Alternative Stories and Fake Realities

In this first edition of season 6 we look at the other podcasts Alternative Stories have been working on. We chat with novelist Madeleine White about the pdcast for writers, Write On! Audio and novelist and audio dramatist Emily Inkpen about our new science fiction audio drama The Dex Legacy. We also preview some of the content you’ll be able to hear in season 6.

In this edition you can hear an interview with the editor of the Write On! suite of publications, Madeleine White.

You can listen to Write On! Audio by searching for “pen to print” in your favourite podcast app or by clicking the link below. https://anchor.fm/pentoprint

You can hear Madeleine White’s audio drama The Ark by clicking here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/6127414

And order her novel “Mother of Floods” here and at the usual book retail outlets https://www.crowsnestbooks.com/product/mother-of-floods/
And follow her on twitter here https://mobile.twitter.com/madeleinefwhite

Find out more about author and dramatist Emily Inkpen and her new audio drama podcast The Dex Legacy by visiting the podcast’s website here https://www.thedexlegacy.com/

You can listen to the Dex Legacy by searching “the dex legacy” in your favourite podcast app or click the link below https://www.buzzsprout.com/1868546

You can follow The Dex Legacy on twitter here https://mobile.twitter.com/thedexlegacy

And follow Emily on twitter here https://mobile.twitter.com/emilyinkpen

You heard an excerpt from Zoe Gilbert’s forthcoming novel “Mischief Acts” read by Sally Walker Taylor. Mischief Acts will be published on 17th March and you can order a copy and find out more about Zoe via the Bloomsbury website here https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/mischief-acts-9781526645401/
Follow Zoe on twitter here https://mobile.twitter.com/mindandlanguage

Also out on 17th March will be the memoir “Sins of My Father” by Lily Dunn and you heard a short excerpt in the podcast read by Lily herself. You can order a copy at all the usual book outlets and via the W&N website here https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/lily-dunn/sins-of-my-father/9781474623308/
Follow Lily on twitter here https://mobile.twitter.com/Lilydunnwriter

Also in this podcast you can hear

· the poem “Scent of Oleander” by Amantine Broduer read by Tiffany Clare

· An excerpt from a forthcoming interview with artist David Suff about his book “Walking on Skylark Ridge”

· And an excerpt from an upcoming interview with writer, actor and dramatist Jackie Jorgenson which we’ll be sharing as part of our storytelling season soon.

We look forward to welcoming you to season six starting with our Ghostlore audio drama anthology which will be out on 18th March.

Midwinter Monologues is a collection of seasonal short fiction by 13 different writers. We feature stories written and performed by Alternative Stories regulars such as Lewie Watson and Marie-Claire Wood and introduce some new writers and voices. This anthology will put you in in a festive mood and help you to consider some alternative versions of Christmas. We all have our own midwinter stories – what’s yours?

“The Hidden People” by Bean Swayer performed by Sally Walker Taylor

“To All A Good Life” by Lewie Watson performed by Lewie Watson

“Winter Monologue” by Marie-Claire Wood performed by Marie-Claire Wood

“Home for the Holidays” by Jackie Jorgenson performed by Jackie Jorgenson

“The Sunday Morning Club” by Sally Goble read by Tiffany Clare

“The Golden Ball” by Gessica Sakamoto Martini performed by Sally Walker-Taylor

“Turkey Story” By Jude Whiley-Morton read by Jude Whiley-Morton

“The Pond” by Carolyn Stockdale read by Tiffany Clare

“Solstice” by Daniel Draper read by Daniel Draper

“The Sun Stones” (A Solstice Story) by Kevan Manwaring read by Kevan Manwaring

“Monologue” By Ford Dagenham read by Chris Gregory

“Trouble and Strife” By Janet O’Donnell read by Janet O’Donnell

“Unread Stories” By Maggie Sawkins read by Maggie Sawkins

Thank you to all our writers and readers for their contributions to this podcast. Special thanks to Lily Dunn, Zoe Gilbert and Ennis Welbourne of London Lit Lab for their help in finding us so many brilliant new writers for this edition.

