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A monthly podcast dedicated to celebrating the literary short story and all things bookish. Bite-size short fiction for writers and readers everywhere. Listen to a short story or interview on the 1st of each month at 12:00am. Hosted by Tabitha Potts and Martin Nathan open to established, new and emerging writers in the English language. Always free to submit. We are a small organisation run by volunteer writers and producers (Tabitha Potts and Martin Nathan) hoping to benefit the writing community. Our eventual aim is to be self-funding and to pay our writers and actors for each short story we produce. Visit our Patreon if you would like to support our work and access exclusive content. Send us your stories Visit the Submissions page on our website https://www.storyradio.org Or contact Tabitha Potts at submit@storyradio.org About us Tabitha Potts is a writer living in East London. She has had several short stories published in print and online and short-listed for various awards, most recently the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize. In a previous life, she was a BBC Radio Drama producer. Read more at http://www.tabithapotts.com. Martin Nathan has worked as a labourer, showman, pancake chef, fire technician, and a railway engineer. His short fiction has been published by Tangent Press, HCE and Grist and his poetry has appeared in Finished Creatures, Erbacce and Aesthetica. His novel – A Place of Safety is published by Salt Publishing. Website: http://www.martinnathan.co.uk

Location:

United States

Description:

A monthly podcast dedicated to celebrating the literary short story and all things bookish. Bite-size short fiction for writers and readers everywhere. Listen to a short story or interview on the 1st of each month at 12:00am. Hosted by Tabitha Potts and Martin Nathan open to established, new and emerging writers in the English language. Always free to submit. We are a small organisation run by volunteer writers and producers (Tabitha Potts and Martin Nathan) hoping to benefit the writing community. Our eventual aim is to be self-funding and to pay our writers and actors for each short story we produce. Visit our Patreon if you would like to support our work and access exclusive content. Send us your stories Visit the Submissions page on our website https://www.storyradio.org Or contact Tabitha Potts at submit@storyradio.org About us Tabitha Potts is a writer living in East London. She has had several short stories published in print and online and short-listed for various awards, most recently the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize. In a previous life, she was a BBC Radio Drama producer. Read more at http://www.tabithapotts.com. Martin Nathan has worked as a labourer, showman, pancake chef, fire technician, and a railway engineer. His short fiction has been published by Tangent Press, HCE and Grist and his poetry has appeared in Finished Creatures, Erbacce and Aesthetica. His novel – A Place of Safety is published by Salt Publishing. Website: http://www.martinnathan.co.uk

Language:

English


Episodes

Outing by Simon Roberts

2/29/2024
A student goes on a day trip to the seaside with his mum, and ends up learning a great deal more about himself - and her. This story was written and read by Simon Roberts. Simon Roberts is currently based in West London and writes short stories and flash fiction. He was longlisted for the 2022 Fish Short Story Prize. He has read his work on Riverside Radio, London’s largest community radio station. Simon also writes for the theatre; his adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s 1947 novel The Slaves of Solitude will be produced by the Questors Theatre in 2024. This episode was produced by Tabitha Potts, writer and podcaster. She recently received an Honourable Mention in the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck University and a First in English Language and Literature from Oxford University. Read her short story collection here or visit her website. Photo by Tabitha Potts. Seaside sounds used in the recording were courtesy of Yarmonics on Freesound.org. This episode contains some sexual swearwords so has been marked as explicit.

Duration:00:16:19

Jane Labous Past Participle Interview

1/31/2024
Listen to an interview with Jane Labous and hear her reading from her new novel, Past Participle, published by Afsana Press. Dakar, Senegal, 1987: On a rainy night after a wild party, the British ambassador’s wife, Vivienne Hughes, is involve in a car crash. Her vehicle hits the motorbike of a young Senegalese doctor, Aimé Tunkara, killing him. Pleading diplomatic immunity, Vivienne and her husband flee to England. Three decades later, Aimé’s little sister, Lily Tunkara, now a high-flying lawyer in Dakar, finds a photograph that compels her to investigate what really happened that rainy night. As Lily faces increasing hostility from the local community, she turns to Vivienne Hughes, the only remaining witness, but is either woman prepared for the truth to emerge? Past Participle is the story of two women bound together by the faultlines of the past, a study of love and guilt, power and desire, retribution and forgiveness. Jane Labous is an award-winning author, BBC journalist and broadcaster known for her frontline coverage of human rights and gender issues, always telling the powerful human stories behind the headlines. Jane read English & French at Jesus College, Oxford, before working for the UK and international press and INGOs, most often out of Dakar, Senegal. This while developing her creative art as a writer, filmmaker and novelist, drawing on her insider knowledge of the aid sector and foreign journalism, and her unique experience of both expat and local family life in Ngor, Dakar. Jane's credits span a vista of international outlets, including The Independent, Voice of America, Geographical, The LA Times, BBC Africa and BBC Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent. She has also worked as a writer and filmmaker for aid/humanitarian agencies including the UN, the World Health Organisation, Save The Children, and Amnesty International. She has won the BBC Radio 4 and Royal Geographical Society Documentary Award, the Merck More than a Mother Media Recognition & Film Award for Francophone African Countries, and a European Journalism Centre Development Reporting Grant. Her fiction has been longlisted for the Bath Novel Prize and the Santa Fé Writers' Project Literary Award. This episode was produced by Tabitha Potts, writer and podcaster. She recently received an Honourable Mention in the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck University and a First in English Language and Literature from Oxford University. Read her short story collection here or visit her website.

