishers 'Self-Portrait as a Banana which is discussed as "Hongwei Bao’s latest collection, Self-Portrait as a Banana, is a candid exploration of his queer, diasporic, East Asian identity and cross-cultural relationships. Appropriating, subverting and queering cultural tropes like the banana, rice and beckoning cat, and identities such as queerness and Chineseness, this is a powerful journey. A bold, humorous and refreshing celebration of queer desire, identity and cultural difference"

More about Hon can be found at:

Instagram: @patrickbao123

Bluesky: @queercomrades

The book can be found at: https://poeticedgepublishers.com/hongwei-bao/

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The Podcast be can be found at:

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/hongwei-bao-spoken-label-january-2026/id1501847969?i=1000744148602

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Hongwei-Bao-Spoken-Label--January-2026-e3d4gpg

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/8f88135a-4629-4e88-8496-0c1cbad15b64/spoken-label-hongwei-bao-spoken-label-january-2026

https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/Hongwei-Bao-Spoken-Label-January-2026/B0GDDHWSCD?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=7FPJYCHNNE74ETR0NWR0&plink=Ds5QMcKszI7Gasjj&pageLoadId=SlwBN4AHUn8dRtSn&creativeId=43463e8d-6f2b-4d01-a759-854a1034c4b8&ref=a_podcast_S_c4_lAsin_0_0

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4rRgMjTXIiRVIp4VuLpuLw

https://andynartist.substack.com/p/hongwei-bao-spoken-label-poetry-spoken

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfCMjPXq2v4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j4VnLkMgyI