You heard trailers for 2 new Alternative Stories productions in this podcast.
Find out more about the Dex Legacy by visiting our website https://www.thedexlegacy.com/
and subscribe to the podcast here https://www.buzzsprout.com/1868546 to hear our first episodes as they are released in January
Follow The Dex Legacy on twitter here https://twitter.com/thedexlegacy

Write On! Audio from Pen to Print is a podcast aimed at writers everywhere. You can subscribe here or by searching “Pen To Print” in your favourite podcast app https://anchor.fm/pentoprint
And follow Pen to Print on twitter here https://twitter.com/Pen_to_Print

We also shared a trailer for our recent audio drama Real Boy by Cailean Steed. Listen free here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/9690521-real-boy-an-audio-drama

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our listeners an enjoyable festive season and a creative, exciting and story-filled 2022. From all at Alternative Stories, thank you so much for listening in 2021 and please join us again for season 6 next year.

If you would like to contact us while we're away please email us at [email protected] or follow us on social media
https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

In this special edition guest-edited by Signe Maene we look at the folklore and folk stories associated with animals, beasts and familiars. Our guests are Terri Windling, Zoe Gilbert, Willow Winsham, Icy Sedgewick and Natalja Saint-Germain

Thank you to Signe Maene, Terri Windling, Zoe Gilbert, Willow Winsham, Icy Sedgwick and Natalja Saint German for being out guests on the podcast today. We’ve posted links so you can find out more about our guests and follow their blogs, podcasts, websites and social media as part of these show notes.

Find out more about our guests by visiting their websites, listening to their podcasts and following them on social media

Signe Maene
https://signemaene.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/MaeneSigne
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/signemaene/
Signe also co-edits the Wyrd Wednesday hashtag on twitter which you can follow here https://twitter.com/WyrdWednesday

Terri Windling
https://www.terriwindling.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/terriwindling
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bumblehillstudio/

Zoe Gilbert
http://zoegilbert.com/zoe-gilbert/
Twitter https://twitter.com/mindandlanguage
Zoe teaches creative writing, often with a folkloric twist, with London Lit Lab. Find out more here https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/

Icy Sedgewick
https://www.icysedgwick.com/ where you can link to her books and her wonderful Fabulous Folklore Podcast
Twitter https://twitter.com/icysedgwick
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/icysedgwick/

Willow Winsham
You can find Willow’s books for sale here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Willow-Winsham/e/B01DR996L4%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
Twitter https://twitter.com/WillowWinsham
And follow Folklore Thursday which she co-runs with Dee Dee Chainey here https://twitter.com/FolkloreThurs

Natalja Saint-Germain
Twitter https://twitter.com/bjorn_stjerne
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/natalja_stgermain/
Natalja also co-hosts the Swamp Sunday hashtag on twitter which you can follow here https://twitter.com/swampsunday

You can listen to all our folklore and fairytale podcasts via this podchaser link
https://www.podchaser.com/lists/folklore-and-fairytale-on-alternative-stories-107a9Gdi9h

In this edition we resume the theme of storytelling, this time looking at the art and techniques of telling stories from real life. Our guest, Lily Dunn is a novelist, memoirist and teacher whose debut memoir, Sins of My Father will be out in March 2022.

Excerpts from Sins of My Father in this podcast are read by Lily Dunn
The interviewer is Chris Gregory
Production, sound design, music and editing are by Chris Gregory

Lily Dunn is a writer, teacher and lecturer in creative writing and narrative nonfiction at Bath Spa University. She is the author of one novel, SHADOWING THE SUN, and co-editor with Zoe Gilbert of A WILD AND PRECIOUS LIFE, an anthology of recovery stories.

