“I do believe that something very magical can happen when you read a good book.”    J K Rowling Today’s show was inspired by World Book Night which was on 23 April 2017. World Book Night is a national celebration of reading and books. Books are given out throughout the UK with a focus on reaching those who don’t regularly read. Our guests were Helen Hart, Publishing Director of Silverwood Books in Bristol which offers assisted publishing services for self published authors who wish to publish to a professional standard. Helen has also recently set up the SBooks imprint, which commissions short fiction from authors. Also in the studio was Vicky Hough of the Reader Engagement Team, Bristol Libraries. Vicky told us about all the amazing things Bristol Libraries are doing to help people to get the most out of reading. These include a Harry Potter night, and the Summer Reading Challenge for children, who are encouraged to read and review six books over the holida...

Last evening I went to see Offside at the Wardrobe Theatre in Old Market, Bristol. The play, by Sabrina Mahfouz and Hollie McNish, was performed by Daphne Kouma, Tanya-Loretta Dee and Jessica Butcher. It tells the story of two women footballers who dream of playing for England. Mickey is inspired by the story of black Scottish goal keeper Carrie Boustead, and Keeley by Preston player Lily Parr (1905–1978).   One of the play’s pivotal moments is the ban imposed on women’s football by the Football Association (FA) in 1921 – a ban which was not lifted until 1971! It also looks at how women athletes are portrayed in the media, issues around body image, what women wear, and the pressure on women to conform to imposed gender roles – such as not playing football. In addition, it references links between Scottish football and the women’s suffrage campaign. For example, though not mentioned explicitly in the play, Scotland’s first female football team was set up by suffragist Helen...

Today’s guest was Stephen Pritchard, a Bristol-based drama consultant and practitioner, lecturer, workshop leader and music enthusiast.   Stephen is also a co-founder, with Peter Gabriel, of WOMAD, the world music and dance festival. He first met Gabriel when he was working as a music journalist on the Bristol Recorder (later the Recorder ), a print and audio music magazine. Stephen and Peter Gabriel were inspired to establish WOMAD because of their concerns that many British and American musicians were using music from other cultures without acknowledging its provenance. Thirty five years on, WOMAD is still going strong   Stephen has worked with Ekome National Dance Company, and written, directed and performed in community theatre. He taught drama for 27 years, studying and experimenting with the French theatre practitioner Antonin Artaud’s work through pedagogy and performance. He has also produced a series of best-selling Drama DVDs for global distribution. H...