Who will call me beloved - Radio 4

The day has arrived! The arts documentary that Faith Lawrence and I have made about me being writer-in-residence in a cemetery and contemplating the language of memorials and how I - as a single woman with no children - might want to be remembered, will be broadcast on Radio 4 at 4pm, and will be available online after that: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b4r1

If you're outside the UK the programme is going out on the World Service on Friday Nov 15th, in their Heart and Soul slot! https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct03by

I'd love to hear what you think - I've never done anything like this before! The Radio Times has it as a featured selection, in which they call me "something that baffles much of society: the deliberately single woman ", and a review on New Statesman said I sound "unpompous" and "untortured", all of which makes me laugh!

There's No-One In the Lab But Mice - On Radio 4 again!

BBC Radio 4 just re-broadcast my short story from last year, There's No-One In the Lab But Mice (produced by the excellent Sweet Talk Productions) in which I imagine what might happen when all scientists go on strike... And they allowed me to read it myself, for the first time! It's now available on iPlayer for those of you in the right regions to get that sort of thing - until Oct 22nd.

New Science-Inspired Story on Radio 4 This Sunday

It's been one of the greatest thrills of my writing life, having my short stories read on the radio. This is how it all started for me, my first "published" short story was actually a broadcast, in 2003, on the Afternoon Reading on Radio 4. There have been quite a few more since then, and I have written especially for radio a number of times - and now I have a brand new story on Radio 4 this Sunday night, Aug 28th, which for the first time they have allowed me to read! It's produced by the excellent Jeremy Osborne for Sweet Talk Productions. It's called "There's No-One In The Lab But Mice", and you can hear it live at 7.45pm and it will be available on Listen Again for 28 days after that, I believe. I hope you enjoy it, I had a lot of fun writing it!

new writing...

There is shortly to be some non-me-me-me activity on this blog (I hear you cheer!) but for the moment, sorry, still me, in brief - delighted to have had a poem longlisted for The Rialto's Nature poetry competition! Also delighted to have a new piece of oddness up on Visual Verse (which is such a lovely 'zine, why don't you have a go?), another outing for an older flash on FlashFiction.net and four stories on MexicoCityLit in advance of my work trip to Mexico (more on that soon!) - and, for the next 30 days (perhaps?) me reading newly-commisioned food-related flash fiction and poetry -  in the fine and wonderful company of Simon Panrucker and Barny Houghton -  on Michael Rosen's Radio 4 show, Word of Mouth!

Yes It's All Me Me Me... new poem & new short story

Sorry for the trumpet-blowing, but here it
is - first, I have a new poem in Issue 6, published today, of the delightful Poems in Which, entitled Poem in Which I Learn That Some People Are Better At This Than I Am. It is entirely autobiographical! Check out the whole issue, it's wonderful. 

I also have a new SoundCloud page where you can listen to me reading some of my stories & poems. Any requests?

Talking of listening, this Friday, Dec 5th, I am thrilled to have a brand new short story on BBC Radio 4, About Time - which may or may not be a time-travel-themed romp, but will be read deliciously straight into your ear by the wonderful Stephen Hogan! I went to hear him record it, and he utterly captured the voice I had heard in my head as I wrote it. This is the joy of radio - your characters, who've been rattling around only in your own brain, are suddenly alive and out there, because you can hear them! I hope you like it. Do check out the other two stories on the theme of Slow Rides in Fast Machines, by the amazing Adam Marek and Toby Litt, very different takes! In a thrilling development, all the stories are now available for 30 days after broadcast, thank you BBC.

I will be available to answer technical questions on time travel after the broadcast, should you have any. My pleasure. (Or before the broadcast, of course, if you've already got the hang of it.)

Reality Check on Radio 4

Yesterday's BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Reading programme which was a recording of me reading my three "Reality Check" science-inspired short short stories is now available to listen to online, until this Friday April 20th. I have to say, I didn't think I'd be able to listen to myself, I thought it would make me cringe, but I really enjoyed it, reliving the live event at the More Than Words festival in March,  how much fun it was! I hope you enjoy it too.

