Pen to Print - Podcasts for Aspiring Writers

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print  

Our August writing tips come from our producer Chris Gregory.  As well as producing the Write On! Audio podcast each week, Chris runs the spoken word production company Alternative Stories which makes drama, poetry and fiction podcasts.  As some listeners may be aware, Chris also teaches various aspects of writing for audio at universities and to writing groups including Pen to Print and London Lit Lab.  Here's Chris with some tips on improving your dialogue skills by having a go at writing audio drama!

Thank you for listening to these writing tips.  If you'd like to learn more about Chris and his work you can visit his website https://alternativestories.com/

Next week we'll bring you a listener contribution from poet Brian Bilston.

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write on! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch. Please submit to: 

 https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio. This edition has been presented by Tiffany Clare and produced by Chris Gregory. Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is supported using public funding by Arts Council England

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print  

Our July interview is with poet and novelist Brian Bilston.  Brian has been described as the Banksy of poetry and Twitter’s unofficial Poet Laureate. He won the 2015 Great British Write Off poetry prize for a poem disguised in a Venn diagram. His first published work, ‘You Took The Last Bus Home’ was published by Unbound and shortlisted for the Cost First Novel Award.  His novel ‘Diary Of A Somebody’ was published to much critical acclaim in 2020.

The interviewer is Eithne Cullen, with some input from Write On! Editor Madeleine White.

Thank you to Brian Bilston for being the subject of this month's interview.  If you've enjoyed this chat with Brian ,we'll be sharing some of his poetry in our August listener contribution.   You can find out more about Brian by visiting his website at https://brianbilston.com/

And followBrian on twitter here https://twitter.com/brian_bilston

Join us next week for writing tips from our producer Chris Gregory

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write on! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch. Please submit to: 

 https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio. This edition has been presented by Tiffany Clare and produced by Chris Gregory. Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is supported using public funding by Arts Council England

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print  

Our July showcase is selected by Dr Afsana Elanko

Artist and writer Dr Afsana Elanko is also an award-winning doctor, with a special interest in oncology, she is an educationalist, leader and innovator. Part of the Write On! team for the last couple of years, she combines a passion for promoting advances in medicine with a love of the arts.  Other than writing for Write On! Dr Afsana’s work has appeared in the Guardian as well as other main stream publications and numerous medical journals.

Afsana’s selections for this showcase are:

The Storm Blew by Akshitha Ramalingham

Posthumous Literary Surprise by Sebastian Elanko

Our Match – a collaborative piece by the group A4A at Aphasia Reconnect

A Tree Falls in a Silent Forest by John Holmes

Guilty Pleasures by Mary Walsh

The readers are Sally Walker-Taylor and Chris Gregory

If you’d like to find out more about Aphasia Reconnect you can visit their website at https://aphasiareconnect.org/

And follow the group on twitter https://twitter.com/Aphasiareconne1

And Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aphasiareconnect/

You can read more about Afsana Elanko’s  showcase selections here https://pentoprint.org/writeon-showcase/

Join us next week for an interview with poet Brian Bilston.

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch. Please submit to: 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print  

Our July listener contribution is by poet Gertcha Cowson.  Gertcha, also known as Gertcha the Disabled Poet, is a working-class writer whose work deals with topics such as mental health, his own disabilities, the environment and social issues.  In his own words, his work: “Belongs to no single genre, yet has a hand in many.”

Gertcha’s piece in this podcast is called ‘A Poet’s Tit-For-Tat’ and it features the poem ‘Naked Trees Against A Cotton Wool Sky’

You can find out more about Gertcha by reading his Pen to Print Writer of the Month here:

https://pentoprint.org/writer-of-the-month-gertcha-cowson/

 You can order Gertcha’s book, ‘Rocks in a Spin Dryer’ here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rocks-Spin-Dryer-Gertcha-Cowson/dp/1803693207

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch. Please submit to: 

 https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio. This edition has been presented by Tiffany Clare and produced by Chris Gregory. Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is supported using public funding by Arts Council England

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print

Our July writing tips are from poet and write on contributor Mary Walsh.  Mary's poems have been published in collections such as The Great British Write Off, and a Gardening Anthology for Forward Press as well as being featured in the Royal Society of Literature newspaper.  

