Jay recorded & produced the Rich Seams series for New Writing North, commissioned by the Durham Book Festival, which is supported by Durham County Council and Durham University, and made possible by funding for the arts from Arts Council England.
"Podcast of the Year" - Gold Award
Community Radio Awards 2019
In the first episode, Andrew is in conversation with Alice Mullen, manager of the Poetry Book Society, Claire Malcolm, founding chief executive of New Writing North and Professor Stephen Regan of Durham University. They discuss the unique and beautifully compelling nature of northern poetry and share some of their favourite poems and poets from (or inspired by) the area.
In episode 2, a live podcast recording at the Durham Book Festival 2018, Andrew interviews some members of the next generation of North East poets – Jake Campbell, John Challis and Degna Stone – who also read from their work.
In the third episode, Andrew is in conversation with northern based poets Emma McGordon, Kim Moore and Eileen Pun at the Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere. They tackle the importance of labelling poetry – what makes northern poetry 'northern'?
For the fourth instalment, listen to northern poets Steve Ely, Amy McCauley and Clare Shaw discuss their work, and the mythic power of poetry in Halifax - recorded at the youth development project Orange Box in Halifax Town Centre.
Andrew’s journey into the Rich Seams of Northern poetry continues in Manchester, where he meets Hafsah Aneela Bashir and Ian Humphreys to consider how we’re breaking apart a monolithic view of the North and asking whether a convergence of different influences and and experiences is building a new sense of what we think of as the north and its poetry. Recorded at Gaydio, Manchester.
Andrew’s journey brings him to Yorkshire with Rachael Allen, Kit Fan and Zaffar Kunial to consider what it takes to feel at home somewhere and whether the idea of a poetry of the north is really a signpost to a continuous journey rather than a final destination. Recorded in November 2018 at the community radio station Chapel FM in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
Andrew’s journey comes to an end, and he wheels his travel suitcase back to the New Writing North offices to chat to New Writing North's Chief Executive Claire Malcolm, and offer up a new poem about what he’s found. Recorded May 2019 at the New Writing North headquarters in Newcastle upon Tyne.