Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print. 

Our April Listener Contribution comes from poet, tutor, Write On! team member and Thoughtful Tuesday Editor, Eithne Cullen.  Eithne has recorded a selection of her poems for this contribution.  

You can find out more about Eithne and her work by following her on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/eithnecullen57/

And you can read Eithne’s Thoughtful Tuesdays posts here https://pentoprint.org/thoughtful-tuesdays/  

All content associated with this podcast in audio and in print is protected and may not be copied or used for any purposes including generative AI/AI training. 

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch.

Please submit to: https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio.  This edition has been presented and produced by Chris Gregory.  Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is produced using public funding from Arts Council England.

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print. 

For our April Writing Tips we're chatting with academic and author, Daisy Fancourt,  professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London.  For her latest book 'Art Cure: How the Arts Can Transform Your Health and Help You Live Longer' she has undertaken extensive research into the health and well-being benefits of participation in the arts and looked at the ways in which artists and writers can maximise benefits to both themselves and those who engage with their work.  For this recording, Daisy was in conversation with playwright Lucy Kaufman and Write On! Editor Madeleine White. 

You can find out more about Professor Daisy Fancourt and her work by visiting her University College London profile page https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/44526-daisy-fancourt 

Read more about Daisy’s book ‘Art Cure: How the Arts Can Transform Your Health and Help You Live Longer' ands order a copy from Penguin here https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/462340/art-cure-by-fancourt-daisy/9781529935530 

All content associated with this podcast in audio and in print is protected and may not be copied or used for any purposes including generative AI/AI training. 

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch. Please submit to: https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio.  This edition has been presented and produced by Chris Gregory.  Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is produced using public funding from Arts Council England. 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print. 

Our Write On Audio and Friends episode for March features the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast and an audio drama by playwright Jane Walker .

"Theatre Workshop or The Ballad of Ewan and Joan" celebrates and tells the story of Theatre Workshop, the innovative theatre company founded by Ewan MacColl and Joan Littlewood in Manchester in the 1930s.  Producing hugely popular plays such as "A Taste of Honey" by Shelagh Delaney and Joan Littlewood's "Oh What A Lovely War" and relocating to The Theatre Royal Stratford East in East London in the 1960s. We hope you enjoy the story. 

In 'Theatre Workshop or The Ballad of Ewan and Joan' by Jane Walker you can hear

Michael Ashtiany as Ewan Maccoll

Francesca Anderson as Joan Littlewood

Charlie Richards as Newsboy and Kenneth Tynan

Tom Rope as Archie Harding and Gerry Raffles

Kathryn Georghiou as Shelagh Delaney and Rosalie Williams

Rebecca Bugeja as Jean Newlove and Avis Bunnage

Jane Walker as Woman

and Chris Gregory as Colonel Pennyman

Other voices were played by members of the cast 

'Theatre Workshop or the Ballad of Ewan and Joan' was directed by Chris Gregory and Jane Walker.  It was recorded at Orpheus Studio in London by Richard "Orpheus" Campbell.

Production, sound design and editing were by Chris Gregory for Alternative Stories

Casting was by Chris Gregory and Jane Walker 

Most of the characters depicted in this play are based on real people who played important roles in the Theatre Workshop story. This play however, is a work of fiction and the conversations you heard are imagined based on real events and do not purport to accurately represent actual conversations or interactions between individuals.

The excerpts from Agit-prop and Theatre Workshop plays were used with the permission of Manchester University Press and performed by members of the cast. 

'Dirty Old Town' was used with the permission of Proper Records Ltd'

Scarborough Fair' is a traditional song performed by members of the cast

'Fare Thee Well" is a traditional song performed by members of the cast

Other music used in this production is copyright free and sourced from Epidemic Sounds. 

The script for 'Theatre Workshop or The Ballad of Ewan and Joan' is copyright Jane Walker and may not be used in whole or part except with the permission of the author.

To find out more about Jane Walker and her work please visit her website https://www.enajwrites.co.uk

You can find out more about Theatre Workshop and its history by following this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_Workshop  

All content associated with this podcast in audio and in print is protected and may not be copied or used for any purposes including generative AI/AI training. 

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch.

Please submit to: https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio.  This edition has been presented and produced by Chris Gregory.  Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is produced using public funding from Arts Council England.

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print. 

This month’s Poem Of The Month episode features poet and former vet, Ilse Pedler and two poems from her Seren Books collection ‘Auscultation’  These poems were originally featured on the Seren Poetry Podcast and you can listen to the full episode here https://pod.link/1642711694/episode/QnV6enNwcm91dC0xMTQ4NTg4Ng

Find out more about Ilse Pedler and her work here https://ilsepedler.com/

And find out more about Seren and purchase their books here https://www.serenbooks.com/ 

All content associated with this podcast in audio and in print is protected and may not be copied or used for any purposes including generative AI/AI training. 

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch. Please submit to:  https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio.  This edition has been presented and produced by Chris Gregory.  Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is produced using public funding from Arts Council England.

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print. 

Our listener contribution for March comes from TAK Erzinger an American/Swiss poet and artist with a Colombian background.  She is also an alumni of Boston University.Her poetry has been featured by journals at the Latino Book Review, Indiana University, Cornell University, McMaster University, the University of Baltimore and more.  Erzinger’s poetry collection At The Foot Of The Mountain, (Floricanto Press 2021), won the University of Indianapolis, Etchings Press Whirling Prize for 2021 for best nature poetry book and is a two-time finalist. Her second poetry collection Tourist (Sea Crow Press 2023) is also a two-time finalist at the International Book Awards and the Eyelands Book Awards. Erzinger was an artist-in-residence at the Art Centre Padula Residency Programme Italy, summer 2023, at Brisons Veor Residency Cornwall, fall 2024 and The Eutopia Artist Residence Greece, spring 2025. Most recently her first children’s picture book, At The Queen Of The Mountain won five awards in 2025 including book of the year.  TAK’s new poetry collection  A Woman Like That will be published at the end of March.   She lives in the foothills of the Alps in Switzerland with her husband and two cats.