You can find out more about Mary by reading her Pen to Print Writer of the Month article here https://pentoprint.org/writer-of-the-month-mary-walsh/

And follow her on Twitter here https://twitter.com/MaryWal11526731

Join us next week for a listener contribution from poet Gertcha Cowson.

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast do get in touch. Please submit to:

 https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio. This edition has been presented by Tiffany Clare and produced by Chris Gregory. Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print.

This podcast is produced using public funding from Arts Council England

Our June interview is with children and young adults author Sita Brahmachari .

Sita's debut novel ‘Artichoke Hearts’ won the Waterstones's Children's Book Prize and her latest novel ‘When Shadows Fall’ was shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Award. 

The interviewer was Amber Hall who was alongside Write On! Editor Madeleine White

You can find out much more about Sita and order her books by visiting her website

https://www.sitabrahmachari.com/

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch. Please submit to: 

 https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio. This edition is presented by Tiffany Clare and produced by Chris Gregory. Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is supported using public funding by Arts Council England

Our June interview is with children and young adults author Sita Brahmachari .

Sita's debut novel ‘Artichoke Hearts’ won the Waterstones's Children's Book Prize and her latest novel ‘When Shadows Fall’ was shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Award. 

The interviewer was Amber Hall who was alongside Write On! Editor Madeleine White

You can find out much more about Sita and order her books by visiting her website

https://www.sitabrahmachari.com/

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch. Please submit to: 

 https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio. This edition is presented by Tiffany Clare and produced by Chris Gregory. Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is supported using public funding by Arts Council England

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print  

In this edition we share a showcase selected by Write On’s Mirabel Lavelle.  Originally from Malta, but now living in the north east of England, Mirabel is a writer, teacher and mentor.  This is her second Write On! Showcase. 

Mirabel’s selections for this Showcase were:

‘Sight and Sound’ by June Gowland

‘Island Nation’ by Thomas Nixon

‘Shatterproof’ by Haley Pittman

‘Our Future’ by Nicole Piscopo

The readers were Sally Walker-Taylor and Chris Gregory

We’re always delighted to read your contributions, so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch. Please submit to: 

 https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio. This edition has been presented by Tiffany Clare and produced by Chris Gregory. Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is supported using public funding by Arts Council England

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print.  

In this week’s podcast we bring you writing tips from Helen Aitchison.  Hailing from the north-east of England, Helen combines writing with her work as the director of a Community Interest Company, ‘Write On The Tyne,’ which provides creative writing courses and mentoring with a focus on engaging marginalised people in the area.   Helen also teaches for her local council, is a freelance writer for Story Terrace and an on-line journalist for Radio Gateshead.

Find out more about Helen by visiting her website: https://helenaitchisonwrites.wordpress.com/

And you can follow Helen on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/aitchisonwrites

Helen is a director of Write On The Tyne and you can find out more about this organisation here: https://writeonthetyne.com/

Join us next week for a Showcase selected by Write On’s Mirabel Lavelle.

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch. You can submit to: 

 https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio. This edition has been presented by Tiffany Clare and produced by Chris Gregory. Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print.  

In this special edition of the podcast we are at the Hay Festival where we hosted a live panel discussion on co-creation.  The panel members are Ian Ayris, Eithne Cullen and Mirabel Lavelle and the panel chair is Write On! Editor, Madeleine White.

Thank you to the Hay Festival for allowing us to host this panel and for recording the session for us.

Our panel members were

Ian Ayris:  https://www.ianayris.org/ , https://twitter.com/ianayris                                     

Eithne Cullen:                                            https://twitter.com/CullenEithne

Mirabel Lavelle:                                        https://twitter.com/Mirabel20287342

And the chair was Madeleine White:   https://twitter.com/madeleinefwhite

Join us next week for writing tips from author and teacher Helen Aitchison.

We’re always delighted to read your contributions, so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast, please get in touch. You can submit to: 

 https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

 Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio. This edition has been presented by Tiffany Clare and produced by Chris Gregory. Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.