What does love sound like? Which phrases transport us home? What are the sounds that matter to you? From a chorus of seals recorded under arctic ice to speeches that have saved lives, settle in to explore the depths of the British Library sound collection, with author and poet Lemn Sissay and some very special wordsmiths. Together they will discover how language, voice and sound has shaped us, our world and our identities. Press play on a world of sound.
Unlocking Our Sound Heritage is a UK-wide project, made possible by the National Heritage Lottery Fund, that will help save the nation’s sounds and open them up to everyone.
A Pixiu production.
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Why is poetry such a powerful lens for exploring truth? From personal truths to shedding light on topics society would rather overlook, performed poetry in particular, has a special ability to communicate experiences and emotions in incredible shorthand. In this episode Lemn Sissay is joined by award-winning writer and performer Vanessa Kisuule to explore this potency. Together they listen to interviews and poetry readings from the British Library Sound Archive, featuring Indigo Williams, Anthony Joseph and David J – as well as discussing parallels in Vanessa’s own work.
Vanessa Kisuule’s poem Hollow went viral in the days after a statue of slave-trader Edward Colston was toppled into Bristol Harbour by protesters in 2020. At the time she was Poet Laureate of Bristol (2018-2020) and has also been the official poet for Glastonbury festival. She has published two collections and won more than ten poetry slam titles.
Recordings in the episode in order of appearance:
Vanessa Kisuule performing her poem 'Hollow' as originally released on Twitter.
Link: https://twitter.com/Vanessa_Kisuule/status/1270011146544783361
Indigo Williams on the importance of poetry as a tool to process emotions and stay 'mentally healthy' – with excerpts from her poem 'The Organist', recorded in 2014 by Hannah Silva in the British Library recording studio.
British Library shelfmark: C1874/3
Lemn Sissay in performance at the National Poetry Centre, London in 1990 and digitised as part of the Unlocking our Sound Heritage (UOSH) project.
British Library shelfmark: C15/440
Anthony Joseph on the act of reading a poem out loud in order to access 'the collective language' as part of the writing process – with excerpts from his poem 'The Art of Ageing', recorded in 2014 by Hannah Silva in the British Library recording studio.
British Library shelfmark: C1874/1
David J, Vocal Pugilist, demonstrating and explaining the origins of his unique sound poetry style, recorded in 2016 by Hannah Silva in the British Library recording studio.
British Library shelfmark: C1874/15
James Berry performing 'New Reading, Like Rebellion' recorded at the 1983 Angels of Fire Poetry Festival at the Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone, London.
British Library shelfmark: C104/6
You can now listen to original recordings from this series, and thousands more, at http://sounds.bl.uk
Lemn is tucking in the British Library Sound Archive with food writer Jonathan Nunn. Jonathan edits the food newsletter Vittles, and has written for various publications including the Guardian and Eater.
Together, they’re exploring the relationship between food and language: both are passed down through generations and are closely linked to identity. But how do the ways we talk about food change over time? And what does the history of food writing tell us about how society has changed?
Recordings in the episode in order of appearance:
French chef Xavier Boulestin explains how to make an omelette. The recording was made in July 1932.
British Library shelfmark: 9CS0012507
Jim from Norfolk speaks about brewing beer. The recording was made between 1980-1989 by Gressenhall Rural Life Museum and Farm. The original recording is held in the Norfolk Record Office and was digitised by the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project.
British Library shelfmark: UNRO004/84
Madhur Jaffrey, cook and writer of over 15 cookbooks, speaks to Ravinder Bhogal, food-writer and the chef-restaurateur of London’s Jikoni. The online event ‘Madhur Jaffrey: A Life In Food’ was recorded in May 2021 as part of the British Library Food Season.
Full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjnR3keoDIA&t=497s
An oral history interview with a woman called Agnes Davey from Norfolk about hot cross buns. The interview was recorded in Norwich in April 1986, it is held in the Norfolk Record Office and was digitised by the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project.
British Library shelfmark: UNRO001/1
A man from Great Yarmouth describes his mother’s recipe for Bloater paste, a fish paste made from smoked red herrings. The recording is part of the Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service and it was digitised by the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project.
