arts
Hosted by Sally Bayley, Andrew Smith · arts · EN · 99 episodes
Acclaimed writer Sally Bayley lives on a narrowboat, surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature, sustained by reading and writing. In this series, she invites us into her life, showing us how books can have the power to change our lives. Sally has recently been diagnosed with an auto-immune disease, but this is not a misery memoir podcast; she shows us how literature and connection to nature can console and give courage and insight even in the most difficult times. This podcast series is produced by BAFTA and Emmy Award winning producer Andrew Smith
Required Pod Score for this show. PitchCentric checks your profile against host openness, topical fit, and audience signals before you generate a pitch.
Contact path
Public web form
Booking probability
33%
Guest openness
Selective
Sign up to generate a grounded pitch for A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley.
Signup to Generate a PitchAcclaimed writer Sally Bayley lives on a narrowboat, surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature, sustained by reading and writing. In this series, she invites us into her life, showing us how books can have the power to change our lives.
A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley is hosted by Sally Bayley, Andrew Smith. The show has published 99 episodes to date.
Recent episodes include "Travelling with Mrs Parnell" (7 September 2026, 22 minutes), "The Humble Paragraph: Part 2" (23 July 2026, 16 minutes), and "The Humble Paragraph: Part 1" (15 July 2026, 15 minutes).
A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley publishes roughly monthly, with episodes averaging 28 minutes across 99 episodes.
Booking probability for A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley is 33%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley requires a Pod Score of 82 or higher. A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley's contact route on record: public web form.
The strongest fits for A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley are Artists, Writers & Performers. A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley has an arts audience.
Sally Bayley, Andrew Smith hosts A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley, an arts show with 99 episodes published.
Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.
Episode #101
‘I follow her behind, as a bridesmaid…’ This week, Sally is preparing to travel. To do so, she goes on an imaginative journey with her character, Mrs Parnell, the centrepiece of her forthcoming book of the same name...
Episode #99
‘Keep your threads firmly tied together…’ This week, we conclude our episode on paragraphs and the writing process. Listen for an insight into Sally’s process of expanding her narratives from the visual towards the...
Episode #98
‘Most of writing is…trying to organise the paragraph into a unit of thought.’ This week, in the first of a two part episode on the writing process, we join Sally in the midst of editing her next novel, Mrs Parnell...
Episode #97
‘I am trying to draw succour and strength from their song, because I need to sing too…’ This week, we join Sally, amidst distractions both natural and otherwise, reflecting on her latest work, Worm in the Bud. Listen...
Episode #96
<p>‘Hölderlin’s lovely blueness</p> <p>you hold to you,</p> <p>it is tensile</p> <p> </p> <p>through the smeared glass’</p> <p> </p> <p>This week, we join Sally in conversation with poet, critic, and translator Stephen...
Episode #95
<p>‘To find a way in, through the door, beyond the doubt…’</p> <p>This week, we join Sally wrestling with the problem of doubt, having just sent her latest novel, Pond Life, to the printers. Listen for a reflection on...
Episode #94
<p>‘Even the sun-clouds this morning cannot manage such skirts.’</p> <p>This week, Sally returns to Sylvia Plath’s ‘Poppies in October.’ Listen for a mediation on the mouth, sound, and their essential role in...
Episode #93
<p>‘Enter Lillian…’</p> <p>This week, we join Sally once again in conversation with the producer, James Bowen, on the subject of Sally’s latest work, Worm in the Bud: A Fable. Listen for a conversation on...
Episode #92
<p>‘A paragraph made up of waiting…’</p> <p>We join Sally this week in the process of editing her forthcoming work, Mrs Parnell, focusing in particular on a single paragraph. Listen for a meditation on the creation of...
Episode #91
<p>For “Husband Ron” and Christopher Robin — may he come by again soon.</p> <p>This week, we join Sally at home, seeing in the New Year in the company of the residents of A.A. Milne’s Hundred Acre Wood. Listen for a...
Episode #90
<p>‘Writing for me is always an embodied experience of flow…’</p> <p>This week we join Sally at home, as she prepares to start her day, thinking in particular about her morning swim. Listen for a meditation on writing...
Episode #89
<p>‘A kind of choreography of intimacy, which I return to again and again…’</p> <p>This week, we join Sally on a cold winter’s morning, as she tries to settle into the rhythm of the day and develop an image from her...
Episode #88
<p>‘She brought so little personality with her that she seemed scarcely to disturb the air…’</p> <p>This week, marking the arrival of Autumn, Sally has been thinking about literary arrivals, in particular those in L.P...
Episode #87
<p>‘From Waterloo Station to the small country town of Ramsgard in Dorset is a journey of not more than three or four hours, but having by good luck found a compartment to himself, Wolf Solent was able to indulge in...
Episode #86
<p>‘The fate of the writer is to dwell in that realm of shadows and apparitions and half-seen thoughts…’</p> <p>This week, we join Sally sketching a scene for her new novel, Mrs Parnell, in which the stern housekeeper...
Episode #85
<p>‘He stood still in the gloom of the hall, trying to catch the air that the voice was singing and gazing up at his wife. There was grace and mystery in her attitude as if she were a symbol of something.’</p> <p>A...
Episode #84
<p>For Gabriella Kelly Davies.</p> <p>‘On the last day of summer Mrs Bohannon fell in love. The poplars, fallaciously pathetic, looked horrified, their branches rising on the wind like startled hair, and a pilgrim cloud...
Episode #83
<p>‘Mrs Mason looked now through Aunt Irene’s rich windows, sparking like spring water and framing fat pink shrubs that grew with child-like health in the tiny London garden.’</p> <p>This week, we join Sally navigating...
Episode #82
<p>For Miss Braithwaite, who gave me eloquence.</p> <p><br> ‘I need to summon the spirits of place…’</p> <p><br> This week, we join Sally in rehearsal for a performance, given last week at Somerville College as part of...
Episode #81
<p>‘Enid’s hands are always kept busy caring for other people…’</p> <p>This week, Sally continues her theme of developing characters from objects by presenting a portrait of Enid Bagot, a young woman used to working...
Recent guests on A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley. Study who booked and why before you pitch.
PitchCentric classifies A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley under these industries. Guests from them are the closest fit, and each links to the best podcasts in that industry.
Is this podcast yours and you'd like to remove or correct details? Request removal or email privacy@pitchcentric.com.
Questions about the free trial? See the pricing FAQ