Stories, poems and ways of thinking. A podcast by Lucy Smith. Talking Ink showcases flash fiction writers and poets from Cardiff and beyond and features original music by local artists.
Talking Ink’s latest series was based on interviews at the 2020 Seren Cardiff Poetry Festival, including discussions with poets Daljit Nagra and Deryn Rees-Jones, with music composed by Martyn White.
Listen:
Talking Ink: The Originals
Episode 1: Outsiders
Five writers respond to the theme ‘Outsiders’ and talk about what it means to them.
Created and edited by Lucy Smith.
Writers: Bryan Marshall, Jill Berrett, Richard Rogers, Christie Collins & Frances Carron
With music composed by Sebastian Moody.
Episode 2: Faces
Four writers respond to the theme ‘Faces’ and talk about their ideas.
Created and edited by Lucy Smith
Writers: Megan Thomas, Callum Winter, Siobhan Denton & D. H.
Composer: Lawrence Tucker
Episode 3: Strangers
Four writers respond to the theme ‘Strangers’ and talk about their ideas.
Created and edited by Lucy Smith
Writers: Julie Primon, Rosey Brown, Samuel Sargeant & Taylor Edmonds
Composer: Martyn White
Talking Ink: Poetry Festival Interviews
I talk to Roberto Pastore about his debut collection ‘Hey Bert’ (Parthian) and we discuss finding happiness, the strange power of poetry readings and celebrating the smaller things in life.
Created and edited by Lucy Smith
Composer: Martyn White
I talk to Emily Cotterill about her pamphlet ‘The Day of the Flying Ants’ (smith|doorstop) and we chat about what makes a place feel like home, how these feelings can shift, and the importance of making poetry accessible for everyone.
Created and edited by Lucy Smith
Composer: Martyn White
Marvin Thompson reads from his debut collection Road Trip (Peepal Tree Press) and talks to me about what poetry means to him, what it means to be Black and British, and how home may not always be a comfortable place to live.
Created and edited by Lucy Smith
Composer: Martyn White
Andre Mangeot reads from his latest collection Blood Rain (Seren) and we chat about how poetry can make us think for ourselves, about the growing need to be aware of what’s happening around us, and the art of transforming words into poems.
Created and edited by Lucy Smith
Composer: Martyn White
Jannat Ahmed, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Lucent Dreaming magazine and marketing officer at Poetry Wales, reads me one of her own poems and we talk about her experience as a poetry editor, about how to make something new and, most importantly, how to make it heard.
Created and edited by Lucy Smith
Composer: Martyn White
Poppy Jennings, a writer and artist who performed at the festival with Lucent Dreaming and Goodparley (musician Oli Richards), reads her poem ‘Ars Poetica’. We discuss the path she took to fall in love with poetry, the intimate moments words can create between writer and reader, and the fact that poems can reveal hidden truths we didn’t know about ourselves.
Created and edited by Lucy Smith
Composer: Martyn White
Daljit Nagra reads from his collection British Museum (Faber & Faber) and we talk about British identity, the complex idea of home, and about how to use overlooked British histories as a way to move forward.
Created and edited by Lucy Smith
Composer: Martyn White
Deryn Rees-Jones reads from Erato (Seren) – shortlisted for last year’s T S Eliot Prize – and chats to me about the importance of connecting, the joy to be found in making errors, and how she constructs and weaves a poetry collection.
Created and edited by Lucy Smith
Composer: Martyn White
Lucy Smith 