THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE

SUNDAY 7th June

Noon & 8pm & 4am

PLAYS/DRAMA

CALLING TIME BY DEREK WEBB

Four short black comedies set in a pub: Two women meet up after a funeral as revelations unfold; a man and woman meet via a chat room, but neither is who they claim to be; an MP meets with an investigative journalist who has ulterior motives; a suspicious looking young man is not who he claims to be – or is he?

Performed by The Bootleg Theatre Company. Directed by Colin Burden.

BACHELOR BOY BY CARL CHETTY

As middle-aged Milo languishes in the bath, he reveals a few shocking secrets about his life and loves. Performed by Christopher Ryan.

1pm & 9pm & 5am

IN CONVERSATION with JAMAICA KINCAID

Jamaica Kincaid, whose work has been called loosely autobiographical, has said, “Everything I say is true, and everything I say is not true. You couldn’t admit any of it to a court of law. It would not be good evidence.” Her recent novel, See Now Then, chronicles the death of a marriage like a beautiful elegy, where Mr. and Mrs. Sweet’s final years together are anything but. Kincaid immigrated from the West Indies at 17 to New York, where she eventually joined the staff of The New Yorker. Her books explore themes of colonialism and its legacy, and the complex relationships between mothers and daughters. She is the author of 19 books including the novel The Autobiography of My Mother and the memoir Among Flowers, chronicling her journey deep into the mountains of Nepal.

2pm & 10pm & 6am

THE POETRY HOUR Vol 15 featuring John Dryden, William Morris & more

Poetry is often cited as our greatest use of words. The English language has well over a million and poets down the ages seem, at times, to make use of every single one. But often they use them in simple ways to describe anything and everything from landscapes to all aspects of the human condition. Poems can evoke within us an individual response that takes us by surprise; that opens our eyes and ears to very personal feelings. Forget the idea of classic poetry being somehow dull and boring and best kept to school textbooks. It still has life, vibrancy and relevance to our lives today. In this hour we’ll be listening to John Dryden, Animal Poetry, William Morris and Victorian Poetry – Volume 2.

All of them are from a dedicated poetry publisher – Portable Poetry who believe that poetry should be a part of our everyday lives, uplifting the soul & reaching the parts that other things can’t. Their range of audiobooks and ebooks cover volumes on some of our greatest poets to anthologies of seasons, months, places and a range of themes. Check them out at https://www.deadtreepublishing.com/ That’s Portable Poetry – poetry that carries you through!

3pm & 11pm & 7am

ALTERNATIVE RADIO with DAVID KORTEN

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 we have David Korten who taught at Harvard’s Business School and attempted to be a change agent from within before defecting to became a builder of institutions and social movements working from the outside to create a new cultural, institutional, and political reality from the bottom up.

4pm & Midnight & 8am

SHERLOCK HOLMES

Greg Wagland superbly narrates The Six Napoleons by Arthur Conan Doyle

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 Masurel and Black Sheep by Hannah Teasdale.

TAKE FIVE with POLLY COURTNEY

We asked the same five questions to a range of writers – today 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 with The Virginian

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 Virginian featuring GARY COOPER

7pm & 3am & 11am

SHORT STORIES – MOORE & DOYLE

A PLAYHOUSE IN THE WASTE BY GEORGE MOORE. READ BY NIGEL DAVENPORT

Father James embarks on a theatre project in place of the more conventional building of relief roads, in the hope of emulating the mystery plays at Oberammergau, but a wind blows down the wall of the theatre, leading the people to suppose it is the punishment of God.

B24 BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. READ BY BRIAN COX

The story of prisoner B 24, a petty burglar who claims he’s falsely accused of the murder of Lord Manning. But can his desperate account convince the authorities of his innocence and reveal the identity of the true culprit..?

MONDAY 8th June

Noon & 8pm & 4am

PLAYS/DRAMA

RETRO ACTIVE ANTI-TERROR BY ALEX IRVINE

One of the HorrorScope radio plays from the ‘Nightmares on Congress Street collection, “Retroactice Anti-Terror,” by Alex Irvine, is a science fiction story that presents a very real futuristic political horror.