Duration:00:45:06

Fantasy: Realms of Imagination interview with Matthew Sangster and Tanya Kirk of the British Library

12/31/2023
Tabitha Potts and Martin Nathan interview the lead curator and guest curator of the British Library’s blockbuster exhibition, Fantasy: Realms of Imagination, Tanya Kirk and Matthew Sangster. The exhibition runs until 25th February 2024 and tickets can be booked here. The exhibition has been critically acclaimed with a five star review in The Telegraph, ‘a visually captivating treat’, and has been featured in The Guardian, The I Newspaper, Apollo Magazine and BBC Radio 4: Front Row to name a few. We interviewed both curators about the process of assembling an exhibition featuring over 100 objects that spans the breadth of a genre as varied as Fantasy, from its roots in epics and mythology to contemporary writers like Neil Gaiman and Susanna Clarke. Tanya Kirk, Lead Curator, Printed Heritage Collections 1601-1900, has worked at the British Library for 16 years, currently as the leading expert on 300 years of the Library’s printed collections. She has curated six major exhibitions on topics including Gothic fiction, Shakespeare in performance, the British landscape in literature, science fiction and most recently, Fantasy: Realms of Imagination. She is the editor of four Christmas-themed collections of short stories in the British Library’s Tales of the Weird series. With Matthew, she co-edited Realms of Imagination: Essays from the Wide Worlds of Fantasy (2023). Matthew Sangster joined the University of Glasgow in 2016 and was promoted to Professor of Romantic Studies, Fantasy and Cultural History in 2022. Prior to that Matthew worked at the British Library cataloguing the archive of the Royal Literary Fund and contributing to the exhibitions The Worlds of Mervyn Peake in 2011 and Writing Britain: Wastelands to Wonderlands in 2012. Matthew is the author of Living as an Author in the Romantic Period (2021) and An Introduction to Fantasy (2023); co-director of Glasgow’s Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic (with Dimitra Fimi); and a founding co-editor (with Brian Attebery and Dimitra Fimi) of the Bloomsbury Perspectives on Fantasy series. This episode was produced by Martin Nathan. Martin Nathan’s short fiction and poetry has appeared in a range of journals and his novel – A Place of Safety is published by Salt Publishing. His dramatic writing has been shortlisted for the Nick Darke award and the Woodward International Prize. Episode cover image adapted from Carceri Etchings, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, (17501761) © British Library Board

Duration:00:46:09

The Watchers by Kae Hart

11/30/2023
A young woman watches over her little sister in a polluted dystopian world where her scientific knowledge is her only weapon. The story was written by Kae Hart. Kae is a university student who learned to speak by telling stories to everyone who would listen. The cashier at the local grocery store was her first fan. Since then, she has written stories, poems, and novels, and hopes to continue to do so. This episode was produced by Tabitha Potts, writer and podcaster. She recently received an Honourable Mention in the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck University and a First in English Language and Literature from Oxford University. Read her short story collection here or visit her website. The photo used is by Kvaale at Morguefile..com. S: Beautiful Romantic Piano by UNIVERSFIELD | License: Attribution 4.0

Duration:00:09:18

Dust and Oranges by Nicholas Batura

10/31/2023
This Halloween, rather than encountering ghosts and ghouls, we explore the horrors of war. A little girl sneaks out of her family home to buy a birthday gift for her mother, a decision that changes her life forever. Nicholas Batura lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, with his rad wife and their rescue pit bulls. When he’s not writing, he can be found on the jiu jitsu mats, or working through the secrets found in a bottle of wine. This episode was produced by Tabitha Potts. Photo by pawankawan at Morguefile.com S: Beautiful Romantic Piano by UNIVERSFIELD | License: Attribution 4.0

