First Story
Thu 15th Mar '18, 10:30am
Young writers from schools in West Yorkshire present work they have created with First Story writers
Writing On Air 2018
Writing On Air 2018 was our biggest broadcast literature festival yet with 50 original programmes made by Yorkshire-based writers. This year’s festival took the theme ‘Borderlands’ which resonates throughout the schedule in different ways. You can listen again to any of them...
Programmes from Writing On Air 2018
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Programme Sharkey and the Words
Thu 15th Mar '18, 2:30pm
A collaboration between Chapel FM’s Associate Writers and jazz phenomenon Chris Sharkey who is currently musician-in-residence at the Chapel
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Programme Poetry Soundscapes
Thu 15th Mar '18, 3:00pm
Original poems and found sounds from Seacroft poet and musician Jaimes Lewis Moran
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Programme The Sleeping
Thu 15th Mar '18, 3:30pm
Sounds from the edge of sleep, a sonic collage by Alex Rushfirth and Rosalie Counelis
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Programme Linda Says
Thu 15th Mar '18, 4:15pm
Burning to write and publish? Writer Linda Sage tells us how to break down the barriers and get it done
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Programme Hull Young Playwrights
Thu 15th Mar '18, 5:15pm
Six short plays from The Writing Squad and Hull Truck Theatre. The Squad is a free programme for writers aged 16-21
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Programme The Drama of Words
Thu 15th Mar '18, 6:15pm
Members of East Leeds Youth Theatre, now based at Chapel FM, give us a sharp take on the idea of ‘closed/open’
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Programme Navigating Borderlands
Thu 15th Mar '18, 6:30pm
Students on the English and Creative Writing courses at Leeds Beckett University explore the implications of ‘the border’
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Programme Narayana and Bhataryan
Thu 15th Mar '18, 7:30pm
David Robertson and Players perform the only play ever written by world-famous Yorkshire sculptor Henry Moore
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Programme Talkin’ ’bout my generation
Thu 15th Mar '18, 8:00pm
What does it mean to be over 60 in the UK? Cineage Live, older performers from Leeds Beckett, tell it how it is
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Programme North and Mourning
Thu 15th Mar '18, 8:45pm
Laura Potts reads poems written for the BBC’s Contains Strong Language Festival, accompanied by Keely Hodgson on cello
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Programme Walking Back to Happiness
Fri 16th Mar '18, 9:15am
Helen Burke and Phil Pattinson kidnap happiness in poetry, music - and in their own inimitable way
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Programme Writers in Transit
Fri 16th Mar '18, 10:15am
Peter Spafford talks to Artemis, International Writers at Leeds, and poets from Germany, France and Spain
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Programme Off the Medieval Map
Fri 16th Mar '18, 11:15am
Poets Oz Hardwick and Hannah Stone follow medievalism as it morphs into contemporary art forms
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Programme Beyond the Borderline
Fri 16th Mar '18, 12:15pm
Storyteller Vickie Orton and her guests share stories about the representation of disability in fairy tales
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Programme Pocket Dante
Fri 16th Mar '18, 1:00pm
Actor and writer Roger Harington performs his own 15 minute introduction to Divinia Comedia
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Programme Bi’An
Fri 16th Mar '18, 1:30pm
Playwright Mary Cooper, with writers Adam Strickson and Jenna Ng, talk about Bi’An, the UK’s brand new Chinese Writers Network
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Programme Pocket Harington
Fri 16th Mar '18, 2:15pm
Roger Harington performs his own 15-minute introduction to the poetry of Roger Harington
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Programme Let’s Dance
Fri 16th Mar '18, 2:30pm
A love story in two moving vehicles. Intriguing new radio drama from James Fernie and Linda Casper
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Programme Once Upon a Time
Fri 16th Mar '18, 3:00pm
Sita Poran and Lucia Fella tell stories from the borderlands of life and the afterlife, with master storyteller Matthew Bellwood
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Programme Lavender Ink
Fri 16th Mar '18, 3:45pm
It’s Pat’s wedding day and at least her mum’s happy. Till she remembers those letters. 1960’s drama from Rosalind Fairclough and JY Saville
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Programme Portrait of a Pedestrian
Fri 16th Mar '18, 4:30pm
What’s the space we occupy as pedestrians? Joanna Sedgwick presents a series of her own poems and photographs
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Programme On the Edges
Fri 16th Mar '18, 5:15pm
Otley’s Courthouse Writers, with James Nash, invite you into the borderlands through poetry, flash fiction and microdrama
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Programme NeurodiVERSE
Fri 16th Mar '18, 6:30pm
Many people believe that being autistic and creative are mutually exclusive. NeurodiVERSE was created to challenge that
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Programme Random Search
Fri 16th Mar '18, 7:15pm
Jaimes Lewis Moran and Dave Binns give us their highly original merging of poem and song
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Programme Poetry for the Newly Single 40 Something
Fri 16th Mar '18, 7:45pm
Poetry in performance from Maria Stephenson and friends on the theme of Maria’s recent book
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Programme Never Worn
Fri 16th Mar '18, 9:15pm
Songwriter Ric Neale and poet Rob Reed perform their moving meditation in music and words on Hemingway’s shortest story