THE WIND BY RAY BRADBURY

Classic Ray Bradbury…Meteorologist John Colt travels to the Valley of the Winds and finds the place where the winds gather to plan their destruction. When the winds realize he knows too much, they come after him in his home and seek to absorb him and add their voice to those of all the others they have killed

AT SEA BY STEPHEN R. SMITH

Two lovers decide whether they will stay together in this short play.

1pm & 9pm & 5am

IN CONVERSATION with DAVID MITCHELL

David Mitchell’s novels include Utopia Avenue, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, a historical epic about a Dutch accountant’s adventures in feudal Japan, and Number9Dream, described as “an intoxicating ride through Tokyo’s dark underworlds and the even more mysterious landscapes of our collective dreams.” Mitchell’s celebrated Cloud Atlas, which erases the boundaries of genre and language with six interconnected stories that take the reader from the 19th century in the remote South Pacific to a post-apocalyptic distant future, was described as a “Nabokovian delight in word play” by The Washington

2pm & 10pm & 6am

POETRY & POETS featuring NATHALIE HANDAL

Nathalie Handal is an award-winning poet, playwright, writer, and a cultural and literary activist. She has lived in Europe, the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Arab world. Her most recent poetry collections include Love and Strange Horses, winner of the 2011 Gold Medal Independent Publisher Book Award, and Poet in Andalucía, described as “a unique recreation, in reverse, of Federico García Lorca’s Poet in New York.” Alice Walker lauds Handal’s work as “poems of depth and weight and the sorrowing song of longing and resolve.” She is also the editor of the ground-breaking The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology and co-editor of Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia & Beyond.

3pm & 11pm & 7am

ALTERNATIVE RADIO with DAVE ZIRIN

Today’s talk is given by Dave Zirin, sports editor for The Nation magazine and host of Edge of Sports Podcast. He is the author of many books including The John Carlos Story, What’s My Name, Fool?, A People’s History of Sports in the United States, Game Over: How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down and Brazil’s Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, the Olympics and the Future of Democracy. His writing earned him Press Action’s Sportswriter of the Year Award.

4pm & Midnight & 8am

SHERLOCK HOLMES

Greg Wagland superbly narrates The Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle

5pm & 1am & 9am

SPARK LONDON

The concept is stand out simple. Real people telling real stories. Today’s are Words by Joanna Yates and Adventures in the Underworld by Daniel Simpson.

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: No Animals Were Hurt in the Writing of This Story by Clare Reddaway and The Day War Broke Out by Doc Watson.

TAKE FIVE with NADEEM ASLAM

We asked the same five questions to a range of writers – today NADEEM ASLAM, thoughtful, impressionistic author whose latest book Blind Man’s Garden received great acclaim.

6pm & 2am & 10am

HOLLYWOOD STAGE with This Gun for Hire

7pm & 3am & 11am

SHORT STORIES – POE & MILNE

THE BLACK CAT BY EDGAR ALLAN POE. READ BY RICHARD GRIFFITHS.

The nameless narrator begins his horrifying tale by informing his readers that he is about to relate a “series of mere household events.” He then wonders if, in the future, when his morbid tale is discussed by others considering his case, they will find it to be “nothing more than an ordinary succession of very natural causes and effects.”

INTO THE SUN BY ROBERT DUNCAN MILNE. READ BY NICKY HENSON.

In Robert Duncan Milne, science fiction historian Sam Moskowitz unearthed a remarkable-and yet forgotten-master of the genre. During the twenty years prior to 1900, astonishingly Milne published at least sixty stories of sci-fi and fantasy, and may well have been the field’s first full-time contributor.

TUESDAY 9th June

Noon & 8pm & 4am

PLAYS/DRAMA

MAN WITH A PAST and CLUB OF FEAR BY LARRY WEINER

A comedy Double-bill from the hapless private eye Garson Krebbs.

