Northern Voices

In this week's episode Sunderland lass, comedian and writer Justine Sless joins me to discuss her new novel, Before I Sing You This Song. We talk about how the book was inspired by Bobby Thompson, dispelling shame through comedy and why her ultimate goal was to return to her old secondary school as a published author and show them what could be done.

Find out more:
https://www.crearpublishing.com/books-1/before-i-sing-you-this-song
https://www.justinesless.com/
https://justinesless.blogspot.com/

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/justinesless
https://www.instagram.com/crearpublishing

Music credit: 'Water of Tyne' performed by Edinburgh University Brass Band (2009) arranged by Jack Stobbs, edited and scored for brass band by David Dye. Used with kind permission of the publisher, arranger and performers.

On Northern Voices this week, debut novelist Josh Holton joins me to talk about his book, Fledgling, published by Conduit Books. We also delve into tenderness and masculinity, how birds and men are more similar than we realise, and why there are many advantages to being a writer from the North.

Find out more:
https://www.conduitbooks.co.uk/books/p/fledgling
https://joshholton.substack.com/

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/joshholton.writer
https://www.instagram.com/conduitbooks

BlueSky:
https://bsky.app/profile/conduitbooks.bsky.social

Music credit: 'Water of Tyne' performed by Edinburgh University Brass Band (2009) arranged by Jack Stobbs, edited and scored for brass band by David Dye. Used with kind permission of the publisher, arranger and performers.

In this week's episode, I'm joined by New Northern Poet Laura Strickland. We delve into getting over the shame of being a poet, writing to reflect on life's happenings and why her main ambition in her writing is to make people cry.

Find out more:
https://www.propelmagazine.co.uk/laura-strickland-when-my-body-remembers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN9CHt6EVpg&t=3830s
https://figtreepoetry.substack.com/p/the-fig-tree-issue-15
https://wordupnorth.org.uk/

BlueSky:
https://bsky.app/profile/l-strickland.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/thewordupnorth.bsky.social

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/found_by_strickland
https://www.instagram.com/thewordupnorth

Music credit: 'Water of Tyne' performed by Edinburgh University Brass Band (2009) arranged by Jack Stobbs, edited and scored for brass band by David Dye. Used with kind permission of the publisher, arranger and performers.

In Episode 127 , award-winning novelist Carolyn Kirby joins me to talk about her novel Ravenglass. We delve into ideas of using fiction to explore lesser-known parts of history, the Hilda's Crime Weekend at Oxford University and exploring gender and identity in her writing.

Find out more:
https://www.northodox.co.uk/product-page/ravenglass-paperback
https://www.northodox.co.uk/carolyn-kirby
https://www.carolynkirby.com/

BlueSky:
https://bsky.app/profile/northodoxpress.bsky.social

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/novelcarolyn
https://www.instagram.com/northodoxpressofficial

Music credit: 'Water of Tyne' performed by Edinburgh University Brass Band (2009) arranged by Jack Stobbs, edited and scored for brass band by David Dye. Used with kind permission of the publisher, arranger and performers.

In Episode 126 I chat to musician and journalist John Robb about his memoir, Punk Rock Ruined My Life. We delve into how he came to be the first person to interview Nirvana, why Blackpool is more than your average British seaside town and whether or not punk rock really did ruin his life.

Find out more:
https://johnrobbofficial.com/
https://www.waterstones.com/book/punk-rock-ruined-my-life/john-robb/9781526191786

BlueSky:
https://bsky.app/profile/johnrobbofficial.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/manchesterup.bsky.social

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/johnrobb77
https://www.instagram.com/manchester_university_press

Music credit: 'Water of Tyne' performed by Edinburgh University Brass Band (2009) arranged by Jack Stobbs, edited and scored for brass band by David Dye. Used with kind permission of the publisher, arranger and performers.