More than Words

I had a brilliant time yesterday afternoon taking part in the Radio 4 More Than Words "listening festival" in Bristol! I was one of three local writers invited to create "short stories with sound" which we - me, Edson Burton and Paul Mundell (reading Tim X Atack's story) - then read, with sound effects provided by the amazing Radio 4 sound team, at the gorgeous St George's, in front of a live audience, and were recorded for broadcast.

It was a really interesting experience being asked to create words with sounds in mind. I ended up - as is my wont - not writing one 15-minute story by 3 very short stories, each one quite different but all in some way inspired by science (as is my wont), under the heading "Reality Check". I found that thinking about sound effects really added to the writing of the story - I could use the sounds as shorthand, make them really work hard, not just be gratuitous. I hope that what I wrote will work as "just" words on a page, but I really enjoyed having my senses stretched.

Reading them with the sound effects was also wonderful. I have to say, I do love being on stage, especially in such a glorious venue (see above) where we've been to hear a wide range of live music - and Margaret Atwood! Once you get me up there, under the lights, I don't actually want to get offstage. Two of my 3 stories were supposed to be funny, but you never really know until the reading, and the audience giggled in places I hadn't expected. For me, there's almost nothing better than making an audience laugh, I love it.

You'll be able to hear me reading the stories - and, I hope, some of the audience's giggles -  on Radio 4's (one remaining weekday) Afternoon Reading programme on Friday 13th April (auspicious??) and on iplayer for a week following that, I imagine. I will give you a link when it's available. I've had several stories on Radio 4 but this is the first time they've allowed me (nay, paid me) to read them myself, and it seemed to go down well so maybe they'll allow me to do it again! Thank you to our fantastic producer, Sara Davies, and to my fellow writers, Edson Burton (whose story, Hood,  will be broadcast the Friday after mine) and Tim X Atack, whose story Birdsong Man you can hear the week before mine.

Celebrating the short story - part 4

Very brief short story love today, because my laptop battery's running out and the power cord is downstairs (lazy, lazy) - just to say that I am loving the comments left on the Save Short Stories on Radio 4 petition, which has now been signed by Deborah Treisman, Fiction Editor of the New Yorker! This demonstrates that the reduction of short story broadcasts on radio 4 is an international issue, affecting writers worldwide.

I think all the comments should be compiled into something... something to be sent around to mainstream publishers who are convinced there's no market for short stories, perhaps? Staying positive here, it's just heart-warming, reading all the responses. Apparently, Radio 4's Feedback programme will be dealing with the issue next Friday, July 29th, so do tune in. Have a great weekend - happy reading!

Celebrating the short story - Part 3

One lovely thing that has emerged from the fight to stop BBC Radio 4 cutting its once-daily Afternoon Reading short story program to once-weekly is the wealth of wonderful messages left by those signing the petition to protest the cuts. Here are a few:

"Short stories are gems that light up our lives. Please retain them on Radio 4. Readers, writers and listeners all have our lives enriched by short fiction. I urge you to reconsider and then reverse this extraordinary decision."

"My father went blind in his later years and relied on audio recordings. Yes, there are audio books but the whole point to the radio is to have an opportunity to taste the unexpected."

"I've been learning English by reading AND listening to short stories. Reducing the short story output on Radio damages not only the pleasure of the listeners but culture/education/learning also."

Radio 4 has always been a beacon of light in the world of the short story - why turn off that light when it costs so little and achieves so much?  

My husband doesn't really enjoy reading, but will happily listen to short stories on Radio 4 and will thoroughly enjoy them. If we're listening in the car we have stay there until the story is finished, even if we've reached our destination! Far too important to cut back.

"I LOVE the short story slot. I switch on my radio at 3.30pm purely for that and nothing else...I even listen to the end of Money Box Live so I don't miss the beginning of the story. It is the one moment in my day where I can switch off from everything else and enter another world. We all need stories: they make us understand the world in which we live. They persuade us to empathise, to see another perspective, to understand other cultures, to imagine ourselves in someone else's shoes. Stories are what make us human and interactive. Don't take them away."

Click here to read more comments... and don't forget to sign!

