Noon & 8pm & 4am

PLAYS/DRAMA

FOUR AGES BY COLIN LEWISOHN

Bernie Hearn is a hero. Not the sort who wears underpants over his trousers, Bernie is an everyday hero who has led a great life. Four Ages tells his story – what he means to his family, how he protects his sister from injustice, stops a war time atrocity, pulls a lad back from the brink of the ultimate betrayal – all whilst combating his own personal tragedy. Four Ages in the life of one extraordinary man. Bereavement, love, war, justice and abuse. Everyday stuff really!

ANNIVERSARY BY DAVID MILLER

An old gentleman shares his memories with his partner of 54 years…

1pm & 9pm & 5am

IN CONVERSATION with DEBORAH LEVY

Deborah Levy, a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, writes fiction, plays, and poetry. Her work has been staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company, broadcast on the BBC, and translated widely across the world. The author of highly praised novels, including Hot Milk and Swimming Home (both Man Booker Prize finalists), The Unloved, and Billy and Girl; the acclaimed story collection Black Vodka; and part one of her working autobiography, Things I Don’t Want to Know, she lives in London. Her latest novel, The Man Who Saw Everything, has been long-listed for the 2019 Booker Prize.  She reads from her work and is then interviewed by writer John Freeman

2pm & 10pm & 6am

POETRY & POETS featuring MONA ARSHI

Today we are delighted to have the incomparable and beautiful poet Mona Arshi with us.  Mona reads from her book Dear Big Gods and gives us greater insight about many of the poems.  We also hear a few favourites from her last book Small Hands.

 Mona Arshi worked as a Human rights lawyer at Liberty before she started writing poetry. Her debut collection ‘Small Hands’ won the Forward Prize for best first collection in 2015.   Her poems and interviews have been published in The Times, The Guardian, Granta and The Times of India as well as on the London Underground. Her debut novel will be published in 2021. You can get both more info on Mona and her poems on https://www.monaarshi.com/

 3pm & 11pm & 7am

ALTERNATIVE RADIO with ANGELA DAVIS

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 Angela Davis, one of the iconic figures of Black Power who was acquitted on conspiracy charges in 1970 after one of the most famous trials in U.S. history.  She went on to become an internationally renowned writer, scholar and lecturer. She’s the author of many books, including Women, Race and Class, Abolition Democracy, and The Meaning of Freedom.

 4pm & Midnight & 8am

SHERLOCK HOLMES CLASSICS

ABR is proud to present two classic episodes, once again starring Tom Conway as Holmes. ‘The Final Problem’ is followed by ‘The Dying Detective.’

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

 5pm & 1am & 9am

BOOKER PRIZE

In the last decade literary prizes and awards and festivals have mushroomed all over the world but there is one prize that has sailed supremely through the choppy literary waters – The Booker which celebrated its 50th birthday a couple of years ago.  It might not be the oldest or the most respected as many believe that honour belongs to the Nobel and it certainly doesn’t award the most money, although 50 grand is no small potatoes, but it has become the best known in the international publishing world, guaranteeing an uplift in sales to all longlisted authors and provides readers from all over the world a steer to what they might read next.  The quality threshold of its winners might be disputed but with its longlist it represents a breadth of writing that probably does include some of the best books ever written in the English language in the last half century.  There’s always a winner and for the 50th one judge selected one title from each of the five decades and then the public voted on an overall Golden winner which was… The English Patient by Michael Ondaatjae.

We spoke to Dottie Irwin, PR and Booker Committee member, Eleanor Catton whose book the Luminaries won the Man Booker in 2013 and 2016’s shortlisted author of ‘His Bloody Project’ Graeme McCrae Burnett to hear more about what the prize means to them.