Performed by The Radio Repertory Company of America.

1pm & 9pm & 5am

IN CONVERSATION with JOHN McGAHERN

John McGahern is one of the most important Irish writers of the last century. A great traditionalist, his novel The Dark was banned as his work bathes uncomfortable truths in light, yet his wicked sense of humour is never far from the surface

2pm & 10pm & 6am

THE POETRY HOUR featuring John Milton, John Clare & more

Poetry is often cited as our greatest use of words. The English language has well over a million and poets down the ages seem, at times, to make use of every single one. But often they use them in simple ways to describe anything and everything from landscapes to all aspects of the human condition. Poems can evoke within us an individual response that takes us by surprise; that opens our eyes and ears to very personal feelings. Forget the idea of classic poetry being somehow dull and boring and best kept to school textbooks. It still has life, vibrancy and relevance to our lives today. In this hour we’ll be listening to John Milton, The Graveyard Poets, The Female Poets – Volume 4, John Clare, William Morris and The Female Poet – Volume 4. (Vol 16)

3pm & 11pm & 7am

ALTERNATIVE RADIO with TAVIS SMILEY

Today’s talk is given by Tavis Smiley, the well known PBS and public radio talk show host. He is the author of many books including Death of a King:The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Final Year.

4pm & Midnight & 8am

SHERLOCK HOLMES CLASSICS

ABR is proud to present two classic episodes starring Basil Rathbone. ‘The Adventure of the Second Stain’ followed by ‘The Limping Ghost.’

We close the hour with an author interview from KOBO and today’s guest is ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH.

5pm & 1am & 9am

SPARK LONDON

The concept is stand out simple. Real people telling real stories. Today’s are: Percy Blazer Wants a Through Lounge by Richard Green, Auntie Kay by Charlie Phillips and Hero by Maggie Hindley.

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: Fun Sized Inspiration by Julie Green and The Kingfisher Bride by Pauline Masurel.

TAKE FIVE with TIM GRAHAM

We asked the same five questions to a range of writers – today it’s TIM GRAHAM, TV producer, presenter, writer and poet. Mad cricket buff and an ability to engage on a level most others can’t even reach even if they dare.

6pm & 2am & 10am

HOLLYWOOD STAGE with Peg O’ My Heart

7pm & 3am & 11am

SHORT STORIES – HARDY & SAKI

FOR CONSCIENCE SAKE BY THOMAS HARDY. READ BY EVE KARPF.

Mr Millborne thinks back to his youth in Wessex with guilt as he remembers his broken promise of marriage. To relive his heavy conscience, he decides to venture back west and honour his 20-year commitment, turning Leonora Frankland’s life upside down once again.

GABRIEL ERNEST BY SAKI. READ BY RICHARD MITCHLEY.

Saki’s world contrasts the effete conventions and hypocrisies of Edwardian England with the ruthless but straightforward life-and-death struggles of nature. Nature generally wins in the end.

WEDNESDAY 10th June

Noon & 8pm & 4am

PLAYS/DRAMA

HARD CENTRES BY CARL CHETTY. STARRING IMELDA STAUNTON & DEREK JACOBI.

Lonely brother and sister, Frankie and Millicent, have come out of retirement to run Hamilton Chocolatiers but changes are ahead. On a hot June day, love is in the air for the divorcee and widower – and we discover one or two skeletons.

PASSING THROUGH BY HELEN SHAY

An older woman and a younger man meet at a railway station. Just what is their relationship all about?

1pm & 9pm & 5am

IN CONVERSATION with CARL SAFINA

Carl Safina is the president of Blue Ocean Institute, whose main focus is using science, art, and literature to inspire a “sea ethic”—a closer relationship with the sea. His first book, Song for the Blue Ocean, takes readers on a global journey of discovery probing for truth about the world’s changing seas, weaving adventure, science and political analysis along the way. His newest book, Voyage of the Turtle, is an impassioned account of the plight of ocean-dwelling turtles. Safina is also author of Eye of the Albatross and co-author of Seafood Lover’s Almanac.

