A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley

‘Sightlines produce a story, an avenue, a walkway, a space to move through…’ This week, we join Sally reflecting on the idea of the sightline, and the stories they structure. Listen for a meditation on narrative, childhood, and a unique perspective of and from The Dreaming Spires… The text of the Sylvia Plath poem Sally references 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.

‘I try to live my life as though I were stitching together a book of songs.’ This week, Sally offers us a tour through the stitched-together songs of her life, reflecting on the form of rhapsody. Join her for a series of vignettes on art, education, memory, and connection. This text of this episode is based on an address Sally gave at Wadham College Chapel, part of an evening of ‘Taking Heart in Poetry & Song’ for St David's Day. More information can be found here.  The full text of Dylan Thomas’ poem, ‘The force that through the green fuse drives the flower’, quoted early in the episode can be found here.  The wonderful piano music in the opening and closing sections is, respectively, ‘Tuesday’ and ‘Saturday’ by Paul Sebastian. This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen. Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

‘I see that she is thinking most of her canvas, and how she will get there…’ This week, we join Sally after visiting her friend, the artist Emma Neuberg. Listen for a reflection of friendship, travel, and the connections art offers us. More information on Emma and her work can be found here. She can also be found on Instagram @emmaneuberg. The beautiful piano music in the closing section is ‘Tuesday’, by Paul Sebastian. This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen. Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

‘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). The wonderful piano music in the opening section is 'Rain', by Paul Sebastian. 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.    

This week, we join Sally at home, on a sunny autumn day. Listen for a meditation on play, weather, and our relationships with everyday objects. The passage from David Copperfield can be found here. More from Sally on the kaleidoscope mentioned early in the episode 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.

‘Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies, / Yet now they fright me.’ This week, we join Sally in the early morning, after a Shakespearean dream. Listen for a meditation on the boundaries between sleeping and waking, dreams and reality, and confidence and hubris. Calpurnia’s full speech can be found here. The wonderful piano music in the opening section is ‘Tuesday’, by Paul Sebastian. This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen. Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

‘I hate walking, it seems so pointless to me…’ This week, Sally has been musing on the importance of mobility, reflecting on the increasing role of her blue scooter in her life. Listen for a meditation on the importance of transport, both physical and imaginative, via Thomas Bernhard, Agatha Christie, and Elizabeth Bishop. Miss Marple of Bourne End has previously appeared in Sally’s first novel, Girl with Dove (2018). Available from all good booksellers. The guitar music in the opening section is by Dylan Gwalia, and the piano music in the closing section is ‘Doubt’, 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 offers us a series of vignettes from her travels, both past and present. Follow her on a journey around Europe, through the eyes of the child, adult, and writer. The wonderful piano music in the opening section is ‘Sunday’, by Paul Sebastian. 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: This was recorded on location, while Sally taught at the Rosemary’s House writing retreat in Greece, without Sally’s usual recording equipment. As such, we regret that the audio quality is not up to its usual standard!