Find out more about TAK and her work by visiting her website herehttps://takerzinger.wixsite.com/poet

And visit TAK’s page at Grey Borders Books, TAK’s Canadian publisher herehttps://greybordersbooks.jigsy.com/tak-erzinger 

All content associated with this podcast in audio and in print is protected and may not be copied or used for any purposes including generative AI/AI training. 

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch.

Please submit to: https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio.  This edition has been presented and produced by Chris Gregory.  Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is produced using public funding from Arts Council England.

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print. 

Our writing tips for March come from Write On! Associate Editor Clare Cooper.   Working in magazine publishing for over 45 years, the last 29 of which were spent very happily embedded in the Fiction Department of Woman’s Weekly Magazine, Clare is now a regular contributor and competition judge for Pen to Print.  Her writing advice focusses on the skills that writers need to write short fiction aimed at publication in magazines. 

You can find out more about Clare and her work by following the link below https://pentoprint.org/write-on-interviews-writer-clare-cooper/   

All content associated with this podcast in audio and in print is protected and may not be copied or used for any purposes including generative AI/AI training. 

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch.

Please submit to: https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio.  This edition has been presented and produced by Chris Gregory.  Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is produced using public funding from Arts Council England. 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print. 

For our February Write On! Audio and Friends episode we are bringing you an audio drama from the Spec Fic Radio Theatre Podcast.   As the deadline for entries for the Pen To Print audio play competition draws closer - your entries need to be in by noon on 23rd march - we hope that this play will inspire you to have a go at writing some audio drama and perhaps to explore more radio plays. 

The Spec Fic Radio Theatre podcast is a speculative fiction anthology sharing dramas that fall into the genres of fantasy, science fiction and folklore.  It's produced by my production company, Alternative Stories and each story features a cast of professional actors performing a script written by a different writer.   The drama we're sharing today is a fantasy story based on Scottish folklore written by Edinburgh based novelist and short fiction writer, Lyndsey Croal.  We hope you enjoy ‘Daughter of Fire and Water’. 

If you're inspired to enter the Pen to Print audio play competition you can find a link here https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/competitions/

To listen to more episodes of the Spec Fic Radio Theatre Podcast please follow this linkhttps://pod.link/1812026298

To find out more about Lyndsey Coral, the writer of ‘Daughter Of Fire And Water’ you can follow this link https://lyndseycroal.co.uk/

…and to listen to more drama from Alternative Stories please click this link https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories 

All content associated with this podcast in audio and in print is protected and may not be copied or used for any purposes including generative AI/AI training. 

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch.

Please submit to: https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio.  This edition has been presented and produced by Chris Gregory.  Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is produced using public funding from Arts Council England. 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print.

Our Poem Of The Month for February comes from poet, writer and Write On! team member Julie Dexter.   Born in Leicestershire and currently living in London, Julie’s writing explores themes of imbalance, seasonal change, climate change and how this interconnectedness impacts the human condition.  Julie’s poem is called Blindsight and it is written and performed by Julie Dexter. 

Blindsight was published in the Everywriter.net Summer 2025 edition. 

You can find out more about Julie and her work by visiting her website www.juliedexterwriter.com 

All content associated with this podcast in audio and in print is protected and may not be copied or used for any purposes including generative AI/AI training. 

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch. Please submit to: https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio.  This edition has been presented and produced by Chris Gregory.  Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is produced using public funding from Arts Council England.

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print.

 Our Listener Contribution this month comes from Saviour Pirotta.  A children's author, playwright and director originally from Malta, Saviour now lives in the UK.  He is best known for the bestselling The Orchard Book of First Greek Myths, adaptations of folk tales and the ancient Greek Mysteries series which were published by Bloomsbury.  

Find out more about Saviour Pirotta and his work by visiting his website here https://saviourpirotta.com/ 

..and follow him on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/saviour2858/  

All content associated with this podcast in audio and in print is protected and may not be copied or used for any purposes including generative AI/AI training. 

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch.

Please submit to: https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio.  This edition has been presented and produced by Chris Gregory.  Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is produced using public funding from Arts Council England.

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio, the podcast for writers everywhere brought to you by Pen to Print. 

Our writing tips for February come from writer, journalist and editor Natasha Poliszczuk. A former deputy editor at Glamour and writer for The Times and Grazia, Natasha is now the Editor-in-Chief for BookBrunch and writes a weekly newsletter called Book(ish).  

You can read Natasha’s Book(ish) blog here https://natashap.substack.com/ 

Read BookBrunch for which Natasha is Editor-In-Chief here https://www.bookbrunch.co.uk/ 

And follow Natasha on Instagram here  https://www.instagram.com/natashapoliszczuk  

All content associated with this podcast in audio and in print is protected and may not be copied or used for any purposes including generative AI/AI training. 

We’re always delighted to read your contributions so if you’d like to see your words in Write On! or hear them on this podcast please get in touch.

Please submit to:  https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/submit-to-write-on/ 

Thank you for listening to Write On! Audio.  This edition has been presented and produced by Chris Gregory.  Write On! Audio is an Alternative Stories production for Pen to Print. 

This podcast is produced using public funding from Arts Council England.