Latest up from Spoken Label, features the return of our friend, Jo Somerset.

Jo Somerset is based in Manchester. She completed a MA in Creative Writing in May 2020 at the University of Salford, where she received the Leanne Bridgewater Award for Innovation and Experiment. Like Isla, Jo grew up in Birmingham with an unspoken Celtic heritage. A love of the Hebrides and her experience with a blended family underlie Isla’s heartfelt

journey towards finding her origins and a new self-belief.

In this Podcast, we primarily talk about Jo's new book "Mission: Find Mum"

This book is described as "Isla and Lac's mum is missing, but has left clues, and an emergency credit card. The children travel from Birmingham to Mora, a Scottish island, camping and tracking their mum. Hampered by challenges and unsure of who to trust, can Isla and Lac succeed in their mission? What else will they find... and lose? For ages 10 and up."

The book can be bought directly from Stairwell books:

https://www.stairwellbooks.co.uk/product/mission-find-mum/

Jo Somerset can be found at:

https://www.facebook.com/jo.somerset

https://x.com/josomerset

https://www.instagram.com/jo.somerset/

Latest up from Spoken Label features Toki Ward

from the band Onion Mash.

Onion Mash are a 4 piece female-fronted melodic

(mainly) hard-rock band formed in 2021, but as the name suggests, their music is a mash up- a little bit hard-rock, heavy metal elements off melodic, even a little punk with raw emotional vocals, big personalities and plenty of hooky riffs.

More details:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100081500374600

(Toki's guitar page)

https://www.facebook.com/OnionMashofficial

(Onion Mash facebook)

https://www.instagram.com/onionmashband/

(Onion Mash Instagram)

Latest up from Spoken Label (Poetry / Spoken Word Podcast) features Unspoken. Unspoken is a Tampa poet, actor, host, workshop facilitator and member of the Growhouse Collective who has performed throughout the US both professionally and competitively. A 2nd Generation American, much of Unspoken's writing deals with being Latino in the U.S. and the nature of identity. Unspoken also writes about mental health through the lens of his own experiences in the hopes that people with both internal and external struggles can relate to what he went through and feel someone can understand whatever they're going through. When he isn’t writing, Unspoken likes to plan vacations he can't afford, rewatch Scrubs a concerning number of times, and agonize about not writing. Unspoken is also working on his debut poetry collection, Unspoken Perspectives, out soon. More on Unspoken can be found at: https://www.instagram.com/anunspokenpoet/

Latest up from Spoken Label features making her debut, the amazing Hayley Lyn Gordon. Hayley is a mother of 2 and a spoken word artist, known as, Twisted Tales and was born and raised in Anfield, Liverpool. She writes about motherhood, love, heartache, co-parenting, grief, addiction, mental health and random stuff e.g. about her cat eating ham! She started a project in 2023 that involves incorporating music with spoken word and is on the look out for musicians to collaborate with in the future. Her poetry journey began in July 2021, when she saw a post from "A Lovely Word" advertising an open mic night. She finally found the courage to stand up in St James' Gardens and read "Lemonade Grenade" for the first time, to far more people than she expected. Since then, Hayley's life has been a rollercoaster and she's found writing helps her navigate through lifes ups and downs. Music is a big passion and she has been inspired by many artists, such as Stevie Nicks, Taylor Swift, Paramore, The Cure, Prince, Marilyn Monroe many more. Hayley is also one of the many women platformed by Claire Berry's popular "Fem De La Femme Comedy and Spoken Word" events at The Everyman, Liverpool. This amazing comedy night also raises money for various women's organisations within the Merseyside area every 3 months and is so proud to be apart of an organisation that empowers women and also gives back to the comminity. Hayley mainly performs her poetry with "A Lovely Word" at "The Everyman" and "Word Vomit" at "Round The Corner". She performed during the poetry festival hosted by "A Lovely Word" and "Unusual Art Sourcing Company" in Liverpool for the launch of their poetry zine during June and July 2024, whilst also competing at "A Lovely Word Slam Competition" at the Shakespeare North Playhouse (2023) and The Everyman (2024). Hayley also recently hosted an intimate poetry reading with the local community in Dovecot MAC and had a ball whilst being interviewed by Andy NPoet for his podcast "Spoken Label" (release date 2nd September 2024, on most streaming site e.g. YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music etc). Hayley Gordon/Twisted Tales Bio Instagram: @twistedtales.hlg19 Tik Tok: @h.l.gtwistestales

