Spoken Label

Recorded live at Stockport's The Petersgate Tap on Wednesday 05 October, this special live Spoken Label (Poet / Artist Podcast) features the wonderful poet Skylar J Wynter and the equally wonderful artist, Neshka Turner talking about their joint book 'Shine' and also their UK and Europe tour 'Decent Beings' which is ongoing as we speak.

Shine, their joint book is described as "In the wake of global pandemic, COVID-19, best-selling author, Skylar J Wynter and artist, Neshka Turner, bring us a captivating collaboration of art and poetry exploring humanity's quest for transformation from adversity.

Turner's artwork, an unafraid combination of pieces morphing between stark to rich with symbology, provide the perfect textured landscape for Wynter's unapologetic exploration of modern-day challenges we face as individuals and collectives in a bid to be seen, heard, and accepted just as we are.

SHINE, embodying the work of two women from very different cultural backgrounds and lived experiences, navigating their way towards love of self, is a visual and poetic invitation to all to embrace the abrasiveness of life. The unflinching images captured between its covers will crack you open, let in the light, and set your mind free with a humble truth: we don't know what we don't know, so the only way forward is with decency towards self and others."

More about Skylar can be found here: https://linktr.ee/Skylarjwynter?fbclid=IwAR04baWqTg4rbHDbtPu143yilAerODi38QQ_CA42xod7euqA0v1oaM039Hw

OR 

https://www.facebook.com/skylarjwynterauthor

and more about Neshka can be found here: 

https://www.facebook.com/magicbyneshka

Bios are:

Skylar J Wynter is the best-selling Author of poetry and flash fiction collection, Pieces of Humanity released on October 10th, 2020 to align with National Mental Health month.After an incident which changed the course of her life in 2014, Wynter turned to various art forms to process the trauma and make sense of her new self. She shares her poetry in the hopes it will help others find peace within their own realities and encourage humanity to reach out to each other with decency.Skylar resides in the Perth Hills of Western Australia, where she pens her creations overlooking national parkland and when she is not writing, she likes to create beautiful things with her limited jewellery making and sculpting skills, and serene spaces in her garden. She loves a great book, a sunny day and witnessing humans behaving decently. She hates cooking, and injustice, hopes Covid-19 disappears and online poetry events don't, and that someone finds a way to make celery taste like cheesecake. 

Neshka Turner is an emerging Australian artist, living in sunny Perth, Western Australia. She was born in Poland as Agnieszka Beata Chechlowska in the early 70s, from where she was ripped away and moved to Germany and then Australia. She changed her first name so you can pronounce it more easily and gained an easy surname through marriage.Neshka studied art under her mother's, also an artist, guidance since early childhood. Not that her mother ever wanted her to be an artist; you hardly ever succeed and don't make enough money. She graduated from Newtown High School of the Performing Arts and went on to study Visual Art at the Sydney College of the Arts in the 90s. However, her career has taken her on a different path before rediscovering creativity again in the 2020s.She has worked in retail, Internet and Information Technology areas, training, HR, Vocational Education, and lately, working with special needs children as an Educational Assistant. Now she illustrates poems and more. Neshka works in most media, including pencil and coloured pencil, charcoal, hard, soft and oil pastels, acrylic and oils. Her subjects are all and many. You can view and purchase her art through her website,

Latest Spoken Label (Spoken Word / Artist / Author Podcast) features the fantastic Heidi Hinda Chadwick.

Heidi Hinda Chadwick is a Creative Life Coach, Writer, and Creative Director, based in Manchester, UK. She has been writing for over 15 years, about life, love, sex, relationships, soul, creativity, and arts & culture, and has been published in various online and paper publications.  Heidi would describe herself as a storyteller, and she is curious about the world and what it means to be human. This year she has been writing a series for Elephant Journal called ‘An A to Z Guide To Being Human’. Alongside personal essays, Heidi writes short stories, novels and spoken word.  She has been creating and writing courses for teaching, facilitation, and coaching for over 20 years, and offers her services as a writing coach and mentor, a content and course creator, copy editor, and creative consultant.  The foundations of Heidi’s Creative Life Coaching are about understanding what is vital to us, what makes us feel alive, what we value, and why. It’s all about how to live a juicy and full life, and the potency of living from a deep sense of wellbeing. 

Heidi brings a deep playfulness and humour to her work, such as, reframing limiting beliefs as superpowers, and allowing ourselves to be vividly and wildly imperfect. Having a clear voice and telling our stories is the crucial underpinning to what she offers, empowering us and deepening our place of responsibility and accountability in the world. Heidi also offers Creative Coaching Toolkits for writers, artists, entrepreneurs and creative businesses.  For more info: www.heidihindachadwick.com

Following on from a bonus mini episode recently. new from Spoken Label (Author / Artist / Spoken Word) Podcast features with a full session is the wonderful Liz Gibson.