2pm & 10pm & 6am

POETRY & POETS featuring ADRIENNE RICH

Adrienne Rich received the Yale Younger Poets Award in 1951 (from judge W. H. Auden), at the age of 21, and with strength and conviction has not stopped writing since in her distinct voice. Rich has said that her poetry seeks to create a dialectical relationship between “the personal, or lyric voice, and the so-called political—really, the voice of the individual speaking not just to herself, or to a beloved friend, but to and from a collective, a social realm.” Her National Book Critics’ Circle Award citation explains: “Rich has captured with subversive wit, compassion, precision, supple poetics, toughness and yes, opposition and resistance, what life has been like in the opening years of a new century.”

3pm & 11pm & 7am

ALTERNATIVE RADIO with GARY TAUBES on Sugar: How Sweet It Isn’t

Today’s talk is given by Gary Taubes who is co-founder of the Nutrition Science Initiative and an investigative science journalist whose his articles appear in The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine and Esquire. He is the author of Why We Get Fat and The Case Against Sugar which is what he talks about her. There is growing evidence that sugar is the tobacco of the new millennium: backed by powerful lobbies, entrenched in our lives, and making some people very sick.

4pm & Midnight & 8am

SHERLOCK HOLMES CLASSICS

ABR is proud to present two classic episodes starring Basil Rathbone. ‘The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge’ followed by ‘The Case of the Vanishing Elephant.’

We close the hour with an author interview from KOBO and today’s guest is GRETCHEN RUBIN.

5pm & 1am & 9am

SPARK LONDON

The concept is stand out simple. Real people telling real stories.

Charley Harrison presents highlights from their first Best of Spark London evening at the Canal Cafe Theatre, featuring Christine Estima, John Hale and Helen Zaltzman. There are also two extra stories to enjoy: Lost and Found in California by Victoria Fitzpatrick and Prom Night in Perth by Allan Girod.

TAKE FIVE with ANNA KIM

We asked the same five questions to a range of writers – today it’s ANNA KIM, a poet, short story writer and novelist, is said to use language as a scalpel. She was born in Korea, grew up in Germany and now lives in Austria, often writing in German.

6pm & 2am & 10am

HOLLYWOOD STAGE with Only Angels Have Wings

7pm & 3am & 11am

SHORT STORIES – JAMES & BENSON

THE TRACTATE MIDDOTH BY M.R. JAMES. READ BY RICHARD MITCHLEY.

On his deathbed vicar Rant makes a secret confession to his niece Mary Simpson. Some twenty years later young librarian William Garrett is asked by elderly John Eldred to locate a book called ‘The Tractate Middoth’ but a mysterious cloaked figure takes the book from the shelves and Eldred panics and leaves. On a second attempt to find the book Garrett is confronted by the mysterious borrower.

CATERPILLARS BY E.F. BENSON. READ BY PATRICK MALAHIDE.

The Villa Cascana in Italy, not far from the Riviera, is the setting for this tale about eerily glowing caterpillars. They are a foot or more in length and are found crawling all over the bed in an unoccupied bedroom on the main floor of the Villa. It’s all another of the author’s dream/nightmare stories. The narrator is the guest of Mrs. Stanley, who has leased the house for the season. Another guest, Arthur Inglis finds an unknown caterpillar on his window sill and puts it in a box. He names it Cancer Inglisensis for its crab-like pincers. The name he gives the squirmy thing has much to do with the climax of this tale.

