This is the fifth of our ten-part Sound Series where I talk to writers and artists about their work in relation to sounds they have chosen.

In this episode I talk to Brannavan Gnanalingam and Tokerau Wilson.

Brannavan chose the sound of rain on a roof and thought this was a good representation of what he was imagining.

Tokerau chose the sound of paper being ripped – here is his recording.

Exercise:

This is a free styling exercise.

Play either Tokerau or Brannavan’s sound in headphones and record yourself composing along to it.

That simple. What happens when you have rain or ripping paper as a back beat?

Exercise Showcase

At the end of this series I’m going to make an episode showcasing the responses to these exercises. Maybe you would be willing to share your exercises for this showcase.

You can leave your recordings or links to recordings in the comments below.

You can also email me them to me at: betterreadnz@gmail.com

If your sound files are big you can share a Google Drive link or use a service like WeTranfer

Better off Read is available on iTunes and Spotify and most podcasting apps.

Better off Read is also available on PodBean where you can subscribe by clicking here

Or you can listen to it here:

Ep 86: Dan Kois talks to Pip Adam about 'Train Dreams' by Denis Johnson – Better off Read

Pip Adam talks to writer, editor and podcaster Dan Kois about Denis Johnson's 2011 novella Train Dreams   Find out more on our website: https://better-read.com/  

1. Ep 86: Dan Kois talks to Pip Adam about 'Train Dreams' by Denis Johnson 55:35
2. Ep 85: Caitlin Smith talks to Pip Adam about ‘Shoulder Charge’ by Jesca Hoop and ‘Another Goodbye’ by Caitlin Smith 57:50
3. Ep 84: Renter Writes – Eamonn Marra and Murdoch Stephens talk to Dr Elinor Chisholm at Unity Books Wellington 45:38
4. Ep 83: Brannavan Gnanalingam and Pip Adam talk to Kirsten McDougall at Unity Books Wellington 46:37
5. Ep 82: Sound Series 10 – Showcase with Sudha Rao 41:59

Made with the support of Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa

This is the fourth of our ten-part Sound Series where I talk to writers and artists about their work in relation to sounds they have chosen.

In this episode I talk to Sinead Overbye and Charlotte Forrester.

Sinead chose the song ‘Give it To Me’ by Motte. A great way to meet this song is through this music video

Charlotte, also chose a song, ‘Seekers Who Are Lovers’ by the Cocteau Twins which you can listen to on Spotify and below

Exercise:

What’s the most beautiful word in the world?

Maybe you’d like to take a minute or two to write down words, word combinations or sentences that you think are beautiful.

Then you might like to record these.

You may like to miss out the step of writing down and try composing beautiful sounds out loud and on the fly.

Exercise Showcase

At the end of this series I’m going to make an episode showcasing the responses to these exercises. Maybe you would be willing to share your exercises for this showcase.

You can leave your recordings or links to recordings in the comments below.

You can also email me them to me at: betterreadnz@gmail.com

If your sound files are big you can share a Google Drive link or use a service like WeTranfer

Better off Read is available on iTunes and Spotify and most podcasting apps.

Better off Read is also available on PodBean where you can subscribe by clicking here

Or you can listen to it here:

Ep 86: Dan Kois talks to Pip Adam about 'Train Dreams' by Denis Johnson – Better off Read

Pip Adam talks to writer, editor and podcaster Dan Kois about Denis Johnson's 2011 novella Train Dreams   Find out more on our website: https://better-read.com/  

1. Ep 86: Dan Kois talks to Pip Adam about 'Train Dreams' by Denis Johnson 55:35
2. Ep 85: Caitlin Smith talks to Pip Adam about ‘Shoulder Charge’ by Jesca Hoop and ‘Another Goodbye’ by Caitlin Smith 57:50
3. Ep 84: Renter Writes – Eamonn Marra and Murdoch Stephens talk to Dr Elinor Chisholm at Unity Books Wellington 45:38
4. Ep 83: Brannavan Gnanalingam and Pip Adam talk to Kirsten McDougall at Unity Books Wellington 46:37
5. Ep 82: Sound Series 10 – Showcase with Sudha Rao 41:59

Made with the support of Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa

This is the third of our ten-part Sound Series where I talk to writers and artists about their work in relation to sounds they have chosen.

In this episode I talk to Cooki Aimee M and Eamonn Marra.

Cooki Aimee M chose this recording of water running from a bath which they recorded.

Eamonn chose the song ‘Clean’ by The Jelly Tips which was a solo project of Joseph Harper. Thanks heaps to Joseph Harper for letting us use his amazing song.

Exercise:

We talked a bit in this episode about sound that are ‘difficult’ or ‘uncomfortable’.

So, this exercise is about discomforting sounds and is pretty straight forward.

Find a sound that is hard to listen to.

Play it over headphones while you speak for 45 seconds into a recorder. It might work quite well if you have it loud enough so you can’t hear your voice.

The title of this work is the sound you listened to.

Exercise Showcase

At the end of this series I’m going to make an episode showcasing the responses to these exercises. Maybe you would be willing to share your exercises for this showcase.

You can leave your recordings or links to recordings in the comments below.

