In this bumper episode we had a conversation with children’s author and illustrator Chloe Inkpen, local radio personality and mediaeval musical maestro Wolfy O’Hare and our wonderful colleague Hannah about musicals and books to have a good cry to.

First up we chatted to Chloe Inkpen about following in the footsteps of - and working alongside her famous dad, inspiration and doubts, modern technology in picture books and if having kids of your own changes how you create.

Next up we chatted to Wolfy O’Hare about having a second career in radio after retirement as well as his large and fascinating collection of mediaeval and folk musical instruments including some lovely sound clips to wrap you ears round as well.

Last up for this episode we had a fun chat with our colleague Hannah about working on the frontline of library services, her deep love of musicals as she picks some of her favourites and also recommends some good books to have a nice therapeutic cry to.

In this episode we had a chat with local writer Louise Beech. She has six books published so far including some inspired by fascinating events from her friends and families real lives, as you’ll discover during the course of our conversation.

Head over to her website louisebeech.co.uk for full details on all of her books as well as old newspaper columns and lots of other tidbits from her career.

We had a fun and engaging chat with Louise about what’s it’s like to actually be a writer after dreaming of becoming one since childhood, how to navigate mining your real life for inspiration and how it’s more important to write what you feel than what you know.

In this episode we had a chat with John Beney who along with Freddie Garland form local dance troupe Ten Foot Dance.

Head over to their website tenfootdancecompany.com to find out more and see some examples of their work.

We talked to John about his Billy Elliot style transition from rugby player to professional dancer, breaking down the stereotypes around dance and some of the varied projects and performances he’s been involved with in Hull and beyond.

In this episode we had a chat with children’s author extraordinaire Michelle Robinson, writer of over 40 books full of all sort of colourful characters, with titles like ‘The Day the Banana went Bad’, ‘When Jelly had a Wobble’ and ‘There’s a Lion in my Cornflakes’.

She’s got more coming out all the time too so make sure to check out her website over at michellerobinson.co.uk for more info and to see what a busy bee she is.

We talked to Michelle about inspiration, tips for staying creative as well as what is was like to become a successful author after dreaming of it for so long, even from a very young age.

But more than any of that Michelle is a very fun and engaging human being who is always a pleasure to talk and listen to whatever the subject happens to be about.

In this episode we had a conversation with musical super pairing Frankie and Pete who together are Mambo Jambo as well as our colleague Ellen, organiser of the Big Malarkey Children's Literature Festival about her childhood and enduring fascination for the magic of fairy tales.

Mambo Jambo describe themselves as an ’Acoustic Roots Duo’ and take inspiration from lots of different musical genres including folk, latin, blues, jazz and lots more besides. We talked to the Mambo Jambo guys about the wide range of musical styles they like to explore, favourite memories from some of the exotic places they’ve gigged in abroad, audience differences around the world, plus latest albums and future live shows.

You can find out more over at their website mambojambo.co.uk, including details of upcoming gigs and more on their latest albums ‘Groove Fruit’ and ‘Happy Feet’.

In this episode we had a conversation with Ruby and Sam, who together are local theatre company The Herd. They write and produce wonderful plays and immersive interactive theatre for young audiences both locally and nationally.

As well as chatting about some of the amazing work they’ve done, we talked about learning as you go and learning from your mistakes, taking stock during lockdown, before they share some great advice for anyone starting out in a creative field.

Be sure to check out their excellent website theheardtheatre.co.uk for some great examples of the imaginative and fun work they’ve produced.

In this episode we had a conversation with author Tom Palmer who writes wonderful historical fictions as well as sporting adventure books about football and rugby for children and young people. We talked about how someone who didn’t like reading as a child ended up as an author, some of the fascinating research trips he’s been on to prepare for his books and why he feels these are so important to telling a good story. We also chatted to our colleague Amy about her job, musicals, murder mysteries and how children books don’t just have to be for children.

In this episode we talk to artist and illustrator Calvin Innes about some of the amazing large scale projects he's been involved with, getting started in art and the importance of arts education, including learning from your mistakes. We also get to know some of the library team better as we chat to our resident sci-fi geek extraordinaire Matt about his current and all-time favourite reads and watches.

And we're off! In the inaugural episode of the new Hull Libraries Podcast we talk to award winning writer Phil Earle. Phil is a Hull born and bred author of over 15 books for children and young adults as well as an all round top chap. We chatted about lockdown life, his latest books and the roundabout route he took to get into writing via a career in bookselling and as a carer for vulnerable young people.

We'll be releasing new episodes monthly with more guests from across the arts and more, plus we'll be chatting to different members of the library team about what they've been reading, watching and listening to.