Some more story positivity - Vanessa's comment on my last blog post needed a bit more exposure:

...Philip Pullman, speaking last night in support of the Save Our Six Libraries initiative, came out strongly in support of story. And spoken story. And the importance of hearing fiction read, (he talked about children, but in context, in a celebration of language - and his remarks can equally be applied to radio, and adults...)

Yippee! Save the libraries too...

And finally, a great way to celebrate the short story is to send your own stories out into the world, so here are a few upcoming deadlines for you:

July 31st: Sean O'Faolain Short Story Prize: Judged this year by Ian Wild. Entry fee €15, US $20 or £15, up to 3000 words. Prize is €1,500 for the overall winner, €500 for 2nd prize and €120 for four shortlisted stories. Online or postal entry.

August 12th: Manchester Fiction Prize: Judged by Heather Beck, John Burnside, Alison MacLeod and Nicholas Royle . Entry fee £15, up to 3000 words. Prize is £10,000 for the overall winner. Online or postal entry. All work submitted for consideration must be the entrant's own original writing, and should not have appeared in print or appear on a website (including blogs and social networking sites) or have been broadcast, or be submitted for publication or consideration elsewhere, for the duration of the Manchester Fiction Prize (which is deemed to begin on the date of entry and end on Friday 14th October 2011)

Sept 21st: Glasswoman Prize: a work of short fiction or creative non-fiction (prose) written by a woman. No entry fee, 50  to 5000 words. Prize is $500 for the overall winner, €100 for 2nd prize and €50 for runner-up. Online entry. Subject is open, but must be of significance to women

Celebrating the short story

Sometimes the world seems to be even more insane than usual. Here in my small corner, the BBC's decision to cut its short story programming to once a week, beginning in November, which is NATIONAL SHORT STORY WEEK, smacks of complete lunacy. If you are a short story lover, please add your name to the petition to show them that there are many, many who care. More resources here on National Short Story Week and read the article in today's Independent, Susie McGuire's blog post, Jonathan Pinnock's post, and Clare Wigfall's post on Booktrust.

BUT - the best thing to do in the face of the decision by one of the world's largest commissioners of short stories is to CELEBRATE the short story even harder. And one of the best ways I can think of is to tell you how amazing ShortStoryVille was this past weekend in Bristol. Organized by the Bristol Short Story Prize, it was a half-day of panel discussions and readings at the Arnolfini arts centre, with so many fabulous writers: Sarah Salway, Alison MacLeod, Janice Galloway, Stuart Evers, Helen Oyeyemi, Gareth Powell, Emma Newman, Patricia Fergusion, Sarah Hilary, and Amy Mason - and other guests -  Bidisha, Scott Pack, David Hebblethwaite and Clare Hey - talking about short stories. Here are some pictures:

Bidisha talking to Sarah Salway, Alison MacLeod and Janice Galloway

Alison reading from one of her short stories from 15 Modern Tales of Attraction

Janice reading her short story, Where you Find It

 Sarah reading from her story The Woman Downstairs

 the panel I chaired on reading short stories, with Scott, David and Clare

Joe Spurgeon chatting to Stuart and Helen

 Sarah, Gareth, Amy and me reading.

Bristol Short Story Prize winner Emily Bullock!

I did promise to write about our Reading Short Stories panel discussion but having been part of it, I am finding it hard to recall exactly what we talked about so I have to rely on others! What I do remember is Scott Pack telling us he began his reading-a-short-story-per-day Me and My Stories project because he was trying to break his fixation on reading a whole book in one go...David Hebblethwaite likes to read anything and everything and gives a story at least a page to grab him before he abandons it, whereas Clare Hey of ShortFire Press gives a story only a few sentences. 

No-one, sadly, admitted to doing a little short story dance after reading an excellent story (no, I didn't really expect them too) and also there was no difference amongst the panel when reading stories online or in print. And in response to another, excellent, question, we all gave recommendations for further reading, including: Miranda July's No-One belongs Here More Than You (Clare), Nina Allen's A Thread of Truth (David), Ryan Boudinot's The Littlest Hitler (Scott) and Anthony Doerr's Memory wall(me).