THURSDAY 11th June

Noon & 8pm & 4am

PLAYS/DRAMA

A MOTHER’S LOVE BY PAUL KENNY

When her son Tony, a comprehensive school Teacher, is sent to prison for abusing one of his 14 year old female pupils, his mother Christine is plunged into a nightmare. Set against the backdrop of her visits and letters post sentence, her confusion soon turns to anger as she is forced to examine her true feelings for her only child as his denial and minimization brings with it a realization that their relationship must change if it is to survive the sentence and beyond…

FLING STORY BY TOM JENSEN

Two lovers meet in a pub and rewind then fast-forward through their doomed affair…

1pm & 9pm & 5am

IN CONVERSATION with NICHOLSON BAKER

Nicholson Baker’s Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization is a chronological juxtaposition of discrete moments from 1892 to December 31, 1941, based on accounts from contemporary reports of Britain’s terror campaign of repeatedly bombing German cities even before the London blitz. Known for his original approach to a subject, his first novel, The Mezzanine, recounts one afternoon in the life of a man riding an escalator on his way to buy a shoelace and his second, Room Temperature, is about a father feeding a bottle to his six-month-old daughter, while Vox transcribes a long telephone conversation between two people who meet over a phone-sex call-in line.

2pm & 10pm & 6am

THE POETRY HOUR Vol 17 featuring Chesterton, Cavalier Poets & more

Poetry is often cited as our greatest use of words. The English language has well over a million and poets down the ages seem, at times, to make use of every single one. But often they use them in simple ways to describe anything and everything from landscapes to all aspects of the human condition. Poems can evoke within us an individual response that takes us by surprise; that opens our eyes and ears to very personal feelings. Forget the idea of classic poetry being somehow dull and boring and best kept to school textbooks. It still has life, vibrancy and relevance to our lives today. In this hour we’ll be listening to The Poetry of January, The Cavalier Poets, GK Chesterton and John Keats – A tribute in Verse.

3pm & 11pm & 7am

ALTERNATIVE RADIO with CHIP BERLET

Today’s talk is given by Chip Berlet, an investigative journalist and coordinator of the Building Human Rights Network. His byline has appeared in scores of publications, including The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Progressive. For many years he served as senior analyst at Political Research Associates.

4pm & Midnight & 8am

SHERLOCK HOLMES CLASSICS

ABR is proud to present two classic episodes starring Basil Rathbone. ‘The Eyes of Mr. Leyton’ followed by ‘The Manor House Case.’

We close the hour with an author interview from KOBO and today’s guest is JO NESBO.

5pm & 1am & 9am

SPARK LONDON

The concept is stand out simple. Real people telling real stories. Today’s are Inner Voice by Ben Chapman, The Long Goodbye by David Dobbs and A Fifteen Minute Walk by Ernie Stelzner.

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 Small, Dark and Delicate by Doc Watson and Trog and Kron Almost Get it Right by Phillip Douch.

TAKE FIVE with HUGH HOWEY

We asked the same five questions to a range of writers – today it’s HUGH HOWEY, nice guy and gifted story teller of bestseller Wool – worth a read before Ridley Scott makes the movie!

6pm & 2am & 10am

HOLLYWOOD STAGE with The Champ

7pm & 3am & 11am

SHORT STORIES – BUCHAN & JACOBS

SHIP TO TARSHISH BY JOHN BUCHAN READ BY IAIN CUTHBERTSON

Before he gained his reputation with thrillers John Buchan had established himself as a writer of short stories. Indeed he began to make his name as an Oxford undergraduate almost 20 years before. His best-known work, The Thirty-Nine Steps was published in 1915, while Ship to Tarshish first appeared in 1927.

FOR BETTER OR WORSE BY W.W. JACOBS READ BY JOANNA DAVID

The doors of a public house swing open and two friends discuss a problem as old as the hills…

FRIDAY 12th June

Noon & 8pm & 4am

PLAYS/DRAMA

AL FRESCO BY CARL CHETTY featuring DEREK JACOBI

Once an affluent employee in a coffee bean corporation, redundant Al is now struggling to come to terms with homelessness on the streets of London. None of his army of old friends are remotely interested in his situation and, residing in an Optician’s doorway, he discovers that not many people want to know you when you’re down and out. However, The Crusty Young Gent, Marjorie and Hazel, a trio of compassionate passers-by, manage to lift Al’s spirits. In fact, it’s the beautiful red-haired Hazel who steals his heart and indirectly changes his life.