You can also email me them to me at: betterreadnz@gmail.com

If your sound files are big you can share a Google Drive link or use a service like WeTranfer

Better off Read is available on iTunes and Spotify and most podcasting apps.

Better off Read is also available on PodBean where you can subscribe by clicking here

Or you can listen to it here:

Ep 86: Dan Kois talks to Pip Adam about 'Train Dreams' by Denis Johnson – Better off Read

Pip Adam talks to writer, editor and podcaster Dan Kois about Denis Johnson's 2011 novella Train Dreams   Find out more on our website: https://better-read.com/  

1. Ep 86: Dan Kois talks to Pip Adam about 'Train Dreams' by Denis Johnson 55:35
2. Ep 85: Caitlin Smith talks to Pip Adam about ‘Shoulder Charge’ by Jesca Hoop and ‘Another Goodbye’ by Caitlin Smith 57:50
3. Ep 84: Renter Writes – Eamonn Marra and Murdoch Stephens talk to Dr Elinor Chisholm at Unity Books Wellington 45:38
4. Ep 83: Brannavan Gnanalingam and Pip Adam talk to Kirsten McDougall at Unity Books Wellington 46:37
5. Ep 82: Sound Series 10 – Showcase with Sudha Rao 41:59

Made with the support of Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa

This is the second of our ten-part Sound Series where I talk to writers and artists about their work in relation to sounds they have chosen.

In this episode I talk to Ruby Solly and Chris Tse.

Ruby chose ‘Koukou’ off her amazing album Pōneke which you can listen to and buy on Bandcamp (I totally reckon you should buy it!)

Chris chose the sound of washing rice, which he recorded and you can listen to below – or on the podcast.

Exercise:

This is an exercise where you compose in situ.

Take your recorder – it can be your phone – to a noisy place.

Turn your recorder on and respond to the sounds around you in spoken words.

It might take the form of a conversation with the noises in the environment you are in. Or the noises may form a backing track to your words.

Exercise Showcase

At the end of this series I’m going to make an episode showcasing the responses to these exercises. Maybe you would be willing to share your exercises for this showcase.

You can leave your recordings or links to recordings in the comments below.

You can also email me them to me at: betterreadnz@gmail.com

If your sound files are big you can share a Google Drive link or use a service like WeTranfer

Better off Read is available on iTunes and Spotify and most podcasting apps.

Better off Read is also available on PodBean where you can subscribe by clicking here

Or you can listen to it here:

Ep 86: Dan Kois talks to Pip Adam about 'Train Dreams' by Denis Johnson – Better off Read

Pip Adam talks to writer, editor and podcaster Dan Kois about Denis Johnson's 2011 novella Train Dreams   Find out more on our website: https://better-read.com/  

1. Ep 86: Dan Kois talks to Pip Adam about 'Train Dreams' by Denis Johnson 55:35
2. Ep 85: Caitlin Smith talks to Pip Adam about ‘Shoulder Charge’ by Jesca Hoop and ‘Another Goodbye’ by Caitlin Smith 57:50
3. Ep 84: Renter Writes – Eamonn Marra and Murdoch Stephens talk to Dr Elinor Chisholm at Unity Books Wellington 45:38
4. Ep 83: Brannavan Gnanalingam and Pip Adam talk to Kirsten McDougall at Unity Books Wellington 46:37
5. Ep 82: Sound Series 10 – Showcase with Sudha Rao 41:59

Made with the support of Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa

This is the first of our ten-part Sound Series where I talk to writers and artists about their work in relation to sounds they have chosen.

In this episode I talk to James Woods and Nick Ascroft.

James chose Neon Cross by Drunk with Power, which he wrote and recorded. You can listen to here on Spotify

Nick chose Dunedin Spleen by The Verlaines and you can listen and buy this song on Bandcamp

Exercise:

We talk quite a lot about rhyme in this discussion.

So, the exercise is simply this – turn on your recorder, say the line:

‘I listened to a band called Flipper’

And see how long you can go rhyming words with ‘Flipper’. Don’t forget about half-rhymes and don’t be afraid to change the end sound completely if it feels right. The idea is to try and keep composing for 2 minutes.

Better off Read is available on iTunes and Spotify and most podcasting apps.

Better off Read is also available on PodBean where you can subscribe by clicking here

Or you can listen to it here:

Ep 86: Dan Kois talks to Pip Adam about 'Train Dreams' by Denis Johnson – Better off Read

Pip Adam talks to writer, editor and podcaster Dan Kois about Denis Johnson's 2011 novella Train Dreams   Find out more on our website: https://better-read.com/  

1. Ep 86: Dan Kois talks to Pip Adam about 'Train Dreams' by Denis Johnson 55:35
2. Ep 85: Caitlin Smith talks to Pip Adam about ‘Shoulder Charge’ by Jesca Hoop and ‘Another Goodbye’ by Caitlin Smith 57:50
3. Ep 84: Renter Writes – Eamonn Marra and Murdoch Stephens talk to Dr Elinor Chisholm at Unity Books Wellington 45:38
4. Ep 83: Brannavan Gnanalingam and Pip Adam talk to Kirsten McDougall at Unity Books Wellington 46:37
5. Ep 82: Sound Series 10 – Showcase with Sudha Rao 41:59

Made with the support of Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa

I’m extremely excited to announce the Better off Read – Sound Series!