You can find out more about Lily by visiting her website here
https://lilydunn.co.uk/

And follow Lily on social media
Via twitter https://twitter.com/Lilydunnwriter
And Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lilydunnwriting/

Lily's memoir, Sins of My Father will be published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson in March. We think W&N for permission to use excerpts from the book in this podcast.

Lily and Zoe Gilbert co-founded and teach for London Lit Lab. If you have enjoyed listening to Zoe and Lily chatting about storytelling and the art of writing please visit their website at the address below to find out about and book onto their courses and workshops.
https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/
For updates about London Lit Lab courses and activities follow them on social media here Via twitter https://twitter.com/londonlitlab
And Instagram https://www.instagram.com/londonlitlab/

You can listen to part one of our Storytelling series with Zoe Gilbert and Tiffany Clare herehttps://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/9672055-storytelling-part-one-with-zoe-gilbert-and-tiffany-clare

Listen out for future podcasts about storytelling featuring professional storyteller Ilaria Passeri and playwright and scriptwriter Lucy Kaufman

If you have enjoyed this or any of our podcasts we would be grateful if you could provide us with a rating and review preferably on Apple Podcasts here
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/alternative-stories-and-fake-realities/id1470495562
or Podchaser here
https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/alternative-stories-and-fake-r-882341

and if you would like to contact us, submit work or enquire about our actors, production services or course and workshops please drop us a note via [email protected]

Mastrocherry is a tech company making poppets - highly realistic replicas of real humans. Senior engineer Catherine Antonio and Junior Reclaim Engineer Fox Cameron have a problem. A poppet has been returned by a VIP customer and they must diagnose the reasons for some alarming behavioural traits it has been displaying. Can it really be possible that the poppet has become self-aware and started to display violent tendencies?

Real Boy is written by Cailean Steed and was the winner of the 2021 Pen To Print Audio Play Competition.

In Real Boy you can hear
Alex White as Fox
Kelley Costigan as Cat
Kirsty Woolven as Carlo
Carl Wharton as Father
Hadiya Morris as Mother
and Verity Blyth as Azure

Music, sound design, direction and production are by Chris Gregroy
Casting and character direction are by Chris Gregory and Cailean Steed
Sound effects are from freesound.org
The script for Real Boy is copyright Cailean Steed and the produced audio drama copyright Alternative Stories / Cailean Steed.

Find out more about our writer Cailean Steed by following them on twitter at https://twitter.com/CaileanSteed

We would like to thank Cailean for their invaluable work in the production of this drama.

Real Boy was the winner of the 2021 Pen to Print Audio Drama writing competition. If you are a dramatist and would like to enter the 2022 competition, please visit www.pentoprint.org for details of how to do so or to join an audio drama writing workshop. These workshops are run by Chris Gregory from Alternative Stories and the next one will be on Thursday 20th January.

If you have enjoyed listening to Real Boy please check out our other audio dramas via our podcast feed.

Real Boy is an Alternative Stories 2021 production for the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast

In this podcast we look at the art and techniques of storytelling. We speak to novelist Zoe Gilbert about the ways in which she uses folklore and folk tales as inspiration and backdrop for her storytelling and actress Tiffany Clare about telling stories through characters and narration.

Our first guest in this edition is Zoe Gilbert. Zoe won the Costa Short Story prize in 2014. He debut novel Folk was published to considerable acclaim and featured on BBC Radio. Zoe's second novel Mischief Acts will be published in 2022. She co-founded London Lit Lab with novelist and memoirist Lily Dunn who we'll be featuring in part two of this short series.

Find out more about Zoe and her work by visiting her website here
http://zoegilbert.com/
You can follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/mindandlanguage

Find out more about London Lit Lab and sign up for their courses and workshops here https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/

You can buy Folk as paperback, e-book or audiobook through all the usual outlets.

Tiffany Clare is an actress working on stage, screen and in audio drama. She has appeared in many Alternative Stories dramas being nominated for two audio verse awards for her appearances in our dramas The Adults in The Room and No Words. The latter represented the UK at the International Radio Drama Festival in 2020. Tiffany works as a voice artist in commercials, presents podcasts and has worked as a voice actor for video games.