BIG SHAKEDOWN ON LITTLE EDDIE BY THEO CLARKE

A sandwich has been eaten and the authorities, aka Mum and Dad, think that 14 year old ‘Little Eddie’ did it. So they set about breaking his spirit, to get to the truth. No-one knows whether he did it or not, they just know that the kid ain’t talking. Set in a middle class Berkshire home, Eddie – Edward’s alter ego – strangely is like something out of the Bronx. And he’s not giving in for nobody!

SHADOW IN THE CORNER BY MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON

Butler Skeggs requires a servant to assist. Bascom agrees but when Maria arrives she finds her bedroom leaves her with very unhappy thoughts. Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s classic ghost story thrills and entertains.

1pm & 9pm & 5am

IN CONVERSATION with 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 includeSpanking the Maid, Gerald’s Party, Pinocchio in Venice, and Briar Rose.

2pm & 10pm & 6am

POETS & POETRY featuring DENNIS O’ DRISCOLL

Dennis O’ Driscoll was born in Co Tipperary, Ireland, in 1954, his nine books of poetry include New and Selected Poems (Anvil Press, 2004), a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation, Reality Check (2007) and Dear Life (Anvil Press, 2012; Copper Canyon Press, 2013). Among his other publications are Troubled Thoughts, Majestic Dreams: Selected Prose Writings (Gallery Press, 2001) and Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney (Faber and Faber, 2008). Here he recites some of his poems followed by an interview with poet and critic Adam Kirsch.

3pm & 11pm & 7am

ALTERNATIVE RADIO with GEOFFREY STONE

Today’s talk is given by Geoffrey Stone, noted First Amendment and Constitutional law scholar and Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Chicago. He is the award-winning author of many books including Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime, Eternally Vigilant: Free Speech in the Modern Era, Top Secret: When Our Government Keeps Us in the Dark and Speaking Out: Reflections of Law, Liberty and Justice.

4pm & Midnight & 8am

SHERLOCK HOLMES CLASSICS

ABR is proud to present two classic episodes starring Basil Rathbone. ‘The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot’ followed by ‘The Great Gandolpho.’

We close the hour with an author interview from KOBO and today’s guest is DENNIS LEHANE.

5pm & 1am & 9am

SPARK LONDON

The concept is stand out simple. Real people telling real stories.

Charley Harrison presents highlights from their second Best of Spark London night at the Canal Cafe Theatre. In this episode Francis Shire aspires to be ‘King of the Camden Goths’ – can his Swedish Cybergoth partner help him achieve his dream? Meanwhile, Robyn Jankel travels across China by train and introduces a new custom in the process.

A WORD IN YOUR EAR

TAKE FIVE with STEPHANIE BOND

We asked the same five questions to a range of writers – today it’s STEPHANIE BOND, a prolific fiction writer of mystery and romance with four upcoming releases including 7 Brides for 7 Bodies, another instalment in the popular Body Movers series.

6pm & 2am & 10am

HOLLYWOOD STAGE with She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

7pm & 3am & 11am

SHORT STORIES – SAKI, WELLS & MANSFIELD

THE REMOULDING OF GROBY LINGTON BY SAKI READ BY BARBARA LEIGH-HUNT

Saki’s world contrasts the effete conventions and hypocrisies of Edwardian England with the ruthless, but straightforward life-and-death struggles of nature. Nature generally wins in the end.

THE STOLEN BACILLUS BY H.G. WELLS. READ BY STEVE ARLOFF

In this short story an anarchist tries to steal cholera bacilli from a bacteriologist to poison London’s water supply, but by mistake is given a different one.

