Podcasts

Before Alice by Stacie Bates

‘Before Alice’ is the story of Alice, a reserved, sweet-natured yet unexpectedly dynamic woman who, after a stint as a botanist, decides to leave the pressurised world of academia to open her own plant and flower shop in the market town where she grew up. Due to open doors for the first time tomorrow, worries about her social awkwardness flare up and she confides in her only companion - her favourite plant cactus. Alice’s past seems to haunt her in unexpected bursts. She must trust in nature - it is what she knows and what she loves… She must make this work before she becomes trapped by her past…

Before Alice is written and directed by Stacie Bates. Bates is the founder of the Assembled Moments theatre company: https://www.assembledmomentstheatre.co.uk/

An ArtfulScribe production, commissioned with support by Arts Council England and Mayflower Studios.

The role of Alice is performed by Charlotte Barnes.

The role of Cactus is performed by Gregory Cox.

Recording, composing, sound design, mix and mastering by Antosh Wojcik for ArtfulScribe.

PSST... Poetry, Storytelling, Songwriting, Theatre with Ri Baroche

Psst....have you heard about ‘PSST...’? It’s a podcast series showcasing and celebrating queer voices in conversation with writer and performer Ri Baroche, produced by ArtfulScribe.

We’ve chosen four of our favourite queer writers working in the SW regions to sit down and talk about all things queer and all things joy. Our four writers are Jayne Ede (poetry), Devin Valentine of Hunting Hearts (songwriting), Thorn (storytelling), and CJ Turner-Macmullan (theatre).

These artists talk about their approaches to writing, what it means to write as a queer person and how this contributes to their work, their advice to young queer writers, and how joy shines on the page. While we cover some of the essential topics of the difficulties continually faced by queer folx in UK society, this is very much a celebration of queer people coming together to talk in joyfulness about writing and queer stories.

Episodes are released every Wednesday in June 2023 to celebrate Pride Month. This series is supported by Arts Council England.

Invisible Mentors: Who Mentors the Mentor?

Episode 4 in the Invisible Mentors series, 'Who Mentors the Mentor?', focuses on poets and mentors whose have created wider structures for poets to give and receive mentoring. Nick Makoha describes the role of Obsidian Foundation, and Pascale Petit and Mimi Khalvati explain why they set up the Poetry School.

Invisible Mentors: How Do Poets Know?

Episode 3 in the Invisible Mentors series, 'What Do Poets Know?', explores the various places and contexts for poetry mentoring. Andrew McMillan considers the role of informal mentoring and the importance of creative writing teaching in universities, Heidi Williamson outlines the power of professional mentoring, and Vidyan Ravinthiran talks about his role in the Ledbury Poetry Critics scheme, which supports more diverse reviewing cultures in UK poetry.

Invisible Mentors: How Do Poets Learn?

Episode 2 in the Invisible Mentors series, 'How Do Poets Learn?', examines the hidden histories of mentoring in the UK. Malika Booker describes how she set up a poetry workshop in her kitchen to create a safe space for more diverse voices, Lise Jalliant explains how the Carcanet archives revealed the significant role of women in poetry publishing, and Sue Dymoke discusses new research showing the impact of competitive mentoring schemes on young writers.

Invisible Mentors: What Do Poets Teach?

Episode 1 in the Invisible Mentors series, 'What Do Poets Teach?', explores the importance of mentoring for developing new writers. Our guests Romalyn Ante, Aviva Dautch, and Caleb Parkin talk about their experience of being mentored, and their work for Poetry Ambassadors, a new mentoring scheme for young poets run by ArtfulScribe in collaboration with the Winchester Poetry Festival and the University of Southampton.

BBC Radio Solent's Sam Fraser interviews Lighthouse, Poole's Centre for the Arts' Writer in Residence, Jack Thacker

How do you go about applying for a Writer in Residence role? Sam Fraser from BBC Radio Solent finds out when she interviews ArtfulScribe's Writer in Residence, Jack Thacker, who is based at Lighthouse, Poole's Centre for the Arts in 2019/2020 as part of the DO:Write project, supported with generous funding from Arts Council England and project partners.