Duration:00:12:16

Dirty Chicken and Rice by Simon Roberts

9/30/2023
In this darkly comic and moving story, two young flatmates prepare and eat their favourite comfort food, dirty chicken and rice, at a time when there isn't much comfort to be had. Simon Roberts is currently based in West London and writes short stories and flash fiction. He was longlisted for the 2022 Fish Short Story Prize. He has read his work on Riverside Radio, London’s largest community radio station. Simon also writes for the theatre; his adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's 1947 novel The Slaves of Solitude will be produced by the Questors Theatre in 2024. Photo Credit: Jerry Pank Cookipedia.co.uk Copyright: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Duration:00:17:29

The Book of Beginnings: interview with Sally Page

8/31/2023
The Story Radio team interview Sally Page, best-selling author of The Keeper of Stories, whose new novel The Book of Beginnings has just been published by HarperCollins. We talk to her about stationery, fountain pens, romance and ghosts. The Book of Beginnings tells the story of Jo, who is hiding from her past when she agrees to run her uncle’s beloved stationery shop. Glimpsing the lives of her customers between the warm wooden shelves, as they scribble little notes and browse colourful notebooks, distracts her from her bruised heart. When she meets Ruth, a vicar running from a secret, and Malcolm, a septuagenarian still finding himself, she suddenly realizes she isn’t alone. They each have a story that can transform Jo’s life… if only she can let them in. This episode was produced by Martin Nathan. Martin Nathan’s short fiction and poetry has appeared in a range of journals and his novel – A Place of Safety is published by Salt Publishing. His dramatic writing has been shortlisted for the Nick Darke award and the Woodward International Prize. After studying history at university, Sally Page moved to London to work in advertising. In her spare time she studied floristry at night school and eventually opened her own flower shop. Sally came to appreciate that flower shops offer a unique window into people’s stories and she began to photograph and write about this floral life in a series of non-fiction books. Later, she continued her interest in writing when she founded her fountain pen company, Plooms.co.uk. In her debut novel, The Keeper of Stories, Sally combined her love of history and writing with her abiding interest in the stories people have to tell. In her second novel, The Book of Beginnings Sally draws on her love of stationery. Sally now lives in Dorset. Her eldest daughter, Alex, is studying to be a doctor and her younger daughter is the author, Libby Page. Both are keen wild swimmers.

Duration:00:25:41

Waking the Dead: Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park

7/31/2023
This month we are featuring short stories and flash fiction written at a creative writing workshop in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. The stories are loosely inspired by the gravestones of people who were buried in the cemetery. They include Charlie Brown, boxer and publican, Alec Hurley, boxer, singer and husband of Marie Lloyd, the Woods family, who all died from influenza leaving only one surviving child and Maurice O'Connor, a workhouse doctor who committed suicide in mysterious circumstances. Thank you to all the writers who participated in the workshop for lending us your imagination for the day, and to Claire Slack the Heritage Officer for telling us the compelling real-life stories of some of the people buried in the cemetery park. This episode contains swearwords so has been marked as explicit.

Duration:00:27:33

Pure at Heart by Patricia Furstenberg

6/30/2023
A young girl is fascinated by the story of a magical being hidden in the forest outside her home, and goes out at night to look for her. Written by Patrica Furstenberg and read by Lysandra Furstenberg. With a medical degree behind her, writer and poet Patricia Furstenberg authored 18 books imbued with history, folklore, legends. The recurrent motives in her writing are unconditional love and war. Her essays and poetry appeared in various online literary magazines. Romanian born, she resides with her family in South Africa. Follow her on Twitter @patfurstenberg Find her on Facebook patriciafurstenbergauthor The story was produced by Tabitha Potts. Photo credit swatcop on Morguefile.com.

Duration:00:10:35

Interview with Tracey Rose Peyton author of Night Wherever We Go

5/31/2023
Martin Nathan and Tabitha Potts interview Tracey Rose Peyton about her beautiful and heart-breaking debut novel, Night Wherever We Go, published by The Borough Press. Night Wherever We Go is an intimate look at the domestic lives of enslaved women in 1800s America, and an evocative meditation on resistance and autonomy, on love and transcendence and the bonds of female friendship in the darkest of circumstances. It tells the tale of six women who are forced to become impregnated by their owners but decide to take matters into their own hands to prevent this from happening. Review by Sarah Waters - ‘a haunting evocation of the routine brutalities of slavery that is also a powerful celebration of friendship, community, resilience and rebellion. A hugely impressive debut.’ Tracey Rose Peyton also reads from her novel for us. This episode was produced by Martin Nathan. Martin Nathan has worked as a labourer, showman, pancake chef, fire technician, and railway engineer. His short fiction has been published by Tangent Press, HCE and Grist and his poetry has appeared in Finished Creatures, Erbacce and Aesthetica. His novel – A Place of Safety – is published by Salt Publishing. In 2020 he was shortlisted for the Woodward International Playwriting Prize and the Nick Darke Award.