PSYCHOLOGY BY KATHERINE MANSFIELD. READ BY LIZA ROSS

New Zealand’s most famous writer, who was closely associated with D.H. Lawrence and something of a rival of Virginia Woolf. Mansfield’s creative years were burdened with loneliness, illness, jealousy, alienation – all this reflected in her work with the bitter depiction of marital and family relationships of her middle-class characters. Her short stories are also notable for their use of stream of consciousness. Like the Russian writer Anton Chekhov, Mansfield depicted trivial events and subtle changes in human behaviour. This work first appeared in 1920. In this short story, a male and a female artist are so painfully self-conscious of the ebb and flow of their relationship that they cannot get together.

SATURDAY 13th June

Noon & 8pm & 4am

PLAYS/DRAMA

MESSENGER WITHOUT WEAPON BY EDDIE LAWLER

The story of Hamburg-born writer Wolfgang Borchert (1921-1947) and his untimely death as a result of the Second World War. The youthful Wolfgang cannot imagine that the Hitler regime has the intelligence to last long, when all the fashions in music and clothing are coming from the USA, Britain and France. But he is swept into uniform and the horrors of war on the Eastern Front.

1pm & 9pm & 5am

IN CONVERSATION with LOUISE ERDRICH

Native American novelist Louise Erdrich, much-admired for her novels and children’s books centred in her native North Dakota, here reads a short story, “The Plague of Doves”, before joining in conversation with her friend, Gail Caldwell, the Pulitzer Prize winning critic of The Boston Globe.

2pm & 10pm & 6am

THE POETRY HOUR Vol 18 featuring Edmund Spenser & more

Poetry is often cited as our greatest use of words. The English language has well over a million and poets down the ages seem, at times, to make use of every single one. But often they use them in simple ways to describe anything and everything from landscapes to all aspects of the human condition. Poems can evoke within us an individual response that takes us by surprise; that opens our eyes and ears to very personal feelings. Forget the idea of classic poetry being somehow dull and boring and best kept to school textbooks. It still has life, vibrancy and relevance to our lives today. In this hour we’ll be listening to Edmund Spenser, The Poetry of Wind and Rain and Victorian Poetry Volume 3

3pm & 11pm & 7am

ALTERNATIVE RADIO with ARUN GUPTA

Today’s talk is on Terrorism, Climate Change & Capitalism and given by Arun Gupta, journalist and activist who was a founding editor of The Indypendent and the Occupied Wall Street Journal. His articles appear in Alternet, Truthout, The Guardian and Z. He also appears on Democracy Now! and Al Jazeera.

4pm & Midnight & 8am

SHERLOCK HOLMES CLASSICS

ABR is proud to present two classic episodes starring Basil Rathbone. ‘The Problem of Thor Bridge’ followed by ‘The Adventure of Jasmine la Fleur.’

We close the hour with an author interview from KOBO and today’s guest is JAMES ROLLINS.

5pm & 1am & 9am

SPARK LONDON

The concept is stand out simple. Real people telling real stories.

A whopping 45 minutes-plus Spark London Special with a mixture of stories and songs. The theme for the evening was ‘Open Heart.’

TAKE FIVE with PAUL ‘SMILER’ ANDERSON

We asked the same five questions to a range of writers – today it’s…

PAUL ‘SMILER’ ANDERSON, a passionate mod revivalist and author of Mods, the New Religion. In his spare time he DJ’s and holds a full time job as a postman!

6pm & 2am & 10am

HOLLYWOOD STAGE with Captain Horatio Hornblower

7pm & 3am & 11am

SHORT STORIES – LAWRENCE & WILDE

THE OLD ADAM BY D.H. LAWRENCE. READ BY DAVID SHAW-PARKER

David Herbert Richards Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist and literary critic. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation. Sons and Lovers and Lady Chatterley’s Lover are, of course, the most famous of Lawrence’s works.

THE SPHINX WITHOUT A SECRET BY OSCAR WILDE. READ BY MARTIN JARVIS

Lady Alroy is enigmatic in everything she does – a lady with the mysterious allure of a sphinx. She captures the heart of Lord Murchison with this mystery, to the point that he follows her to find out her secret. When he sees her going into a small house in a poor part of town, he jumps to the reasonable conclusion that she has a secret lover.