For the sixth instalment of Pet Projects, we are chuffed to welcome Ollie and Pixel to the show. As well as being a renowned author of speculative fiction (in the SFF genre), Dr Oliver K. Langmead (aka Ollie) is a Creative Writing tutor at Lancaster University’s world-famous Creative Writing department. 

Ollie describes how he first met Pixel, the importance of play, the shared health problems that saw them taking the same medication, and how ‘yard time’ for cats doesn’t have to mean putting wildlife at risk. 

Turning to publishing, Ollie discusses his research into (de)anthropomorphism and personhood, and his widely praised verse novel Calypso, a stunning piece of sci-fi, created with help from real-life astronauts, his longstanding editor, and literary influences including Milton and Homer. We discuss writing techniques, how to get into ‘the classics’, northern SFF events and publishing scams, among other things. 

Pet Projects is a collaborative project devised by writer and editor Peter Humphreys and artist and filmmaker Ana Rebolledo, who provides the artwork and video content. It is available on Spotify, SoundCloud, iTunes and elsewhere. If you’re enjoying the podcast please like, subscribe and share.

Links to Ollie’s work & works discussed: 

Ollie’s website: https://oliverlangmead.com 

Ollie’s university bio: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/english-literature-and-creative-writing/people/oliver-langmead 

Writers Beware – a website exposing publishing scams: https://writerbeware.org 

The Coral Bones by EJ Swift: https://ejswift.co.uk/2022/08/05/announcing-the-coral-bones/ 

The Odyssey by Homer (audiobook version): https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320993/odyssey-by-fry-stephen/ 

Paradise Lost by John Milton (audiobook version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=depIn1frboE 

Genesis by Frederick Turner: https://frederickturnerpoet.com/?page_id=166 

Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58320923-deep-wheel-orcadia 

Jim Stewart, poet: https://dura-dundee.org.uk/2018/11/02/this-tay-poems-by-jim-stewart/ 

It’s Strange Up North: https://www.waterstones.com/events/its-strange-up-north/leeds (inaugural event of ‘fantastical fiction featuring some of the very best writers working in the SFF space today’, June 2024)

The Publishing Rodeo (podcast co-created/-hosted by writer Sunyi Dean): https://publishingrodeo.wordpress.com

Pet Projects - Episode 6 - Oliver K. Langmead

I'm a writer and editor based in Lancaster. Check out my podcasts Pet Projects (in which I interview creative types about their pets - and their projects), First Impressions (a surreal slice of literary cheesecake), and Monkey Scribbling (two older blokes reflect on their youth in the '90s through the letters they exchanged at the time). 

Pet Projects is a collaboration with Ana Rebolledo and Monkey Scribbling with Richard Pye. 

The family band I formed with my brother, Decaying Leather, in 1989 continues to write and record. Our music can also be found on SoundCloud and elsewhere.