If you would like to work with Tiffany you can contact her via her website https://www.voicebytiffany.com/

In this podcast you can hear extracts from the following

• Two extracts from Mischief Acts by Zoe Gilbert read by Sally Walker-Taylor
• An extract from Folk by Zoe Gilbert read by Tiffany Clare
• An extract from The Seeing Trees by Kaitlin Felix featuring Tiffany Clare and Charlie Richards
• An Extract from The Adults in the Room featuring Tiffany Clare and Catherine D’Addario

We would like to thank Bloomsbury, Zoe Gilbert’s publisher for permission to recreate extracts from her books for this podcast. You can visit Bloomsbury here

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/
And follow them on twitter here https://twitter.com/BloomsburyBooks

In our next podcasts you’ll be able to hear

· Storytelling Part Two featuring Lily Dunn

· Real Boy, a new audio drama by Cailean Steed

· A folklore special edition about creatures, beasts and familiars in folklore guest-edited by Signe Maene

· Midwinter Monologues – our Christmas 2021 edition featuring short seasonal monologues from a variety of writers.

Bonds is the debut short story collection by poet, dramatist and friend of the podcast Sarra Culleno. Dealing with the bonds between mothers and children as its main theme it skips genres between science fiction, fantasy and folklore. We have an interview with Sarra and excerpts from the stories.

You can order a copy of Bonds directly from the CAAB Publishing website here https://www.caabpublishing.co.uk/store/Fiction-c45916043

It’s also available from Waterstones and Amazon

Follow Sarra Culleno on social media here

https://twitter.com/sarra1978

https://www.instagram.com/sarracullenopoetry/

And follow CAAB Publishing on twitter here

https://twitter.com/CaabPublishing

The readings from the story Machina Ex Deus which appears in Bonds were by Tiffany Clare and Alex White

In the excerpt from The Hares of Horsenden Hill you heard the voices of Stevie Skinner and Amy Forrest. Music was by Inge Thompson

The excerpt from Greenman was read by Annabelle Broad

Contact Alternative Stories at [email protected] to enquire about upcoming audio drama writing workshops as mentioned by Sarra in the podcast.

In this edition of the podcast we look at “Somebody Loves You”, the debut novel by acclaimed poet Mona Arshi. We’ll bring you extracts from the novel read by actress Rakhee Sharma, an interview and some of Mona’s poetry.

The presenter in this edition is Sally Walker Taylor, the readers are Rakhee Sharma and Tiffany Clare. and the interviewer is Chris Gregory.

Sound design, production and music are by Chris Gregory

We would like to thank Mona Arshi for her time and support in the making of this podcast. We’re also grateful to And Other Stories for allowing us to feature Somebody Loves You and reproduce extracts from it.

If you would like to buy “Somebody Loves You” you can do so directly from the publisher by visiting https://www.andotherstories.org/ where you can buy or pre-order a paperback or e-book version of the novel. You can also buy the book through all the usual outlets

Alternative Stories is pleased to recommend bookshop.org – all purchases from this retailer support local bookshops of your choice.

You can find out more about Mona Arshi by visiting her website https://www.monaarshi.com/

And follow her on social media where she posts as https://twitter.com/arshi_mona

And Instagram where she is https://www.instagram.com/monaarshipoetry/

You can visit publisher And Other Stories’ website here https://www.andotherstories.org/

Follow them on twitter via https://twitter.com/andothertweets

And on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/andotherpics/

If you have enjoyed this edition of the podcast please consider subscribing to have all our future editions delivered directly to your podcast feed. We make audio drama, poetry and fiction podcasts as well as writer interviews and writing advice.

Coming soon on Alternative Stories we’ll be sharing a new audio drama, “Real Boy” by Cailean Steed and we’ll be chatting to novelist Zoe Gilbert, memoirist Lily Dunn and other guests about the art of storytelling.

