The Poetry Bath

In this second part of my conversation with Mark Riley, Mark gives Terri Mullholland and me a tour of his studio and tells us about some of the problematic aspects of the buildings he's recreated, as well as their spiritual appeal. We discuss his use of erasure, particularly in the Meon Hill sketches, and continue our conversation about haunting and ghosts. 

You can find some of Mark's sketches and other work on Mark's Instagram page: @formdemon. 

The Poetry Bath's theme tune is composed and performed by Nigel Horn.

In 2023 The Poetry Bath moved to Buzzsprout from Wildhart Radio. You can listen to all 51 earlier episodes via my website. 

In this first episode of the new series, Terri Mullholland and I meet visual artist and writer Mark Riley in his London studio to talk about his work. Mark shows Terri and me some of his new three-dimensional pieces, along with recent sketches of Meon Hill on the northern edge of the Cotswolds, and we talk about pilgrimage, haunting and how Mark carries landscapes and stories around with him. 

Please note that you might need to turn up the volume as the recording's quite quiet. Listen out too for the sound of passing trains just beyond Mark's studio! 

The Poetry Bath's theme tune is composed and performed by Nigel Horn.

In 2023 The Poetry Bath moved to Buzzsprout from Wildhart Radio. You can listen to all 51 earlier episodes via my website. 

In this final episode before The Poetry Bath's summer holiday, Sarah Salway continues to read from her new collection, The Hands of a Gardener, a novel in verse that follows the life of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. Sarah tells me how having an awareness of gardens and messiness informed her use of poetic form in the book, and the excitement of, in Sarah's words, 'sorting things out.' 

The Poetry Bath's theme tune is composed and performed by Nigel Horn.

In 2023 The Poetry Bath moved to Buzzsprout from Wildhart Radio. You can listen to all 51 earlier episodes via my website. 

Sarah Salway returns to the Poetry Bath to read from her new collection, The Hands of a Gardener, a novel in verse that follows the life of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. Sarah talks about writing with an end in view and how the collection began as a crime novel. We also chat about story, landscape and the women, both real and imaginary, in Brown's life. 

The Poetry Bath's theme tune is composed and performed by Nigel Horn.

In 2023 The Poetry Bath moved to Buzzsprout from Wildhart Radio. You can listen to all 51 earlier episodes via my website. 

In this second part of our conversation, Barry Fentiman Hall and I talk about work, class and horrible jobs. We continue our discussion of his poem 'I Ran' and he tells me about going to the same school as his dad and the 'many-headed memory monsters' that are hospitals. 

Fans of literary festivals might also like to find out more about Barry's Medway River Lit Festival. 

The Poetry Bath's theme tune is composed and performed by Nigel Horn.

In 2023 The Poetry Bath moved to Buzzsprout from Wildhart Radio. You can listen to all 51 earlier episodes via my website. 

Medway-based poet Barry Fentiman Hall joins me to read his work and talk about English identity and the politics of writing. We also chat about his neural diversity and what it meant to him to discover he had cerebral palsy at the age of twenty-five. 

Fans of literary festivals might also like to find out more about Barry's Medway River Lit Festival. 

The Poetry Bath's theme tune is composed and performed by Nigel Horn.

In 2023 The Poetry Bath moved to Buzzsprout from Wildhart Radio. You can listen to all 51 earlier episodes via my website. 

In the second part of my conversation with Janice Warman, Janice reads further poems from These are the things we have lost  and tells me about her parents and the tricky art of writing about the ones we love.  

The Poetry Bath's theme tune is composed and performed by Nigel Horn.

In 2023 The Poetry Bath moved to Buzzsprout from Wildhart Radio. You can listen to all 51 earlier episodes via my website. 

Janice Warman's collection These are the things we have lost was published in January by Fly on the Wall Press. Janice joins me to celebrate its release, read from the book and talk to me about growing up in South Africa, gendered violence, fiction in poetry and the delight of writing on planes, trains and horseback. 

The Poetry Bath's theme tune is composed and performed by Nigel Horn.

In 2023 The Poetry Bath moved to Buzzsprout from Wildhart Radio. You can listen to all 51 earlier episodes via my website. 

Simon Maddrell reads further poems from his new collection Lamping Wild Rabbits and talks to me about plants, bodies, Derek Jarman and living with HIV. 

The Poetry Bath's theme tune is composed and performed by Nigel Horn.

In 2023 The Poetry Bath moved to Buzzsprout from Wildhart Radio. You can listen to all 51 earlier episodes via my website. 

Simon Maddrell joins me to read from his new collection Lamping Wild Rabbits. In this episode Simon tells me about his Manx background, his early queer identity and how, in Simon's words, 'it's as though we have to climb out of our damage'.

The Poetry Bath's theme tune is composed and performed by Nigel Horn.

In 2023 The Poetry Bath moved to Buzzsprout from Wildhart Radio. You can listen to all 51 earlier episodes via my website.