Little Fictions On Air

In this episode, Weird World of Animals, Ella Watson-Russell presents two stories which give voice to the voiceless - specifically, a budgerigar and a cow.

‘Bluey and Myrtle’ is published in the Spineless Wonders anthology The Great Unknown, a book edited by Angela Meyer who is a huge fan of the TV series the Twilight Zone. You’ll find many of the somewhat surreal elements of the Twilight Zone TV show in Mark O'Flynn's story. It is performed by Nick Radinoff. ‘A Cow Like Alice’ by Julie Chevalier also includes a talking animal. It is performed by Little Fictions’ regular Eleni Schumacher. This episode includes an interview with Sydney author Julie Chevalier about her story, where the idea for it came from and about her writing process.

Little Fictions On Air is brought to you by Sydney short story publisher, SPINELESS WONDERS. This episode was originally broadcast on Radio 2RPH at 3pm on Monday, 8 October, 2018. It is produced by Bronwyn Mehan and our sound engineer is Adrian Vecchio-Hoehne. Our theme song, ‘Attune’ is written and performed by Annie Vidler.

In this episode, 'It’s A Jungle Out There’, four authors contemplate the lives of animals. What is it like living in a dog-eat-dog world? Has human habitation spelt the death of some species? And what happens when we encroach on their world? Join presenter, Ella Watson-Russell for 30 minutes of great listening.

Stories featured in this episode include ‘Taken’ by Melbourne writer Michelle Wright which is published in Spineless Wonder's microlit anthology, Flashing The Square. It is narrated by Alex Williams and was recorded live at Knox St Bar, Sydney. In ‘The Last Hare’, Wollongong poet Irene Wilkie turns to her own backyard to contemplate the idea of being out of place. It was recorded at Knox St Bar is narrated by Ella Watson-Russell. In 'Seagull', Melbourne author Katelin Farnsworth writes from the point of view of an iconic bird. It is performed  by Melbourne voice artist, Mileta Rien. The final story is ‘Bound’ and it comes from a collection of stories by Kate Liston-Mills called The Waterfowl Are Drunk! Kate is a writer who lives, loves and writes about her hometown of Pambula on the southern NSW coast. This episode includes an interview with Kate Liston-Mills.

Little Fictions On Air is brought to you by Sydney short story publisher, SPINELESS WONDERS. This episode was originally broadcast on Radio 2RPH at 3pm on Monday, 24 September, 2018. It is produced by Bronwyn Mehan and our sound engineer is Kit McCutcheon. Our theme song, ‘Attune’ is written and performed by Annie Vidler.

In this episode, Ella Watson-Russell presents audio stories which riff on the works of Shakespeare, Austen and Nabokov. You'll hear stories by Mark O'Flynn, Michelle Cahill, Susan McCreery and Carol Ann Martin performed by Tim McGarry, Eleni Schumacher and Ella Watson-Russell.

Carol Ann Martin’s ‘Open Letter to Star-crossed lovers’ read by Ella Watson-Russell  gives a new perspective on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The story was originally submitted via a Little Fictions' call out. Susan McCreery’s microfiction ‘Well, Then’ is published in her collection, Loopholes published by Spineless Wonders. It is performed by Little Ficitons regular Eleni Schumacher. 'Chasing Nabokov' takes the famous Nabokov novel, Lolita and sets it in a modern-day Sydney beachside suburb. It is written by award-winning author Michelle Cahill and appears in the Spineless Wonders’ anthology, Escape. 'Iago' by Mark O’Flynn is an invented monologue for Shakespeare’s play ‘Othello’. It is performed by Tim McGarry.

Little Fictions On Air is brought to you by Sydney short story publisher, SPINELESS WONDERS. This episode was originally broadcast on Radio 2RPH at 3pm on Monday, 10 September, 2018. It is produced by Bronwyn Mehan and our sound engineer is Oliver Agbisit. Our theme song, ‘Attune’ is written and performed by Annie Vidler.

In this episode, our host Ella Watson-Russell presents tales from Sydney’s early years as well as from the not-too-distant past.  Featuring the voices of Joel Horwood, Felix Johnson , Claire Oehme and Eleni Schumacher, this episode includes stories about the Shark Arm Case, Petersham Swimming Pool and Parramatta Rd circa 1988. Authors featured include Karolina Ristevski, Paul Cliff, Arna Radovich, John Dale and Hilary Hewitt – all writers who submitted their work to a Little Fictions Call Out on the theme: Humans of Parramatta Road.