British Library shelfmark: UNRO005/35
Maeve and Dick discuss how to make ‘Pig Lug’, a Yorkshire dish from the coastal town of Filey. It's similar to a pie or pastry containing currants. The recording is part of the Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture and it was recorded before 1966.
British Library shelfmark: C1829/922
Historian Pen Vogler and writer Ruby Tandoh take part in an online event called ‘From Fish Knives to Fish 'n' Chips’ in April 2021. The discussion was recorded by the British Library and the Chair was Babita Sharma, BBC journalist and author of The Corner Shop.
Full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ytHgPsjTy0
An interview with Tara Din about being the first Asian woman to run a takeaway shop in Tameside. The original recording was stored in the Manchester Central Library and it was digitised as part of the Tameside Oral History Project ‘Here To Stay’. The recording was made in December 2005 in the interviewee’s home.
British Library shelfmark: UAP015/120
Wing Yip, a Chinese entrepreneur who travelled to England from Hong Kong in the 1950s, describes some of Britain's first Chinese restaurants. This recording was made in 2001 for the National Life Stories project 'Food: From Source to Salespoint’ and the interviewer was Polly Russell.
British Library shelfmark: C821/62
Cookbook writer Claudia Roden speaks to Polly Russell as part of the 2001 National Life Stories project 'Food: From Source to Salespoint.’
British Library shelfmark: C821/47
When we migrate, can language help us feel at home? And how can words make us feel unwelcome? How does migration affect the ways we communicate and express ourselves in writing, poetry, performance?
In this episode, Lemn is joined by poet and playwright Inua Ellams to listen to some highlights from the British Library Sound Archive and explore the relationship between language and migration.
Inua Ellams wrote the Barber Shop Chronicles which sold out all its runs at the National Theatre in London. His recent show ‘An Evening With An Immigrant’ tells the story of ‘escaping fundamentalist Islam, experiencing prejudice and friendship in Dublin, and drinking wine with the Queen of England, all the while without a country to belong to or place to call home.’
Recordings in the episode in order of appearance:
Madhohu Rammutla performing Kgerere (Planting time). This piece is part of the Stanley Glasser Collection and the recording was made in Sheshego, South Africa in April 1975.
British Library shelfmark: C1671/6
A County Kerry Irish fiddle recording which is part of the Terry Yarnell Collection
British Library shelfmark: 1CDR0008122
A recording from 2012 of poet Kei Miller reading ‘The Only Thing Far Away’ from his collection 'Writing Down The Vision: Essays & Prophecies'.
British Library shelfmark: C1532/12
Mohlao Rapetswa performing the piece Kara (Buttermilk.) The recording was made in Ramokgopa, South Africa, in March 1975.
British Library shelfmark: C1671/3 C1
An interview with Mervyn and Elsie Maciel. The interviewer is Jill Chapman and it was recorded in January 1990. The recording has been digitised in Bristol by the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project.
British Library shelfmark: UBC034/103-104
Gilli Salvat describes her memories of arriving in England from India shortly after partition in 1948. The interview was recorded in 1986 by Allegra Damji. It’s part of a Hall-Carpenter oral history project which recorded gay and lesbian testimony in the 1980s/1990s. The collection has now been digitised by the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project.
British Library shelfmark: C456/40
Aragón C. L. Gabriel performing Paras in April 1981 in Cusco, Peru. The recording is part of the Peter Cloudsley Collection.
British Library shelfmark: C9_52 S1 C3
An interview with author Andrea Levy from 2014- this recording was part of the National Life Stories’ project, Authors’ Lives and the interviewer was Sarah O’Reilly.
British Library shelfmark: C1276/59
Are we listening hard enough to the sounds of nature? Collaborators Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris join Lemn to ask this question. With the help of the British Library sound archive, (see credits below) they’re summoning back the lost sounds and words of the natural world.
Robert is a fellow at the University of Cambridge and known for his books on landscape and nature. Jackie is an illustrator and writer. Together, they created the book The Lost Words to ‘conjure back the near-lost magic and strangeness of the nature that surrounds us.’ Since then, they’ve made The Lost Spells, a book of spell-poems to be spoken aloud.
In this listening party, they eavesdrop on a conversation between broadcaster David Attenborough and sound recordist Chris Watson; learn about Bill Bailey’s love of birdwatching and hear from passionate bird recordist Pamela Fursman who started recording birdsong in the 1940s.