 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 producer Irving Cummings unveils THE AFRICAN QUEEN starring HUMPHREY BOGART and GREER GARSON

  7pm & 3am & 11am

SHORT STORIES – HORNUNG & WOOLF

This comes to you courtesy of Deadtree Publishing who have an excellent range of quality short stories from the masters of the craft.  Do search for Miniature Masterpieces at any digital store for further information or at https://www.deadtreepublishing.com/.  This hour opens with Nine Points of the Law by E W Hornung. Narrated by Richard Mitchley followed by Kew Gardens by Virginia Woolf. Narrated by Ghizela Rowe and concludes with A Haunted House by Virginia Woolf.  Narrated by Richard Mitchley Vol 11

WEDNESDAY 9th April

Noon & 8pm & 4am

PLAYS/DRAMA

CHANNEL HOPPING BY DEREK WEBB

If you want to save your marriage, it’s essential to talk to each other. Unfortunately, Ann has got to the stage when she lets the drink do much of the talking. And when her husband Steve gets back from work and slumps in front of the television, he certainly doesn’t reckon on the bizarre consequences of idly flicking from channel to channel.

WAITING FOR GORDON BY DEREK WEBB

Four women are attending a DIY class at their local college. Three of them, in their different ways, are wanting to assert their independence and not rely on men. While Tracy is simply waiting for the right man to come along.

1pm & 9pm & 5am

IN CONVERSATION with LUIS ALBERTO URREA

Luis Alberto Urrea’s native Mexico has always served as the author’s muse, inspiring all 13 books that span five genres. His nonfiction The Devil’s Highway tells the harrowing story of a group of Mexican immigrants lost in the Arizona desert. Urrea’s novels The Hummingbird’s Daughter and its sequel, Queen of America, chronicle the life of beloved healer Teresita Urrea, deemed “the Mexican Joan of Arc.” Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and an American mother, Urrea grew up along both sides of the border, forever affected by its dichotomy, brutality and richness, saying, “Borders everywhere are a symbol of what divides us. That’s what interests me.”

2pm & 10pm & 6am

POETS & POETRY featuring PATTIANN ROGERS

Poet Pattiann Rogers has a singular voice, grounded in personal faith yet seduced equally by the mysteries of the natural world and the opportunities of discovery and beauty offered by science. The author of eleven volumes of poetry, she reads here from her work before joining in conversation with fellow poet Christopher Merrill.

3pm & 11pm & 7am

ALTERNATIVE RADIO with ARUNDHATI ROY on Fascism in India

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 Arundhati Roy the world-renowned writer who of many books including the hugely successful The God of Small Things.  She tells of the realities of India that are in sharp contrast with the image it projects internationally. For example, you probably haven’t heard of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the RSS. It is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary organization that has millions of members who exert enormous influence and power in India.

4pm & Midnight & 8am

BLACK MUSEUM

Director, Actor, Genius. ORSON WELLES was all these things and more.  But talent can sometimes make people afraid., And Hollywood was very afraid of Orson Welles.

So Welles went Indie, making his own works on the proceeds of various jobs that required a big name and that very distinguished voice; perfect for radio.  Here, in the Black Museum he sets the scene as true life crime is retold.  Mr Welles we’re ready……this week THE FADED TARTAN SCARF & A JAR OF ACID

5pm & 1am & 9am

TAKE FIVE with GRAEME McCRAE BURNETT

Scottish genre busting writer Graeme McCrae Burnett author of among others the Booker shortlisted His Bloody Project and more recently the brilliant Case Study.

TAKE FIVE with KAREN CONNELLY (with reading)

Canadian Karen Connelly is a writer of fiction and travel books and more recently a mentor helping people heal, write & transform their difficult stories.  You can find out more about her current work by visiting https://www.thecourageroom.ca/

TAKE FIVE with JOSIP NOVAKOVICH (with reading)

Croatian Josip Novakovich is both a writer and academic -currently a professor of creative writing at Concordia University in Montreal.  He gives us a delicious slice of his short stories which you won’t want to miss.

6pm & 2am & 10am

HOLLYWOOD STAGE with Miracle on 34th Street

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 producer William Keighley unveils Miracle on 34th Street starring MAUREEN O’HARA, JOHN PAYNE & EDMUND GWEN.

7pm & 3am & 11am

SHORT STORIES – NESBIT & POE

These comes to you courtesy of Deadtree Publishing who have an excellent range of quality short stories from the masters of the craft.  Do search for Miniature Masterpieces at any digital store for further information or at https://www.deadtreepublishing.com/  This hour opens with The Ebony Frame by Edith Nesbit ready by Richard Mitchley followed by The Murders in The Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe read by William Dufris. Vol 16