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Programme Tipping the Iceberg
Sat 17th Mar '18, 9:30am
What lies concealed beneath the words we say? Poet and word-juggler John Hepworth takes a peek
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Programme Origins of a Writer: Peter Spafford
Sat 17th Mar '18, 10:15am
In the latest in his series, Jaimes Lewis Moran talks to poet and playwright Peter Spafford about the writing life
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Programme Heartline
Sat 17th Mar '18, 11:00am
Change affects us in ways we struggle to understand. Helen Thompson’s uplifting story faces it out
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Programme Touchline
Sat 17th Mar '18, 11:15am
On one side, dreams are shattered; on the other, they are fulfilled. Mike Thompson’s tale of triumph over disappointment
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Programme Town
Sat 17th Mar '18, 11:45am
Love is a beautiful thing but often dresses badly. Words and music from Wakefield’s finest: Jimmy Andrex and Jane Steele
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Programme Reading Out
Sat 17th Mar '18, 12:30pm
Does hearing your own poem read aloud by another poet yield insights? Five poets find out, with James Fernie
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Programme Between Water and Air
Sat 17th Mar '18, 1:30pm
Musical Arc present stories and music inspired by magical merdogs and shape-shifting kelpies
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Programme The Space Between
Sat 17th Mar '18, 2:45pm
Poets Sandra Burnett and Gill Lambert ponder the female perspective on physical and emotional borders
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Programme Live from The Leeds Library: Rob Cowen
Sat 17th Mar '18, 3:30pm
As part of the Wild Lines festival with Big Bookend, Rob Cowen talks about his landmark nature book, Common Ground
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Programme 250!
Sat 17th Mar '18, 4:45pm
The Leeds Library is one of the city’s best-hidden gems. Staff take us on a tour as they celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding
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Programme Tom Tit
Sat 17th Mar '18, 5:30pm
Mark Connors and John Lake from Armley Press preview Mark’s forthcoming second novel, Tom Tit and the Maniacs
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Programme Six Minute Reads
Sat 17th Mar '18, 6:00pm
Short stories commissioned by Read Manchester from young writers in The Writing Squad, produced by Steve Dearden
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Programme Ian Duhig
Sat 17th Mar '18, 6:45pm
Ian Duhig reads and talks about his work on Refugee Tales 2 (Comma Press) and about his Irish heritage on this St. Patrick’s Day Night
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Programme WordSurf
Sat 17th Mar '18, 10:00pm
Contributors to the first 3 issues of Leeds-based magazine Strix read their work in an immersive music and words float-around
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Programme From the Edge
Sun 18th Mar '18, 10:30am
Hosted by Horror writer Janine-Langley Wood, emerging writers read their individual takes on being trapped between two worlds
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Programme The Play What I Wrote
Sun 18th Mar '18, 12:15pm
Playwrights Charley Miles, Chris O’Connor and Charlotte Carrick discuss their varied experiences of theatre writing
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Programme Thin Line: Writers and Mental Health
Sun 18th Mar '18, 1:15pm
What links creativity and depression? Helen Shay in discussion with Char March and Laurence O’Reilly
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Programme Leeds Savage Club
Sun 18th Mar '18, 2:15pm
A peek into the workings of the oldest-established writing group in Leeds as they gnash over the Borderlands theme
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Programme War on Our Doorstep
Sun 18th Mar '18, 4:30pm
What do the housewife, theatre buff, and rookie soldier have in common? They all lived in Leeds in 1939. Text and music from Trio Literati
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Programme The Village Voice
Sun 18th Mar '18, 5:30pm
On 31st December 2017, strangers were spotted in an English village on the east coast. A live reading of the villagers’ conversation on social media, before the post was deleted
Full Writing on Air Schedule
Click on the leaflet below to go to a full schedule of the 4 days of the festival:
Have a listen to any of our regular words-based shows...
Word Club
Word Club is a monthly spoken word show that explores all things poetry and words. Expect lots of talent from the local and beyond, along with the hottest new releases in poetry land
The Deli
Airs Tuesdays at 7.45pm week 2 of the month.
Each month The Deli team choose a theme and pick it apart, showcasing lots of words, writing and wonderful original work.
Our radio schedule works on a week 2 & week 4 basis. Week two begins on the second Tuesday of each month.
Love the Words
Airs every Tuesday at 4pm.
Peter Spafford presents his love of all things wordy in his weekly shows chatting to novelists, poets and play-wrights.
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Everyone always talks about TV but I’ve had so much fun creating poems for radio that now all my mates want to get involved too.
Sarah (age 13)
East Leeds Academy
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The Chapel FM team allowed us the creative freedom to create the show we envisioned. As a writer, I felt in very good company.
Marcos Avlonitis
10/05/2017
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There was a real buzz of creativity. A memorable and enriching few days.
Amina Alyal
20/04/2017
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Writing on Air has been a fantastic opportunity to learn more about creating and delivering a radio show—I got to talk with poets I really admire and share my interests with a larger audience.
Jo Brandon
24/04/2017