True Voyage Is Return — Episode 9 — Philip Holyman

This episode features theatre and fiction writer and True Voyage project leader Philip Holyman, who talks (amongst other things) about attempting to write an entire novel in a month — the tyranny of word counts — not standing in the way of your own work — writing characters whose values you find repellent — sex scenes, who's doing what and what they're doing it with — turning up the volume on story details, Ina Garten-style — falling in love with your characters and then killing them off.

Throughout October 2024, writer Philip Holyman invited eight other professional authors — along with members of the public from across Birmingham and the Black Country — to create pieces for an anthology of brand-new work. The public could write wherever and whenever they liked. The professionals, however, were tasked with writing in real time, in full view, in the busy cafe of The Exchange, a grand city centre building which was once Birmingham’s Municipal Bank.

Each contributor responded to a broad inspirational theme, a four-word quote from Ursula K. Le Guin’s iconic novel The Dispossessed — True Voyage Is Return. The works they produced are as unique and individual as the writers themselves — and you can read them all over at philipholyman.com.

You can also hear from some of the amazing people who took part, right here in this ten-episode podcast. We’ll be digging deeper into each writer’s journey, both during this project and across their career. We’ll also be exploring their radically different experiences of creating new work under some truly unusual circumstances.

Listener note: this episode contains references to sex, death, religion, homophobia, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, paedophiles, sex offenders, mental ill health, cancer and parental ill health.

For more information on the project, the podcast and the rest of Philip’s work, visit: philipholyman.com

Project Leader and Manager | Philip Holyman

Podcast Producer, Engineer and Music Composer | Gareth Nicholls

True Voyage Is Return was produced in partnership with University of Birmingham, and the podcast was produced in partnership with Midlands Arts Centre. The entire project was supported using public funding by Arts Council England.

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