Contributions to Platform, Future Radio 107.8FM

With less than two weeks to Christmas, you may be struggling to find a present for that difficult to please friend or family member. So earlier this week, we asked three of Norwich’s book sellers to each recommend three titles that will make excellent Christmas presents. James Benedict Brown speaks to Ben Richardson of Waterstones on Castle Meadow, Henry Layte of the Book Hive on London Street and Chris Rushby of Jarrolds on London Street.

Feature: Norwich booksellers recommend their books for Christmas (broadcast date 14 December 2014)

An exhibition with a difference opened this week at Norwich Cathedral’s Hostry. Zheni Warner is presenting a selection of new work entitled The Light of the World. But Warner’s paintings are no ordinary canvases, featuring as they do a variety of coloured neon and LED lighting.

James Benedict Brown met with Zheni at the Hostry to talk about her work, but first, we’ll hear a little bit more about the exhibition space available at Norwich Cathedral Hostry.

Interview: Zheni Warner (broadcast date 11 January 2015)

Now, do you love to take things apart just to see if you can put them back together again? Imagine if you had an open access workshop in the city to use 3D printers, laser cutters and CNC routers by the hour. A new crowd funding campaign is looking to make that possible.

Live interview: Karl Ablitt & the Norwich Makerspace (broadcast date 11 January 2015)

In January 2015, the Norwich writer Lora Stimson was named as the winner of the second annual Words and Women New Writing Prize. Stimson, a graduate of Norwich University of the Arts and the University of East Anglia, has been awarded £600 for her short story, Cornflake Girl.

James Benedict Brown spoke to Words and Women organisers Bel Greenwood and Lynne Bryan about the group’s activities and publications, but before that, we hear from Lora Stimson, as she reads an extract of her prize winning short story.

Stimson’s short story Cornflake Girl will feature in the second Words and Women anthology, to be published in March 2015, alongside other highly selected entries from the competition and four newly commissioned texts for About, an Arts Council supported project which explores the relationship between women and place.

The launch of the book and a performance of extracts from the About commissions will take place on International Women’s Day, Sunday 8 March 2015, at the Forum in Norwich.

Interview: Lora Stimson, 2015 Women & Words New Writer Award Winner (broadcast date 18 January 2015)

Telephone interview with Chris Dercon, Director of Tate Modern, ahead of his 2015 Robert Sainsbury Lecture at the University of East Anglia on 30 January 2015. Following a compressor failure in our studios, this had to be recorded via conference call, hence the lower than usual sound quality.

Interview: Chris Dercon, Director of Tate Modern (broadcast date 25 January 2015)

In the autumn, the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts launched a major new exhibition called Reality - Modern and Contemporary British Painting. Curated by the painter Chris Stevens, the exhibition features more than fifty works by thirty three artists. I went to the Sainsbury Centre to meet Chief Curator Amanda Geitner for this two part interview.

Gallery tour: Amanda Geitner at REALITY, Sainsbury Centre (broadcast date 1 February 2015)

James is the Producer and Host of the Arch. Ed. Podcast (archedpodcast.com).

Feature: Norwich booksellers recommend their books for Christmas (broadcast date 14 December 2014)

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