For more, visit Vanessa Gebbie's blog to read her take on the day...And don't stop celebrating the short story, despite the apparent lunacy around us!

Help Save Short Stories on BBC Radio!

Following swiftly in the footsteps of the first short story festival in Bristol, UK, ShortStoryVille, which was hugely successful - comes the distressing news that BBC Radio 4, which until recently broadcast a short story in the Afternoon Reading programme 5 days a week, which was then reduced to 3 days a week - and now will be only once a week. This is the BBC - who only a few years ago was proud to announce the BBC National Short Story Award, and on their website say:

The BBC National Short Story Award, managed in partnership with Booktrust, continues to serve as a reminder of the power of the short story and to celebrate a literary form that is proving ever more versatile in the twenty first century, enjoyed not just on the page, on air and increasingly on every sort of screen, but also in flash fiction events, short story festivals and slams. The short story has moved beyond the revival of recent years and is now experiencing a golden age.

BBC Radio 4 is the world's leading broadcaster of short stories and a staunch and long-time supporter of the form. Short stories are broadcast every week, attracting over a million listeners.

BBC- you are a "staunch and long-time supporter", don't let us down now!

The Afternoon Reading has for many many years been a showcase not just for well-known writers but for new voices - on a personal note, it was my first "big break", the first time I felt I was taken seriously as a writer, coupled with the joy of hearing my story, The White Road, (later the title story of my first book) brought so wonderfully to life. Not only that, the payment the writer receives is no paltry sum and has formed a significant part of my writerly earnings in the years since.

There are many, many writers, listeners and readers who are very concerned about this development. Writer Susie McGuire and Ian, organiser of the UK's National Short Story Week, have formulated the following:

The new Controller of Radio 4, Gwyneth Williams, will be a guest on FEEDBACK on BBC Radio 4 next week. How very timely.
Would you add your name to a letter/question to ask her?
Would you pass on this email to other writers who care about the health of the short story…?

The more of us, & the better known the writers who sign it, the more likely it is to have some effect.

If so, please find below a short, polite question, proposed by Ian of http://www.nationalshortstoryweek.org.uk

Reminder: info on her decision to cut the short story’s presence on Radio 4 outlined here  http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/07_july/10/radio4.shtml

If you’d like to add your signature, please email YES to
ian AT shortstoryweek DOT org DOT uk

& cc to me: info AT susiemaguire DOT co DOT uk

NB – It would be really helpful if you could reply within 24 hours so that the question can be lodged as soon as possible. This is by no means the *only* action interested parties can take, but it’s a start, and I hope you might add your weight to it with this (and further suggestions are welcomed)
thanks
Susie

*******************
Proposed question:
We were surprised and disappointed to learn of the decision to reduce the short story output on Radio 4 to once a week from next spring. Radio 4 has been a great champion of the short story for many years. It is one of very few places in the UK where both new and established writers can have their short stories broadcast to a large audience, and where radio listeners can enjoy readings of the short story form. This move comes at a time when interest in the short story is growing, but paid opportunities for short story writers are still scarce. Could Gwyneth Williams please explain:
1) what has led her to make this decision?
2) whether the short stories on Radio 4 extra will be new commissions or repeats of existing recordings?
3) how this decision fits with the BBC’s sponsorship of the National Short Story Award (and indeed if this will continue?)

If you are moved to do so, please take action, following the instructions outlined above. Signatories so far include:

Clare Wigfall

Sara Maitland

Philip Pullman

Nicholas Royle

Vivian French

James Robertson

Michael Holroyd

Jane Rusbridge

Dr Charles Smith

Sarah Hall

Sarah Hilary

Vanessa Gebbie

Jill Dawson

Lucinda Byatt

Maggie Gee

Sarah Sheridan (Soc of A, Scotland)

Tania Hershman (Ed, The Short Review)

Helena Nelson (publisher, Happenstance)

Morag Joss

Lola Perrin

Jules Horne

Suzanne Bellenger

Richard Beard (Nat Academy of Writing)

Ali Bacon

Nicky Parker, (Publisher, Amnesty)

Dan Powell 

Ian Cundell

Kathleen Langley

John Courtney-Grimwood

Wendy Ann Greenhalgh

Alison Wells

James Wall

K E Bergdoll

Linda Cracknell

Jonathan Pinnock (also see his FB links)

Sarah Salway

Alison MacLeod

Louis Winters

Emily Dubberly

Karen Whiteson

Griff Griffiths

Sara Schofield

Ian Macpherson

Stella Burchill

(and counting...)

