A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley

By: Sally Bayley Andrew Smith
  • Summary

  • Acclaimed writer Sally Bayley lives on a narrowboat, surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature, sustained by reading and writing. In this series, she invites us into her life, showing us how books have the power to change your life. Sally has recently been diagnosed with an auto-immune disease, but this is not a misery memoir podcast; she shows us how literature and connection to nature can console and give courage and insight. The series is produced by Andrew Smith, James Bowen, Lucie Richter-Mahr, and Dylan Gwalia. To find out more about Sally please visit: https://sallybayley.com.
    Copyright 2022 All rights reserved.
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Episodes
  • A Fragment of May
    May 2 2025

    For Emilie: may you always sing.

    We return this week, for a special micro-episode, to Mrs Dalloway’s London. Listen for a brief meditation on the fragmentation of life, interruption, and finding meaning in art.

    This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.

    Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

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    11 mins
  • Mrs Dalloway
    Apr 27 2025

    ‘Now it was time to move, and, as a woman gathers her things together, her cloak, her gloves, her opera-glasses, and gets up to out of the theatre into the street, she rose from the sofa and went to Peter…’

    This week, we join Sally reflecting on the arrangement of character. Listen for a journey, via Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway (1925) through perspectives, cityscapes, and the means by which we navigate everyday life.

    The music accompanying the initial discussion of Mrs Dalloway is ‘Friday’, by Paul Sebastian. More about Paul and his work can be found here.

    This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.

    Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

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    24 mins
  • Sightlines
    Apr 4 2025

    ‘Sightlines produce a story, an avenue, a walkway, a space to move through…’

    This week, we join Sally reflecting on the idea of the sightline, and the stories they structure. Listen for a meditation on narrative, childhood, and a unique perspective of and from The Dreaming Spires…

    The text of the Sylvia Plath poem Sally references can be found here.

    This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.

    Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

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    31 mins

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