Duration:00:29:57

Dogs by S P Murphy

4/30/2023
A woman at home with her baby during lockdown hears the unsettling sound of dogs fighting in the street. It isn't long before she is in danger herself - and she has to decide how to fight back. Dogs by S P Murphy was first published in Litro Magazine. S. P. Murphy is an American writer and arts consultant living in London. He has served on the board of PEN America and the Victoria and Albert Museum. He writes short stories and contributes articles on culture and politics to various publications. He is working on his first novel, a love story set in the US in 1970, when the nation was, like today, tragically divided. This episode was produced by Tabitha Potts.

Duration:00:33:23

Interview with author Ava Glass and reading from The Chase

3/31/2023
Martin Natha interviews spy insider turned author Ava Glass about her debut novel, The Chase, published by Penguin. Listen to this podcast to find out more about how Glass found her inspiration, and hear her talking about how she structured her novel which has been highly praised by various critics for its gripping plot and breathless pace. She also reads from The Chase for Story Radio. 'A thrilling read ... I could not have loved it more!' Lisa Jewell 'A high-octane, warp-speed thriller' Guardian This episode was produced by Martin Nathan. Martin Nathan has worked as a labourer, showman, pancake chef, fire technician, and railway engineer. His short fiction has been published by Tangent Press, HCE and Grist and his poetry has appeared in Finished Creatures, Erbacce and Aesthetica. His novel – A Place of Safety - is published by Salt Publishing. In 2020 he was shortlisted for the Woodward International Playwriting Prize and the Nick Darke Award.

Duration:00:31:42

Interview with Helen Fields author of The Institution

2/28/2023
In this episode Martin Nathan and Tabitha Potts speak to best-selling crime novelist Helen Fields, criminal law barrister turned writer, about her new book The Institution. The Institution is a nail-biting psychological thriller about a criminal profiler, Dr Connie Woolwine, who goes undercover in a high security prison hospital while she tries to solve the brutal murder of one of the nurses, and find her missing child. Helen also reads the opening chapter of The Institution. Content warning: some listeners might find this distressing. This episode was produced by Martin Nathan.

Duration:00:40:21

A terrible thing has happened by Elinora Westfall

2/1/2023
It is March 1941 during the Second World War, and a young evacuee, Tabitha, is fascinated by the stories about a famous author who lives nearby. Content warning: contains references to suicide. The story is written and read by Elinora Westfall. Influenced by David Bowie, Virginia Woolf and Sally Wainwright, Elinora Westfall is a lesbian writer of stage, screen, fiction, poetry and radio from the UK. Her novel, Everland, was selected for the Penguin and Random House WriteNow Editorial Programme, and her short films have been selected by Pinewood Studios & Lift-Off Sessions, Cannes Film Festival, Raindance Film Festival, Camden Fringe Festival and Edinburgh Fringe Festival, while her theatre and audio shows have been selected by The British Library and performed in London's West End and on Broadway, where she won the award for Best Monologue. The story was produced by Tabitha Potts. Music used courtesy of Timbre of Freesound.org Photo of Virginia Woolf By George Charles Beresford - Filippo Venturi Photography Blog, Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50293324

Duration:00:17:06

Life in the dressing room of the theatre

12/31/2022
This short story is about a young woman whose heart is stolen by a mysterious magician. The story is written and read by Elinora Westfall. Influenced by David Bowie, Virginia Woolf and Sally Wainwright, Elinora Westfall is an Australian/British lesbian actress and writer of stage, screen, fiction, poetry and radio from the UK. Her novel, Everland has been selected for the Penguin and Random House WriteNow 2021 Editorial Programme, and her short films have been selected by Pinewood Studios & Lift-Off Sessions, Cannes Film Festival, Raindance Film Festival, Camden Fringe Festival and Edinburgh Fringe Festival, while her theatre shows have been performed in London's West End and on Broadway, where she won the award for Best Monologue. Elinora is also working on The Art of Almost, a lesbian comedy-drama radio series as well as writing a television drama series and the sequel to her novel, Everland. The story was produced by Tabitha Potts.

