Love Audio Week: This Poem Here

To conclude our #LoveAudio blog series, here is an extract from the remarkable poetry collection, This Poem Here by Rob Walton.

Arachne Press Director, Cherry Potts, recently said of This Poem Here: “At the start of lockdown, Rob Walton was responding to the anxieties and absurdities of the Corona Virus crisis by writing poetry. He published a lot of these poems on social media, as real-time responses to the latest news. Watching and enjoying them from afar, I approached Rob to publish them as a book. We were in conversation about this project when Rob’s dad sadly died from Covid. The poems in the collection then took a radical turn, delving into rage, sorrow and grief. I can’t imagine a more appropriate collection to have published in this ‘you-couldn’t-make-it-up’ era.”

Full of tears, laughter, biting political satire and Geordie grammar, these are poems that are meant to be read aloud. Here is ‘And in Lockdown’:

You can also watch Rob Walton reading some of the collection in the video from the online launch of This Poem Here: https://youtu.be/sNijjLH4zB0  (be warned, he made many of us cry!).

#LoveAudio is the Publisher’s Association annual week-long digital celebration of audiobooks is designed to showcase the accessibility, innovation, and creativity of the format. Follow the hashtag on twitter.

Love Audio Week: Accidental Flowers

“A fascinating and imaginative vision of the future, built on the foundations of our current climate crisis. You get to follow the overall story from multiple view points which allows multiple other issues to be delicately explored through a variety of characters.

A really pleasant surprise from a book I hadn’t heard of! I would recommend it to anyone wanting an interesting, entertaining and thought provoking read.” Audible Review

Our #LoveAudio post today is an extract from the audiobook of Accidental Flowers, a novel in short stories by Lily Peters.

This title was another multi-voiced audiobook. The clip above is narrated by Beth Frieden and we also got to work with several other fantastic voice actors and narrators, including Tigger Blaize. Tigger said:

I loved playing Robin [in Accidental Flowers]! With each role like this, we get closer to having a trans cannon of stories and characters. It’s a brilliant book with a real mix of voices.”

#LoveAudio is the Publisher’s Association annual week-long digital celebration of audiobooks is designed to showcase the accessibility, innovation, and creativity of the format. Follow the hashtag on twitter.

Love Audio Week: 100neHundred

One of the most interesting things about publishing our titles as audio books is when we are working with anthologies and collections that need a multi-voice approach. This creates the challenge of finding authentic, representative voices for each story or poem within the collection – without having to recruit a cast of thousands! 

Today for #LoveAudio week we are sharing an audio excerpt from one of the most multifariously voiced books we have ever published: 100neHundred by Laura Besley is a collection of 100 stories, each of exactly 100 words. We’re delighted to share two stories from this brilliant book, one read by Cornelia Colman and one by Shubhita Chaturvedi:

The book gives the reader the feeling of voyeurism as if we are taking a glimpse behind the curtain of lives unraveling, of decisions being made behind closed doors, of peeking at the most intimate of moments. It’s melancholic, heartrending, hard hitting and joyous all in one!” Ross Jeffrey

#LoveAudio is the Publisher’s Association annual week-long digital celebration of audiobooks is designed to showcase the accessibility, innovation, and creativity of the format. Follow the hashtag on twitter.

Jane Aldous Tymes goe by Turnes

Jane Aldous introduces her poem Sirius which will be performed at Solstice Shorts Festival 2020, Tymes Goe By Turnes on 21st December, and published in the book of the same name, we are crowdfunding – only a few hours left!

C L Hearnden Tymes goe by Turnes

C L Hearnden introduces her poem 179cm which will be performed at Solstice Shorts Festival 2020, Tymes Goe By Turnes on 21st December, and published in the book of the same name, we are crowdfunding – only a couple of days left! https://bit.ly/3luCRUx

With Great Power… a BSL translation

For No Spider Harmed in the Making of this Book, regular contributor to Arachne anthologies, Helen Morris, takes the Spiderman origin myth and gives it a spin. BSL translation by Marcel Hirshman.

Helen was one of the first winners of the Solstice Shorts Competition. We are currently crowdfunding for this year’s festival and anthology, Tymes goe by Turnes. We have some lovely unusual rewards, and some nice standard T shirt/ Book/ Badge type things, If you felt like supporting us you can do so over on Pay it Forward.

Katie Margaret Hall Tymes Goe By Turnes

Poet Katie Margaret Hall  introduces New Orleans to Vancouver, her poem for the Solstice Shorts Festival 2020, Tymes Goe By Turnes.

We are crowdfunding until 15th October at https://payitforward.london.gov.uk/solstice-shorts-festival-2020, if you felt like supporting this annual event for the shortest day of the year.

Music for Solstice Shorts

It isn’t ALL stories and poems, we have music too. here is a little taster from Kevan Taplin one of three muscians we will be working with at the Festival.

For Solstice Shorts 2020, Singer-Songwriter Kevan Taplin responds to our source poem for this year’s festival, Tymes goe by Turnes by Robert Southwell, with a song that takes the poem as a springboard. This is just an extract from the demo Kevan sent us. We are crowdfunding – help us reach our target and hear the rest of the song on 21st December!

Pippa Gladhill Tymes Goe By Turnes

Author Pippa Gladhill introduces Twelve Point Plan, her story for the Solstice Shorts Festival 2020, Tymes Goe By Turnes.

We are crowdfunding until 15th October at https://payitforward.london.gov.uk/solstice-shorts-festival-2020, if you felt like supporting this annual event for the shortest day of the year.

Brooke Stanicki Tymes Goe By Turnes

Author Brooke Stanicki introduces A Felled Tree, her story for the Solstice Shorts Festival 2020, Tymes Goe By Turnes. We are crowdfunding until 15th October at https://payitforward.london.gov.uk/solstice-shorts-festival-2020, if you felt like supporting this annual event for the shortest day of the year.