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Wednesday 11th September
Noon & 8pm & 4am
PLAYS/DRAMA
CORMORANT BY SARAH HUTCHINGS and HIL COOKE
Unworldly John and injured sailor, McKinney wash up on an uninhabited island, the only survivors of a terrifying shipwreck. When the pair is finally rescued John isolates himself in an anonymous bed-sit owned by the grotesque Mrs Paskins. Haunted by the sounds of the island, he shies away from human contact communing only with the disturbing voices in his dreams. John’s new neighbour Crow sees life through a haze of delusional paranoia and finds it hard to respect John’s need for solitude. Edgy, secretive John is the perfect focus for Crow’s over-active imagination and he becomes obsessed with investigating John’s nocturnal rituals. However, his surveillance soon turns to clumsy overtures of friendship. Despite his protestations John is forced to turn to Crow for help when his ‘voices’ start to blur his sense of reality.
1pm & 9pm & 5am
IN CONVERSATION…ROBERT COOVER
Robert Coover has been described by The New York Times as, “one of America’s quirkiest writers, if by ‘quirky’ we mean an unwillingness to abide by ordinary fictional rules and a conviction that a novel is primarily a verbal artefact unconvertible to other media.” His novel, The Public Burning, is a long and fantastic fictional account of the events surrounding the executions for espionage of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1952, whose principal narrator identifies himself as the then-Vice President of the United States, Richard Milhous Nixon. His other publications include Spanking the Maid, Gerald’s Party, Pinocchio in Venice, and Briar Rose.
2pm & 10pm & 6am
POETRY…AUGUST KLEINZAHLER
August Kleinzahler‘s poetry is described by the New York Times as “a modernist swirl of sex, surrealism, urban life and melancholy with a jazzy back beat. His personality combines Allen Ginsberg’s goofball charm and Norman Mailer’s inveterate pugnacity.” He has published eight books of poetry,
3pm & 11pm & 7am
GORGEOUS WOMEN
Women – we are the gentler sex or the deadlier of the species but universally it is agreed that we are good talkers, as Radio Gorgeous aptly delivers for ABR. Sometimes frivolous but always fabulous and today features LOUISE PENNY, best selling Canadian author and JODY DAY, the Founder of Gateway Women – the global friendship and support network for childless-by-circumstance women. Her book ‘Rocking the Life Unexpected’ introduces some radically new ways for childless women, and those who care about them, to think and feel about their situation.
4pm & Midnight & 8am
SHERLOCK HOLMES CLASSICS
ABR is proud to present two classic episodes, this time starring Tom Conway as Holmes. ‘The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor’ is followed by ‘The Boscombe Valley Mystery.’
We close the hour with an author interview from KOBO and today’s guest is JOWITA BYDLOWSKA.
5pm & 1am & 9am
SPARK LONDON
The concept is stand out simple. Real people telling real stories. Today’s are: Nobody’s Home by Alisdair Hurst, Down Post Office Lane by Andy Bodle and The Rabbit by Glen Long.
A WORD IN YOUR EAR
Word in Your Ear are a Bath based collective of writers who gather to tell their stories. They liked the way our ancestors enjoyed stories – by listening to them. We totally agree with them so let’s have a listen to: Winners and Losers by Pauline Mawurel and Black Sheep by Hannah Teasdale.
TAKE FIVE
We asked the same five questions to a range of writers – today it’s…POLLY COURTNEY, the bright and engaging novelist and commentator whose brilliant latest novel, Feral Youth, is critically acclaimed as both book and audio book.
6pm & 2am & 10am
HOLLYWOOD STAGE
Hollywood is indelibly printed in our minds as a go to place for entertainment and has been for decades. We take you back in time as The Hollywood ringmaster himself, CECIL B DE MILLE unveils…The Perfect Specimen featuring ERROL FLYNN.
7pm & 3am & 11am
SHORT STORIES
GEORGIE PORGIE BY RUDYARD KIPLING. READ BY EDWARD FOX.
A man breaks his promise to his Burmese wife, whom he bought essentially as a housekeeper. He bemoans his low station in such a remote colonial outpost, however, and returns to England to marry a proper British wife before moving to India and a higher diplomatic posting. The faithful Burmese wife, thinking he is in danger, seeks him out and follows him to India.
THE GARDEN OF TRUTH BY E. NESBIT. READ BY HARRIET WALTER.
Edith Nesbit was an English author and poet whose children’s works were published under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a precursor to the modern Labour Party. She is regarded by some as the first ‘modern writer for children’ but this short story can certainly be enjoyed and appreciated by adults as well.
Noon & 8pm & 4am
PLAYS/DRAMA
The Constant (Part 2 of 2) by Kenley Kristofferson
The Constant is a radio play about five friends and a new city. Two years earlier, life was easy in their rural town – everyone was who they were and life was simpler. At the nexus of life’s great turning points, people either grow together or grow apart. No one could have expected that their move to the big city would affect their lifelong relationships so much, or end one of their lives.