A bio about Liz is (in her own words):  “Hello! I'm Liz.   I am a writer, performer and tutor based in Manchester. I write poetry and fiction, reviews, essays, and opinion pieces. I am inspired by themes of community, city life, queerness, body image, and mental health, as well as by travel, the natural world, and folklore. I was awarded a DYCP grant by Arts Council England in Spring 2021, to develop my poetry and performance.  In early 2021, I was chosen by Dibby Theatre for the competitive First Dibs programme for LGBTQ+ theatre-makers, and am working on my spoken-word show about walking in an empty city, and finding comfort in the places, nature, and animals around me.  In 2020, my poem "Arrival" was selected by Manchester City of Literature to be part of the Tartu Bus Poetry Project in Estonia, and it currently appears on bus windows in Tartu, representing Manchester.   I am a graduate of The Writing Squad and Young Identity (who I represented at One Mic Stand in 2019), and a member of Out on the Page.

More about Liz can be found at: http://elizabethgibsonwriter.blogspot.com/

Latest episode from Spoken Label (Author / Artist / Spoken Word) Podcast features Peter Humphreys, author off "Hong Kong Rocks" and Podcast host off "First Impressions".

Hong Kong Rocks is described as "Nick Powell, arriving in Hong Kong with his soon-to-be-ex-wife Lennox, finds himself drawn into the political machinations affecting the city as the Occupy movement takes root. A fatal accident exposes the factions vying for control of the SAR and gives Nick the second chance desired by many Hong Kong expats, but will he make the most of the opportunity, or find himself on the wrong side of history? Shifting between a variety of unique voices, HONG KONG ROCKS (a Proverse Prize 2018 finalist) is part thriller, part meditation on the challenges facing a special autonomous region punching above its weight.

"'Hong Kong Rocks' is a story set in an alternative present; it is in part a whodunit, with the who and the it constantly in doubt. At the centre is a group of dissolute, middle-aged, expatriates, who are held more or less upright, or let fall by surer, stronger women. Dissolution, however, has its consequences, in conflict with either the newly introduced Deportation Act, or two cross-border goons, or both. And, as the tale reaches its finale, we cannot but agree with the narrator that Hong Kong is 'hotting up'."—Philip Chatting, author of "The Snow Bridge and Other Stories", Winner of the Proverse Prize 2014.

"Funny and twisted, in Humphreys’ spirited novel Nick and a garrulous band of expats are caught in the shifting societal landscape of Hong Kong. Nights drinking at the Brolly, missing friends, the Occupy movement, fear of deportation and the threat of discovery by Chinese agents, all loom large. As his freedom hangs on the edge of a precipice, Nick seizes on the absurdities, secrets and joys of a life lived with regret."—Maria Roberts, author of "Single Mother on the Verge", Penguin."

Peter can be spoke to via https://www.instagram.com/theworddiver/

His Podcast 'First Impressions' can be found on all of the usual places.

Hong Kong Rocks is available on amazon and all the usual places. 

Latest Spoken Label Session features Elisabeth Horan from Animal Heart Press as a additional guest explaining a little bit about the collection "L(EYE)GHT" in discussion features the wonderful Jessica Kim.  

Jessica Kim  (she/her) is a Korean-American high school junior and poet who has lived in Korea, Singapore, and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. She identifies as visually-impaired and advocates for the disabled community.  Recently, she has been named the 2021-22 Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate and runner-up for the 2022 United States National Youth Poet Laureate. 

She is the author of L(EYE)GHT, runner-up for Animal Heart Press' Chapbook Contest, which has been published in April 2022. You can read all my interviews and press releases under EXPERIENCE.  Jessica's poems appear in POETRY Magazine, The Adroit Journal, Frontier Poetry, The Journal, and Waxwing Magazine among others. A Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize Nominee, she is also a YoungArts Finalist in Writing (Poetry), 1st Place Winner of Columbia College Chicago's Young Authors Contest, Commended Foyle Young Poet, 2nd Place Winner of the Bennington Young Writers Awards (Poetry), Gregory Djanikian Scholar Finalist, and more.  

More about Jessica can be found at: https://jessicakimwrites.weebly.com/ 

Her collection can be bought from all major websites but in particularly from https://animalheartpress.net/

Latest Spoken Label features our returning friend, the wonderful Matt Nicholson. 