This season of ten podcasts exploring the relationships between sound and literature will be available an episode a week from 28 July.

In the Sound Series I’ll be talking to 18 writers, musicians and other artists about how sound features in their work. These conversation will centre round a sound supplied by each of the guests. So far, these sounds include songs, noise and recordings of some household activities.

And you can be involved.

We’re ending this season with a showcase of work sent to us by people listening in. Each episode will end with an exercise designed to be responded to in sound. You can record your work on your phone and send it to us for our end of series showcase!

I’m very grateful to have received Arts Continuity Grant funding from Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa. This makes it possible for me to pay guests and a sound production mentor. It also means I’m able to pay myself which I’m also very grateful for. Thank you!

Ep 86: Dan Kois talks to Pip Adam about 'Train Dreams' by Denis Johnson – Better off Read

Pip Adam talks to writer, editor and podcaster Dan Kois about Denis Johnson's 2011 novella Train Dreams   Find out more on our website: https://better-read.com/  

1. Ep 86: Dan Kois talks to Pip Adam about 'Train Dreams' by Denis Johnson 55:35
2. Ep 85: Caitlin Smith talks to Pip Adam about ‘Shoulder Charge’ by Jesca Hoop and ‘Another Goodbye’ by Caitlin Smith 57:50
3. Ep 84: Renter Writes – Eamonn Marra and Murdoch Stephens talk to Dr Elinor Chisholm at Unity Books Wellington 45:38
4. Ep 83: Brannavan Gnanalingam and Pip Adam talk to Kirsten McDougall at Unity Books Wellington 46:37
5. Ep 82: Sound Series 10 – Showcase with Sudha Rao 41:59

With the support of Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa

I am grateful to Sinead Overbye for a lot of things. She’s an amazing writer, she is amazing advocate and she does amazing work supporting and strengthening communities around publishing projects like Stasis Journal and Te Rito o te Harakeke: A collection of writing for Ihumātao

I am also grateful to her for recommending this amazing book. I think I would have missed it but when Sinead suggests a book I want to read it.

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo is an amazing novel and I loved talking to Sinead about it.

You can read Sinead’s work in Pantograph Punch, Starling and on Radio New Zealand as well as lots of other places.

Better off Read is available on iTunes and Spotify and most podcasting apps.

Better off Read is also available on PodBean where you can subscribe by clicking here

Or you can listen to it here:

Ep 72: Sinead Overbye talks to Pip Adam about Bernardine Evaristo’s ‘Girl, Woman, Other’

Level 2 Delivery from Book Hound https://www.instagram.com/bookhound/

Hi All,

Welcome to (6) of these exercises.

I hope you are doing okay.

My hope is that, instead of adding any pressure to ‘do’ during this time, these exercises can be of use if and as you like.

Thanks

Pip

Better off Read is available on iTunes and Spotify and most podcasting apps.

Better off Read is also available on PodBean where you can subscribe by clicking here

Exercise 24

Exercise 25

Exercise 26
This exercise includes the poem ‘The 1950s’ by Bill Manhire from his collection Victims of Lightning (VUP, 2010)
https://vup.victoria.ac.nz/the-victims-of-lightning/

Image by Andrea du Chatenier https://www.andreaduchatenier.co.nz/#/pack/

In this episode, Jackson Nieuwland and I have a talk about two poems.

‘gently’ by Crispin Best which you can read here

Crispin Best also has a beautiful website here

And Jackson’s poem ‘I am a photographer’, which comes from their new book I am a human being which is available for pre-order at Compound Press

‘Jackson Nieuwland is a human being, duh. They are a genderqueer writer, editor, librarian, and woo-girl, born and based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. They co-founded the reading/zine series Food Court. This isn’t even their final form.’

Better off Read is available on iTunes and Spotify and most podcasting apps.

Better off Read is also available on PodBean where you can subscribe by clicking here

Or you can listen to it here:

Ep 71: Jackson Nieuwland talks to Pip Adam about Crispin Best’s ‘gently’ and Jackson Nieuwland’s ‘I am a photographer.’

Hi All,

Welcome to (5) of these exercises.

I hope you are doing okay.

My hope is that, instead of adding any pressure to ‘do’ during this time, these exercises can be of use if and as you like.

Thanks

Pip

Exercise 20

Jackson Nieuwland’s I am a human being is amazing and can be pre-ordered at Compound Press

The article I read from is at GOLD comedy here: http://www.goldcomedy.com/resources/essential-types-of-jokes-rise/

Exercise 21

Exercise 22
Throughout this entire exercise I misnamed Bill Manhire’s book Tell Me My Name – sorry, it is an amazing book published by Victoria University Press

Exercise 23
This exercise includes the poem ‘Five Limericks on Grief’ by Nick Ascroft

Better off Read is available on iTunes and Spotify and most podcasting apps.

Better off Read is also available on PodBean where you can subscribe by clicking here