Please join us!

ADDENDUM: There is now an online petition here - please sign!

Talking about Science on Radio 4

I was thrilled last week to be invited to take part  - along with Dr Ben Goldacre and Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock - in a discussion on Radio 4's Off the Page program entitled "Blinded by Science". It was broadcast today at 1.30pm and is available on iPlayer for 7 more days.

I got the chance to talk about being writer-in-residence in the Bristol University labs, and I read out the first short story I've written inspired by being where science is done - not sure what the scientists I am embedding with will make of it!

Hope you enjoy it, I think it was an interesting discussion!

Flash! It's all over... almost

I can't tell you what an amazing feeling it was hearing 16 of my tiny stories being brought to life over three fabulous days on Radio 4. I feel so unbelievably lucky  - what did i do to deserve this? (Rhetorical question, no need to answer!). I feel like I will bask in this glow for quite a while.

And even though I got up at 5.45am this morning to go to London and be a guest on the Radio 4 Off the page program, talking about science (was I coherent? We'll find out when it's broadcast next Thursday!), my utter exhaustion couldn't diminish the delight.

If you'd still like to listen, all three programs are now available on iPlayer, here is the link. I have had some wonderful responses from people I know and from those I don't know - and am not related to in any way - so thank you all for your support, especially my Twitter pals! It has just increased my joy!

And to pass on that joy I am giving away three signed copies of The White Road and Other Stories...I did a giveaway of the first copy on Tuesday, was too tired yesterday, so today I am giving away two more. Here's your fiendishly difficult question:

Which writer is rumoured to have said something like "If I had more time, I would have written a shorter story (or perhaps letter)? [Hint: Google will help.]

Post your answer in the comments and I will pick two winners from today and one from Tuesday and let you all know tomorrow - or perhaps Monday.

Got a very busy four days... I really need a holiday! I am reading as part of the Oxfam 24-hour read-a-thon on Monday at the Oxfam shop on Marylebone High Street in London from 1pm-1.20pm, if you're in the area...I'm squeezed between some Big Names, apparently - I imagine I might be the only author to read 6 short short stories in 20 minutes!

Flash! Day Two...

I had such a busy day today, was organising an "Artistic Science & Scientific Art" seminar at the University - which went very very well - and so I couldn't listen live to the second day of my flash stories on Radio 4. Probably just as well, I didn't get much done in the two frantic hours before the broadcast yesterday! So I just listened to them now, and it was just wonderful, in a different way from yesterday, 4 stories instead of 6, and perhaps the most odd of all my flashes. I got the loveliest email today from a teacher who asked if she could use that most odd of the flashes in her Theatre Studies class with Sixth Form students - what better response could I ask for? I am dying to know what her class thinks of it!

Anyhow, am too tired now to do the free book giveaway, will give away 2 copies tomorrow, after the third and final program, which I am rushing back from London to hear live. What a week! Days 1 and 2 can be heard online here.

Flash! has lift off! Win a free book...

I just listened to the first Afternoon Reading program with my flash stories and I am feeling quite emotional. The readers, Nicola & Tom, and Jeremy, the producer, at Sweet Talk, did the most wonderful job, I thought. Thanks all of you for the lovely messages through Twitter and other channels! Can't wait for tomorrow's program. If you missed today's, check here shortly, you should be able to hear it again for the next 7 days.

Now for that book give away! To win a signed copy of The White Road and Other Stories, the easy question is: Which stories from today's broadcast are taken from the book? (Hint: the list of stories is on the BBC, and the book's Table of Contents is here.) Leave a comment below and I'll pick a winner at the end of the week. Happy Flash!