Matt is described as "Hi, I’m Matt Nicholson – I’m a poet, writer and performer from East Yorkshire (near to the poetic hotspot of Hull). I began writing as a kid, that kind of who am I and what’s it all about? stuff that a lot of people need as they begin to find their place in the world. I only really began to write with any purpose though when I found myself out of work when I was around 40…I have a heart condition and hated the work I had been doing, so I was seeking something new. I was lucky enough to do a creative writing course with The Open University and haven’t really stopped since then."  

The session is primarily talking about Matt's new book 'Untanglement' which has had praise such as: 

"Proof that poetry can break your heart and mend it again” – Helen Mort 

“A collection by a poet who knows their voice and the world is a richer place because of it”  – Wendy Pratt 

“A body of work both beautifully intricate and thrillingly unsettling” – Russ Litten  

More about Matt can be found at: https://mattpoet.com/ 

#MattNicholson #SpokenLabel #SpokenwordPodcast #PoetryPodcast #Podcast #Poetry

Latest up from Spoken Label (Author / Artist / Poet Podast series) features Professional Tarot Reader, writer for the witch magazine and author of the forthcoming poetry collection - "The Inner Shore" from Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, the wonderful Kelly Buchan

More about Kelly can be found at:

https://www.tiktok.com/@the_witchcrafter

https://www.instagram.com/the_witchcrafter/

https://www.facebook.com/kelly.buchan.7792

Latest Spoken Label Podcast is from the wonderful Adam C Fleming.

Adam G. Fleming is a novelist and leadership coach from Goshen, IN. Married with four kids, Adam brings his unique blend of cross-cultural humor to his work as a writer, speaker, and professional executive coach. Raised in the Midwest, Adam is a world traveler and has spent significant amounts of time in Zaire/ DRC, France, Ivory Coast, and a dozen or more other countries. Adam's primary current international project is in Egypt.

Adam blogs on a diverse variety of topics from fiction writing, poetry and leadership at www.adamgfleming.com

Latest episode from Spoken Label (Spoken Word / Artist Podcast) features a dear friend making her debut, Polly Anna Rose.

Polly Anna Rose "teaches yoga, manages projects, and likes to run, meditate, talk, think and make art about reframing  (dis)ability and justice issues. She has recently launched a Podcast - Well-Healed, on just these topics, and is taking submissions. Polly writes as a means for survival. She performs from a place of compassionate rage. Her narratives interrogate the endemic corruption within our global political and economic systems. Sometimes an incantation, but more often a call for action, such as Matka Země (mother earth), her work draws on a range of influences from Mary Oliver to Saul Williams, Kae Tempest to Ted Hughes.  Born in Oxford, hailing from Welsh and Czech lineage, Polly’s work walks the line between protest poetry and autobiographical sojourning.   Living in the South of England she always felt a profound and melancholic hiraeth. Polly moved to Salford in her twenties to complete her studies in Visual Arts, and was adopted as an honorary Northerner. Her voice is worth a listen, whether you hear it spoken, or written. Her recent poetry collection - Severní Někde (North Somewhere) - will be published later this year. Alongside this release, is a second installment of an artist collective zine, produced by international collaborations with poets, visual artists, writers and photographers. As mentioned, she is also is in the process of producing a series of Podcasts under the moniker- Well Healed.   So//Journ 2 is out for print in September 2022. Email: pollyannasteiner@gmail for submissions or follow @hiclamour and @yogawithpollyanna for updates."

NB. The band / project I was referring during this session with Polly now has a name "Polly Ocean" (decided on after this session) and our debut EP will be following in September all being well and will be available from oceaninabottle.bandcamp.com

Latest Spoken Label (Author / Writer / Artist) session features from Stockport, Jan Foster.  

Jan lives in the North West of England, where it rains too much for her liking. However, despite a busy household filled with children, dogs, several businesses and books, she retreats into her writing world as much as possible. Time permitting!  

As a volunteer reader within a local school, Jan realised that some children have a great fear about trying something new – especially if they are not ‘sporty’ kids. This led her to write a humorous introduction to different activities, the Mitch and Mooch Try Series. Dyslexia friendly font and dialogue in speech bubbles, the books aim to be as inclusive as possible and cater also for children on the autistic spectrum.  

History has always fascinated Jan, and she revels in being left alone in ruins to ponder the ‘What If’s.’ Her passion is the Tudor Age, a rich tapestry of events and people which formed the foundations of modern British society. She also loves the idea that there may be something as yet undiscovered about the world as we know it – what if there was a parallel world where magic happens? How would it impact the lives of ordinary people? And extraordinary people… Find out more in the Naturae Series where fantasy and reality collide with surprising consequences.  

You can find more out about Jan at https://escapeintoatale.com/