A Pixiu Production.
Recordings in the episode in order of appearance:
A conversation between sound recordist Chris Watson and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.
This event was recorded in 2017 at the British Library
Full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixNM4EM-XgA
A Common Toad, Wales, March 1989. It was recorded in Radnor, Wales in 1989 by husband and wife team Eric & May Nobles.
British Library shelfmark: WS6358 C2
Wiccan Doreen Valiente talks about Beltane and May Day, recorded at Hollingbury Castle on 1st May 1976. This clip was made for a BBC Brighton show called Coffee Break. Copyright of BBC and the Doreen Valiente Foundation.
British Library shelfmark: UTK006/653
Pamela Fursman speaking about her bird recordings. In the 1940s, Pamela heard The Naturalist programme on the radio (a series that led to the formation of the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol) and this inspired her to start making her own recordings.
British Library shelfmark: UBC075/8
English cellist Beatrice Harrison performing in her garden, supposedly alongside a singing nightingale. The exact date of this particular recording is unknown, but BBC Radio first broadcast a duet between Harrison and a nightingale in 1924 as an experiment. Copyright of BBC.
British Library shelfmark: C1186/193
A European Nightjar. This field recording was made by Rex Ashby in Hampshire in 1984.
British Library shelfmark: WS0942
Bill Bailey taking part in ‘Bird is the Word’ event recorded by the British Library in April 2021 to celebrate all things avian.
Full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrhDFFQrtN0
A Montezuma Oropendola or New World blackbird. This was recorded by Richard Ranft in Costa Rica in 1985.
British Library shelfmark: WS4805
Kae Tempest on Performance
Season 1 · Episode 1
Sunday, May 29, 2022 • Duration 36:11
Poet, playwright, rapper and activist Kae Tempest joins Lemn Sissay to discuss the power of live performance.
Inspired by recordings in the British Library Sound Archive (see below for a full list) their conversation explores why Kae starting performing spoken word, what the atmosphere of a gig means to them and why they think we love to hear words performed live.
Kae has won the Ted Hughes Award, their albums Everybody Down and Let Them Eat Chaos were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and they’re known for their transporting performances on stage. Kae is currently touring their latest album The Line is a Curve.
Please note this episode contains moments of strong language.
Recordings in the episode in order of appearance:
‘Goodman’ by the Smoke Fairies, 2007 demo submitted to the Glastonbury New Bands Competition, donated to the British Library sound archive.
British Library shelfmark: C1238/3268
Jamaican dub poet and activist Linton Kwesi Johnson speaks to Sarah O’Reilly in 2015 for the National Life Stories oral history project ‘Authors’ Lives’.
British Library shelfmark: C1276/60
Paul Simon introduces his song Sparrow in a folk club in Bebbington, Wirral, in 1965.
This recording is part of the Stan Mason collection and was digitised as part of the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project.
British Library shelfmark: UAP004/4 S2 C3
An acapella performance by a group of women from the Divis Community Centre Drama Group, recorded in 1985 near Belfast. Copyright of Linda Ballard and performers; National Museums NI.
British Library shelfmark: UNMNI002/474 C1-C6
Benjamin Zephaniah performs his poem Thirteen Dead at the Poetry Olympics festival that took place in 1983. This was recorded by the British Library at
the Young Vic Theatre.
British Library shelfmark: C92/2 C43
Malika Booker speaks to Dr Hannah Silva in 2016 as part of a collection of interviews called Black British Poets in Performance.
British Library shelfmark: C1874/12
Susan Musgrove performs her poem Taboo Man the Poetry Olympics festival that took place in 1983. This was recorded by the British Library at the Young
Vic Theatre.
British Library shelfmark: C92/1 C22
Roger McGough performs his poem Writer of this Poem at the Poetry Olympics festival that took place in 1983. This was recorded by the British Library
at the Young Vic Theatre.
British Library shelfmark: C92/2 C56
Introducing All About Sound
Thursday, May 26, 2022 • Duration 01:59
Welcome to the new series from the British Library hosted by Lemn Sissay and featuring Kae Tempest, Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, Monica Ali, Shami Chakrabarti, Jonathan Nunn, Amy Liptrot, Sophie Willan and Inua Ellams. Subscribe now.
