Episodes
| Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Crinkum Crankum | 20230730 | Five British Asian writers take folktales or traditional stories and rework them in contemporary settings. Episode 3: Crinkum Crankum by Amanthi Harris. Writer and artist Amanthi Harris was born in Sri Lanka and grew up in Colombo, before moving to London. Her novella Lantern Evening won the Gatehouse Press New Fictions Prize in 2016. Her novel, Beautiful Place, was published in 2019. Writer: Amanthi Harris A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 By Amanthi Harris. Anya learns the art of oral storytelling. British Asian writers take traditional stories and rework them in contemporary settings. |
| Layyina and Mohsin | 20230723 | Five British Asian writers take folktales or traditional stories and rework them in contemporary settings. Episode 2: Layyina and Mohsin by Kasim Ali. Kasim Ali was longlisted for the 4th Estate B4ME Short Story Prize and shortlisted for Hachette's Mo Siewcherran Prize. His first novel, Good Intentions, was published in March 2022. Writer: Kasim Ali A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 By Kasim Ali. Keeping her distance, Lay watches a funeral. British Asian writers take traditional stories and rework them in contemporary settings. |
| Oxbow Blues | 20230806 | Five British Asian writers take folktales or traditional stories and rework them in contemporary settings. Episode 4: Oxbow Blues by Gurnaik Johal. Inspired by the Punjabi love story Sohni Mohiwal. While the land around her floods, a woman reflects on loss, grief and a news story about doomed lovers. Gurnaik Johal is a writer from West London. He was shortlisted for The Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize in 2018 and graduated from The University of Manchester in 2019. His first collection of stories, We Move, was published in 2022. Writer: Gurnaik Johal Reader: Chetna Pandya Producer: Jeremy Osborne A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 By Gurnaik Johal. A woman reflects on loss, grief and a news story. British Asian writers take traditional stories and rework them in contemporary settings. |
| The Gift | 20230813 | Five British Asian writers take folktales or traditional stories and rework them in contemporary settings. Episode 5: The Gift by Susmita Bhattacharya. Susmita Bhattacharya was born in Mumbai. Her first novel, The Normal State Of Mind, was published in 2015. Her collection of stories, Table Manners, was published in 2018. Writer: Susmita Bhattacharya A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 By Susmita Bhattacharya. Mira\u2019s golden egg means she can only bear sons. British Asian writers take traditional stories and rework them in contemporary settings. |
| The Golden Egg Method | 20230716 | Five British Asian writers take folktales or traditional stories and rework them in contemporary settings. Episode 1: The Golden Egg Method by Divya Ghelani. Inspired by the story of Gandhari in the Mahabharata. A woman believes her chances of bearing a child have long gone, until she meets a London doctor who is experimenting in IVF. Divya Ghelani was born in Gujarat and grew up in Loughborough, Leicestershire. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and an MPhil in Literary Studies from the University of Hong Kong. She lives between Berlin and the UK where she has published short stories and judged story and flash fiction competitions. She is working on her first novel. Writer: Divya Ghelani Reader: Sudha Bhuchar Producer: Jeremy Osborne A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 By Divya Ghelani. A woman trusts in an unusual IVF treatment. British Asian writers take traditional stories and rework them in contemporary settings. |