Duration:00:04:34

Interview with Greg Mosse and Kate Mosse

11/30/2022
Tabitha Potts and Martin Nathan interview best-selling novelist and short story writer Kate Mosse and playwright and debut novelist Greg Mosse, whose novel The Coming Darkness (Moonflower Books) is publishing on the 10th November. Early praise for Greg Mosse's dystopian thriller have included Lee Child's review: "Greg Mosse writes like John le Carre's hip grandson" We interviewed both writers about their writing techniques in a wide-ranging discussion of their work. Kate Mosse is the best-selling author of ten novels and short story collections including the multimillion-selling Languedoc Trilogy - Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel - and Gothic fiction including The Winter Ghosts and The Taxidermist's Daughter, which she has adapted for the stage for 2022. Greg Mosse is currently the founder and leader of the Criterion New Writing script development programme at the Criterion Theatre, London, Since 2015, he has written and produced 25 plays and musicals, often in collaboration. During the coronavirus lockdowns, he wrote two-and-a-half novels, of which The Coming Darkness will be the first to be published. The producer was Tabitha Potts. She is a writer living in East London. She has had several short stories published in print and online and short-listed for various awards, most recently the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize. In a previous life, she was a BBC Radio Drama producer. Read more at http://www.tabithapotts.com.

Duration:00:51:00

Interview with Amanda Owen, the Yorkshire Shepherdess

10/31/2022
In this episode, Martin Nathan interviews Amanda Owen, the Yorkshire Shepherdess, about what writing means to her, and she reads an extract from her new book, Celebrating the Seasons with the Yorkshire Shepherdess, about the harsh but rewarding realities of living in tune with the seasons on one of the highest, most remote hill farms in the country. A best-selling author, Amanda is also a full-time shepherdess with 800 sheep, a vintage tractor owner, sheepdog breeder, conservationist (the farm is a haven for nesting birds such as curlews and lapwings), horsewoman, and mother of nine. Amanda and her family have worked the rugged land at Ravenseat Farm in Swaledale on the Yorkshire Cumbria boarder for more than 25 years and are passionate caretakers of the countryside. This episode was produced by Martin Nathan. Martin Nathan’s short fiction and poetry has appeared in a range of journals and his novel – A Place of Safety is published by Salt Publishing. His dramatic writing has been shortlisted for the Nick Darke award and the Woodward International Prize.

Duration:00:44:49

Eventide by Kae Hart

9/30/2022
A young woman spends time with her younger sister Anya in a deserted playground, while wrestling with her inner demons. The story was written by Kae Hart. Kae is a university student who learned to speak by telling stories to everyone who would listen. The cashier at the local grocery store was her first fan. Since then, she has written stories, poems, and novels, and hopes to continue to do so. The story was read by Claire Lubert. Claire has been working for Humanitarian Organisations for the last eight years (currently Médecins Sans Frontières). She is also involved in writing projects and is a voice artist, having previously trained at Rada and worked as an actor in TV, Film and theatre. She is based in SW London. Eventide was produced by Tabitha Potts. The photograph used in this episode is courtesy of Cherie Durbin.

Duration:00:10:50

Killing the Serpent by Doug Jacquier

8/31/2022
A young Australian boy learns some difficult lessons about temptation and faith when he meets another boy from a local religious cult. This story was written and read by Doug Jacquier. He has lived in many places across Australia, including regional and remote communities, and has travelled extensively overseas. His poems and stories have been published in Australia, the US, the UK and Canada. He blogs at Six Crooked Highways. This episode was produced by Tabitha Potts. Recording of artist Jimmie P Rodgers under Creative Commons License 0 from qubodup at Freesound.org Photo by Vintage Film Pics at Morguefile.com.

Duration:00:11:00

The Glass Wall by Goran Baba Ali

8/1/2022
Goran Baba Ali, author of The Glass Wall, talks to Martin Nathan, Tabitha Potts and Miki Lentin about his novel and reads a brief extract. The Glass Wall is about a teenage refugee who must relive the pain of his past to enter the land waiting behind a glass wall. Will his story be convincing enough to guarantee his safety? Goran Baba Ali has written and published various literary and journalistic works in Kurdish, Dutch and English. The Glass Wall is his debut novel in the English language. As an ex-refugee, originally from Iraqi Kurdistan, he has personally experienced some of the protagonist’s hardship in this novel, including a few weeks living in a desert. The producer of this episode was Martin Nathan. Sound effects taken from Freesound.org and licensed under the Creative Commons 0 license.

Duration:00:35:33