Sunday, 26 July 2009

Lit Station

I've just had some bad news that Hendree and Jim at Lit Station are calling it quits and they wont be carrying the podcast on their streaming radio station any more. I've really enjoyed working with them, and they have provided a fantastic service, and have driven many new listeners to the podcast itself.

I'm in the process of looking for other streaming solutions for the podcast and other outlets.

Sunday, 25 January 2009

Apples and Snakes

Episode 74. Interviews with Emma McGordan and Charlie Jordan.

I was asked a few months ago if I'd podcast a group of Apples and Snakes poets as they go from project inception, through poetry residences and on to the tour that would mark the end of the project.

Late last year, episode 49, was an edit of interview with most of those who were involved in the project, and today's episode is the first episode to grow out of that project.

Emma's project seems quite fleshed out and she seems to be well on her way to informing her writing about 'Place', Charlie, who seems to have a firm grip on where she wants to go with her piece has a bit more work to do on forming her residency, and two of the three other poets seem to have made a lot of inroads and have even begun producing work.

I feel a little out of control (more so than normal!) in that I usually meet face to face with my interviews at the Festival Hall, and so am in a controlled environment, my first contact with these poets is over Skype - and I'm relying on them having five or ten minutes to spare, and being in a relatively quiet place when I call - to get some good quality recordings.

The next phase of my involvement in this project is to go out and visit the poets in their places - so even less control!

Monday, 5 January 2009

The Twelve Days of Christmas

... my true love gave to me....

OK, day twelve, and christmas is officially over, as is my podcasting extravaganza - I posted twelve podcasts, one for every day of the season - three months worth of material crammed into just less than two weeks.

We have had poetry from Ingrid Andrew, Helen Gregory, AF Harrold, Aoife Mannix, Richard Rathwell, Shakespeare (or at least Audery West and the cast of her play The Dark Lady Speaks), Simon Freedman, Richard Tyrone Jones, Jeffa Kay, Rose McKnight, Naomi Woddis and John 'Jazzman' Clarke.

I'd like to thank all of those who've taken part in the show, provided material, or time to make this whole thing possible - it is very much appreciated.



Having a splurge like this helps me out too - I've been a bit gung-ho with organising my interviews, and have built up an enormous stockpile of material, which means there is a long gap between recording an interview and that interview airing - which isn't fair on the artist, to have to wait, in the case of the above poets, Helen Gregory was interviewed at the Glastonbury Festival, July 21st 2008, and the interview aired at the end of December 2008 - a six month backlog.

Having got out three months of material, I've managed to reduce that gap down to a five month backlog - still not perfect, but it has inspired me to do something similar for the 2nd birthday of the podcast, which is coming up in March.

More news when I have it.

Saturday, 18 October 2008

ukPoetryPodcast episode 51

wooo! Nearly there, episode 52 will mark a full years worth of programming - although the show has been running for eighteen months now, I went through a name change after a dozen episodes, and adopted the new name, in October last year.

I'm really happy with what I've done, with the poets I've interviewed, and of course, with you , dear audience!

I've been keeping a little something in reserve for the anniversary show, and by quirk of fate, it also happens to be the last show I can do 'live' so to speak, prior to my wedding.

What I will do next weekend is post three shows, all dated for the weeks they should be coming out, and with three special guests. Award winners, one of them, household names, some of them, and fantastic poets, all of them.

I'm really looking forward to the next few episodes, so tune in for Tim Turnbull, Lemn Sissay and John Hegley and help me celebrate a years worth of podcasts

More from Speechless tour

Speechless

Have a read about what the poets have been up to this week following the podcast

Saturday, 4 October 2008

well earned break

today is the last day I'll be doing interviews for the next six weeks. My wedding is rapidly approaching and I need some time to prepare !

Today I'm squeezing in three poets Alan Buckley, Agnes Meadowes and Phillip Herbert which should keep me out of trouble!

Sunday, 28 September 2008

Poetry Library Collection

As you may know, I usually record my interviews at the South Bank Centre, Royal Festival Hall.

Permission to record there has been granted by the South Bank Centre Press Office, with the aid of the staff at the Poetry Library. In exchange for that I will be donating copies of the Podcast, on CD, to the library. A very fair exchange.

Being a stickler for making sure I've got everything in place before I do anything - it's taken me nearly six months since agreeing with the Librarian, to actually start burning discs! - I'm half way through them today, and will have 30 of the 47 episodes in the Library from next Saturday.

It feels like a big step forward for the podcast - knowing that there will be a permanent record of the poetry that this show has produced, available for anyone to listen.

Why is the Librarian interested in the podcast? Chris McCabe (a fantastic poet in his own right) has an interest in poetry ephemera - starting with the pamphlets and newsletters produced by the surrealists in the early parts of the 20th century.

Podcasting isn't much different, throwaway recordings for the early part of the twenty first century - and I suppose some of it is worthwhile preserving.