This original show by Kenley Kristofferson is a heartfelt, grown-up coming-of-age tale with a fresh youthful sound with an expansive soundtrack featuring bands, singers and songwriters located in the region of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Does the city change people, or do people become who they really are when they leave their small town? Does the anonymity of the city allow you to discover yourself away from the prying eyes of your hometown culture? Or does it corrupt you when you go outside the bounds of what you’ve known? We explore these issues in… “The Constant.”
1pm & 9pm & 5am
IN CONVERSATION… TREVOR PAGLEN
Trevor Paglen is a photographer whose work deliberately blurs the lines between science, contemporary art, journalism, and other disciplines in order to fashion painstaking and unbeknownst researched methods to decipher the world in which we live. His subjects include experimental geography, state secrecy, military symbology, and visuality. He is the author of many books,, the most recent of which is The Last Pictures which explores themes of Deep Time (the idea of geologic time), politics, and art in a collection of photographs. He is interviewed by writer, historian and activist Rebecca Solnit.
2pm & 10pm & 6am
POETS & POETRY featuring SIMON ORTIZ
This edition of Poets & Poetry features one of Native America’s most important, influential and widely respected writers and poets, namely Simon Ortiz. He was born in 1941 and is a member of the Eagle Clan and continues to have strong cultural ties to his family, people and land that forge his work with great significance and purpose. He reads a few of his poems and talks about his work with David Barsamian, one of America’s most tireless and wide-ranging investigative journalists who is the creator of the regular radio show Alternative Radio which you can hear on Audiobookradio most Mondays and get lots more info from the website – alternativeradio.org. But for now, listen to the wonderful poetry of Simon Ortiz.
3pm & 11pm & 7am
ALTERNATIVE RADIO – TARIQ ALI (Part 1)
Here at Audiobook Radio we are keen to provide a range of voices – very literally as well as in terms of opinions and views of the world. This strand created by Alternative Radio does just that. We will hear from some of the most informed minds and greatest social activists of our time whose take on justice and power does not chime with those that hold the power and don’t provide justice for all so we rarely get to hear from them in mainstream media. Different opinions always help inform our own and we are always eager to hear from listeners about this or any other strand. Contact us on the tab at www.audiobookradio.net.
Today’s talk is given by Tariq Ali, the internationally renowned writer and activist, originally born in Pakistan but resident in London where he is an editor of New Left Review. A charismatic speaker, filmmaker, playwright, and novelist having written numerous books.
4pm & Midnight & 8am
The Damon Runyon Theatre
New York has given rise to many authors who record and memorialise its streets and people. Damon Runyon is one such author who brings the New York story and its cast of characters to vibrant life. His tongue-in-cheek tales of gamblers, hustlers, actors, gangsters and dolls appeal to our sense of what we think we know. Their colorful monikers; ‘Big Jule,’ ‘Harry the Horse Thief,’ ‘Good Time Charlie,’ or ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’ immediately give life to his sparkling words. And life is bigger, exuberant; better.
The veteran Radio actor John Brown voices the recurring ‘Broadway’ character so central to every episode which today are Dancing Dan’s Christmas and Pick A Winner
5pm & 1am & 9am
THE PODCAST HOUR – THE JO SHOW
Audiobookradio is delighted to launch a new strand, namely the Podcast Hour. Our first podcast is the Jo Show presented by silky voiced Jo Sands and features a wide range of creatives with plenty to say….she calls it soul sipping maybe because her guests do some soul searching as Jo always gets to the parts that other interviewers don’t reach as you are about to find out. Today her guest is DC Gomez, USA Today best-selling author, public speaker, mentor and podcaster who has a quirky and at times dark sense of humour that can be seen across the many different genres she writes in.
6pm & 2am & 10am
HOLLYWOOD STAGE with It’s A Wonderful Life
Hollywood is indelibly printed in our minds as a go to place for entertainment and has been for decades. We take you back in time as The Hollywood ringmaster himself, CECIL B DE MILLE unveils It’s A Wonderful Life. Reprising his film role in this memorable classic James Stewart has a perfect life. A loving wife, Mary (Donna Reed), four young children, and his own business, which he inherited from his father. Facing a financial crisis one Christmas Eve he contemplates suicide. This being Hollywood he is saved at the last moment by the intervention of his guardian angel who takes him on a tour of how the world would be without him. His friendly Main Street America town is sad, impoverished and bleak.
7pm & 3am & 11am
SHORT STORIES
MRS PACKLETIDE’S TIGER BY SAKI. READ BY BARBARA LEIGH-HUNT.
In ‘Mrs. Packletide’s Tiger,’ Saki (H.H. Munro) tackles the Victorian-Edwardian fascination with wild-game hunting, as well as the timeless drive to keep up with the Joneses. In this case, the person with whom Mrs. Packletide must ‘keep up’ is not named Jones, but Mrs. Bimberton. Mrs. Bimberton has recently traveled in one of those new-fangled contraptions, the airplane, piloted by an Algerian aviator. As a result, she has become the toast of British-occupied India.
THE FLY IN THE OINTMENT BY D.H. LAWRENCE. READ BY DAVID SHAW-PARKER.
When a teacher receives a gift just as he is about to leave his house for school, little else occupies his mind as he looks forward to his evening and the company he yearns for.