Latest Spoken Label (Spoken Word / Poetry Podcast) features making her debut, Lynne Thompson. Lynne Thompson was Los Angeles’ 2021-22 Poet Laureate and received a Poet Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets. She is the author of three previous collections of poetry: Beg NoPardon, Start With A Small Guitar, and Fretwork, winner of the 2019 Marsh Hawk Poetry Prize. Thompson is the recipient of multiple awards including an Individual Artist Fellowship from the City of Los Angeles, the Tucson Literary Festival Poetry Prize, the Steven Dunn Poetry Prize, the George Drury Prize, as well as fellowships from the Summer Literary Series, Kenya, and the Vermont Studio Center. An attorney by training with a J.D. from Southwestern Law School.Thompson sits on the Boards of Cave Canem, The Poetry Foundation, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. In June 2022, she completed her four-year service as Chair of the Board of Trustees at Scripps College, her alma mater. Thompson’s recent work can be found or is forthcoming in the literary journals Best American Poetry, Kenyon Review, The Common, Pleiades, The Massachusetts Review, and Copper Nickel, among others. Her Website is the following: https://www.lynnethompson.us/

Latest up from Spoken Label (Artist / Writer / Poetry Podcast) features the return of our friend, Christine Stoddard.

Christine is a writer, filmmaker, and artist named one of MSN's Top 10 Inspirational Women to Look Out for In 2024, one of Brooklyn Magazine's Top 50 Most Fascinating People, and a Ms. Magazine "Ms. Muse." Her critically-acclaimed work includes the stage play "Mi Abuela, Queen of Nightmares," the feature films "Sirena's Gallery" and “Her Garden,” the TV show "Badass Lady-Folk," the books Desert Fox by the Sea and Belladonna Magic, the documentary “The Persistence of Poe,” short films such as "Uncontested," "Bottled," and "De Colores (Chorus of Melancholy)," and the publication Quail Bell Magazine. She is also the co-host of “Don’t Mind If I Don’t,” a comedy TV show with Aaron Gold. Her painting, photography, and performance/video art have appeared at the Queens Botanical Garden, Irondale Theatre, The Elisabet Ney Museum, The Old Stone House, Howard County Art Center, and elsewhere. She was the inaugural artist-in-residence at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, as well as part of landmark AIR cohorts at the Brooklyn Public Library-Eastern Parkway Branch and Woodlawn Estate. She has studied documentary film and oral history at Columbia University, interdisciplinary art at The City College of New York, and libretto writing at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Born to a Salvadoran mother and Anglo-American father, she grew up in Virginia as the eldest of three.

Latest from Spoken Label features the return of our friend, the wonderful Alison Nissen.
Alison is the host of the Florida Writer Podcast and as says on her website "is a writer who does daily battle with dog hair and laundry. She has taught collegiate composition and literature classes for over a decade. Currently, she is the co-founder of Revel Coach, an inspirational platform and managing partner of 3 Dog Tales Productions, a full-service Ghostwriting, Editing, Coaching, and Publishing company."
Her website is: alisonnissen.com

Latest up from Spoken Label (Poetry / Spoken Word Podcast) features making her debut is the amazing Courtney Ward. Courtney is a neurodivergent and chronically ill writer, writing group facilitator, artist and photographer. With mixed heritage and also having mental health difficulties, she faces the odds of having to deal with silent battles and expresses them, so truthfully, turning heartache into heartmake. She has been published in 7 anthologies including “our time and space” by Writing East Midlands, “Speak Out” by The Word Association, and Sisterhood anthology for Sisterhood Festival in Bradford , been a feature artist at Prickly Pear in January 2024, Speak your Mind in April 2024 and August 2024, and also, talked at and collaborated with local charities and also performed at festivals, such as Kettfest, and recently claimed the opportunity to perform at Corby Pride. Plus, Courtney advises she continues to work with our younger generation to make our future better, and also has experience as a shadow writer for Writing East Midlands Beyond The Spectrum young writers group. More about Courtney can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10... OR https://www.instagram.com/courts_ward/