In this edition we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Seren Books, the publisher from south Wales responsible for launching the careers of many poets and for putting out a series of memorable poetry collections including a few featured previously on Alt Stories

In this podcast you can hear an interview with Seren’s outgoing poetry editor Amy Wack who leaves the press at the end of October 2021. She looks back at her time with Seren and the changes to the style and readership of poetry since she joined.

The presenter of this podcast is Nadia Wyn Abouayen and the readers from Alt Stories are Tiffany Clare and Chris Gregory

We feature the following poems in this podcast

“We are coming” by Kim Moore is taken from her recently published collection “All the men I never married” and is read by Tiffany Clare

“Yet, he remembers Baghdad” by Abeer Ameer from the 2021 collection “Inhale / Exile” read by Tiffany Clare

“Air Camera” by Christopher Meredith from his collection “Still” is read by Chris Gregory

“Wrack of Summer” is taken from Polly Atkin’s latest collection “Much With Body” and is read by Tiffany Clare

“Karaoke King” is the title poem of Dai George’s latest collection which came out in June. The reader is Chris Gregory.

“Paean for a cliff railway driver” is written and read by Paul Henry and is taken from the upcoming collection “As if to sing” to be published by Seren in 2022

From the collection “Let Me Tell you What I saw” by Adnan Al Sayegh, the recording we include features the voice of translator Jenny Lewis reading the text in English whilst Adnan Al Sayegh reads the original Arabic version. The music in the background is called “The Moon Fades” and it is reproduced here with the kind permission of Naseer Shamma
Production, sound design, editing and music are by Chris Gregory unless stated.
We would like to thank Sarah Johnson of Seren Books for her invaluable help in the making of this podcast and Amy Wack for sharing her thoughts on her time at Seren with us. We’d also like to thank all of the contributing poets for allowing us to use their poems.

If you would like to find out more about Seren Books and buy the collections featured you can do so by visiting the press’s website here https://www.serenbooks.com/

You can also follow Seren on social media here

https://twitter.com/SerenBooks

https://www.instagram.com/serenbooks/

You can also follow our featured poets

Kim Moore https://twitter.com/kimmoorepoet

Polly Atkin https://twitter.com/pollyrowena

Abeer Ameer https://twitter.com/hijjabi

Paul Henry https://www.paulhenrypoet.co.uk/

Dai George http://daigeorge.com/

Christopher Meredith https://christophermeredit9.wixsite.com/website

Adnan Al-Sayegh http://adnanalsayegh.com/eng/

Please follow Alternative Stories on twitter at https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt for information on our upcoming drama, poetry and fiction podcasts as well as our workshops and writer / publisher services

In this edition of the podcast we hear from poet and activist Roy McFarlane. Roy has two collections from Nine Arches Press and a third collection to be published in 2022. In the podcast we share a selection of Roy’s poetry and hear about what inspires and influences his work.

In this podcast you heard the following poems

Papers read by Kam Elliott

Clinton McCurbin 1987 read by Kam Eliiott

Joy Gardner 1993 read by Hadiya Morris

How it Feels to Be Free read by Kam Elliott and Hadiya Morris

To the Heron who stood with me in the ruins of another black man’s life read by Kam Elliott

Sound design and editing are by Chris Gregory

If you would like to find out more about Roy McFarlane and his work you can visit his website http://roymcfarlane.com/

And follow him on twitter where he posts as https://twitter.com/rmcfarlane63

You can buy Roy’s poetry collections “Beginning with your last Breath” and “The Healing Next Time” from publisher Nine Arches Press via their website here https://www.ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections/

Find out more about Nine Arches and follow them on twitter here https://twitter.com/NineArchesPress

search websites in your area to find out about Black History Month events taking place near you.

Next on Alternative Stories we feature Seren Books, the South Wales based publisher celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2021