Little Fictions On Air is brought to you by Sydney short story publisher, SPINELESS WONDERS. This episode was originally broadcast on Radio 2RPH at 3pm on Monday, 27 August, 2018. It is produced by Bronwyn Mehan and our sound engineer is Adrian Vecchio-Hoehne. Our theme song, ‘Attune’ is written and performed by Annie Vidler.

In this episode, presenter Ella Watson-Russell presents three short stories about life's ups and down. The first is 'Loaded Dice' by Blue Mts author, Mark O'Flynn and is performed by Joel Horwood. Felix Johnson reads Wollongong writer, Erica Woolgar's 'Directions' and Eleni Schumacher performs 'Chicken' by Sydney author, Angela Argent.

Mark O’Flynn is a much published poet and fiction writer whose most recent novel was shortlisted in the 2017 Miles Franklin Award. The story  ‘Loaded Dice’ and it was published in Mark’s collection, White Light and other stories by Spineless Wonders.

Angela Argent is currently writing a novel set in Prague about the spoils of freedom after 1989 revolution.  In her story ‘Chicken’, a brother and sister return to the Australian country town they grew up in search of their father. The reunion takes a dramatic turn when father and son face off in their cars after a drinking session.

Erica Woolgar's writing has been recognised overseas in The Fish International Short Story Competition, and here in Australia in the prestigious Marjorie Barnard and Josephine Ulrick Awards.

Sound design for this episode is by Scott Harrison.

In this episode, Ali and Emma discuss Lee Kofman’s ‘Permanence’ performed by actor Whitney Richards. In a world where nothing is really permanent, are we better off turning to the virtual world?  Let us know, here on the Coffee Pod|cast Facebook page.

About the Author

LEE KOFMAN is an award-winning author of four books, including the memoir The Dangerous Bride, and co-editor of Rebellious Daughters. Her next book, about imperfect bodies, will be out with Affirm Press.

'Permanence’ was published in Time An anthology of microlit, edited by Cassandra Atherton.

Credits

Presenters: Ali Morris and Emma Walsh

Producer: Bronwyn Mehan

Theme music: James Seymour

Coffee Pod|cast has been produced with the support of the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body and we wish to also acknowledge the support of Little Fictions by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund and the City of Sydney Matching Grants program.

This episode of Little Fictions On Air presented by Ella Watson-Russell features the voices of Lauren Hamilton Neill,  Adam Norris and Joel Horwood. Short stories include 'Addicted' by Angie Holst, 'Kurt and the Interview' by Slade Quinn, 'Northwest Passage' by Jon Steiner and 'The Ibis and the Real Estate' by Helen Meany. As well as lots of laughs, you will also be treated to an extended interview which Ella Watson-Russell recorded with Jon Steiner and Helen Meany about not writing comedy, their writing journey and habits.

In this episode, Ella Watson-Russell presents four stories each with very different perspectives on the topic of war and violence. Actor Nicholas Starte performs Harry Kolotas' 'Wrath of Achilles', Tim McGarry's narration of Charles D'Anastasi's 'Broken House' includes sound design by composer Thomas Ross, Ella narrates Amanda Berry's 'We That Are Left' and Alex Williams performs 'When The Helicopters Come' by Patrick Lenton and with sound design by Kit McCutcheon. Included in this episode also is an interview with Patrick Lenton on the origin of his story from his collection, A Man Made Entirely of Bats and excerpts from a Q&A with Amanda Berry.

'Broken House' is published in Out of Place, prose poem and microfiction anthology (Spineless Wonders,2015) .

'We That Are Left' is published in Landmarks, prose poem and microfiction anthology (Spineless Wonders, 2017).

'When The Helicopters Come' is published in A Man Made Entirely of Bats by Patrick Lenton (Spineless Wonders, 2015).

Little Fictions On Air is broadcast fortnightly on Mondays at 3pm on 2RPH. It presents short stories originally published by Spineless Wonders and performed live at Little Fictions events.

Presenter: Ella Watson-Russell

Producer: Bronwyn Mehan

Sound Engineer: Kit McCutcheon

Theme music: Annie Vidler

Each episode, our host, Ella Watson-Russell will be sharing thirty minutes worth of great stories, read by actors in our studio, or recorded at one of our live session venues.

In this episode, called DIRE STRAITS, Ella presents three stories in which characters are faced with very contemporary moral dilemmas. These stories were all recorded live.

The stories are 'Hardware' written by Susan McCreery and narrated by Emma Diaz, 'Open For Inspection' by Jon Steiner and read by Joel Horwood and 'Something From The Old School' by Helen Richardson and read by our host, Ella Watson-Russell.

And just a warning – some of these works do contain some strong language.