New Spoken Label Podcast - Rachel Hammond

 

Latest up from Spoken Label (Author / Artist Podcast), features making her debut is the wonderful Rachel Hammond. Rachel Hammond is an actor-musician, writer and theatre maker based in Manchester. Rachel trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, and since then has worked in theatre nationally and internationally, including: Climax: A Work in Progress (Close to Home), Underneath a Magical Moon (Tutti Frutti), Joy Unspeakable (Ordinary Glory), Firebird and Pulse (Bamboozle Theatre Company), Give it Back Mak! (Riding Lights), Twitchers and A Force to Be Reckoned With (Mikron Theatre Company), The True Adventures of Maid Marian and Robin Hood (Barn Theatre, Cirencester), A Christmas Carol (TNT Theatre), Swallows and Amazons (York Theatre Royal), Much Ado About Nothing (Northern Broadsides), Babe - The Sheep-Pig (Mercury Theatre, Colchester), Macbeth (Wiltons Music Hall). Rachel loves making new work, and is passionate about telling the untold stories in our society. Writing credits include: Joshua (and Me) (The Pleasance Theatre & International tour), Rising Tides (Small Disasters Theatre Company), and Dear Lilian (Northern Broadsides Young Writers). * https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/rachel-hammond-spoken-label-november-2025/id1501847969?i=1000738592891 https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Rachel-Hammond-Spoken-Label--November-2025-e3anskj https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/98dcec08-d73f-4c8b-859b-371779c3d148/spoken-label-rachel-hammond-spoken-label-november-2025 https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/Rachel-Hammond-Spoken-Label-November-2025/B0G45N8CHM?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=B4AKCKAYEANEM8D26TRF&plink=kj41SpjJ8oFgL0Gt&pageLoadId=wuvFeS3s7oVY1jGB&creativeId=43463e8d-6f2b-4d01-a759-854a1034c4b8&ref=a_podcast_S_c4_lAsin_0_0 https://open.spotify.com/episode/4rBzfmllMv5MBfRrsdsw7F https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSvz78_AP0k (Chat) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4h7DA-oGyY (Reading). 

Speak Easy - December 2025

 

Enclosed below are the readers (Not the running order) for the next Speak Easy

(our spoken word open mic night) at Dulicmer, Chorlton on Thurs 04 December 2025.

Night should start around 7.30pm.

Cancellation list enquires to Andy N on aen1mpo@yahoo.co.uk

Andy N

Amanda

Lee McShane

Courtney Ward 

David Bond

Gordon Zola

Eve Nortley

Lynn Walton

Steph Cater

Alison Knowles

Martin CM

Michael Hulley

Joe Gill  

Andy Cash

Roy Page 

Grant Curnow

Joe Tetley 

Anne Delargy 

Martin Elder

Piper Cusmano 

Thomas Marsden

Lindy Newns

Natasha Morris 

Joe West 

Polly Anna

New Spoken Label - Saira Anwar (Saira the Poet) (November 2025)

 

Latest up from Spoken Label features making her debut is the wonderful Saira Anwar (Saira the Poet).

Saira Anwar is an educator, poet, author, content creator, and spoken word artist. Her debut poetry collection, The Death of a Beautiful Dream, was released in January 2014 and went on to reach Amazon’s Top 20 Bestsellers list.Saira writes about the beauty and struggle of life with themes like marriage, divorce, healing, self-love, and emotional resilience, to help others heal through poetry.Her poetry has been published in twelve anthologies, and she’s performed at events including MACFEST with Professor John McAuliffe, Poetry Bonanza with North-West Poets, and Word Central. She’s also been featured twice on BBC Upload with BBC Radio Manchester.Her second book, Rising From Despair: A Journey to Hope, is a powerful and long-awaited follow-up, combining poetry, personal reflection, and space for readers to begin their own journey of healing.

*

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/saira-anwar-saira-the-poet-spoken-label-november-2025/id1501847969?i=1000737483825

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Saira-Anwar-Saira-the-Poet-Spoken-Label--November-2025-e3anscm

https://youtu.be/wKOW1k8xzCI (Chat)

https://youtu.be/sbYUqfIG4iw (Reading)

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/56283313-d4c0-41da-b35d-7f84e7f88a62/spoken-label-saira-anwar-saira-the-poet-spoken-label-november-2025

https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/Saira-Anwar-Saira-the-Poet-Spoken-Label-November-2025/B0G313XTZZ?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=PZQNGCEZBGS27FPNRK39&plink=0Z9k6TswUQZxgIOB&pageLoadId=qBFFCLl18GUG88oy&creativeId=43463e8d-6f2b-4d01-a759-854a1034c4b8&ref=a_podcast_S_c4_lAsin_0_0

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0mDtDx1JAFRjm6JKHHS3of

New Bonus Spoken Label Episode - Author Spotlight 2: Lee McShane

 

Bonus Podcast today for Spoken Label (Poetry Podcast) with the return of Amanda Nicholson and Courtney Ward assisting me in interviewing the return of Lee McShane talking about his debut poetry book 'The House built from Shadows'.

Lee McShane is a Neurodivergent actor, filmmaker, and published writer and poet from Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. His work often blends psychological horror with themes of mental health, creating emotionally charged and thought-provoking narratives. His writing has appeared in All Your Stories, All Your Poems, and the PoeticEdge Fantasy Anthology. He will appear in the next anthology by Black Eye Publishing. He headlined Spoken Word Online in July 2025 and is set to headline an online AccessAbility Arts event.Lee's book 'The House built from Shadows' can be found on Amazon

*

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/author-spotlight-2-lee-mcshane-spoken-label-november-2025/id1501847969?i=1000737320605

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Author-Spotlight-2-Lee-McShane-Spoken-Label--November-2025-e3b5a5v

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QetHeLta2Q&t=455s

https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/Author-Spotlight-2-Lee-McShane-Spoken-Label-November-2025/B0G2SJ843G?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=P90DNX0N878G5TAZC2ZB&plink=jNVpWiQ2Suz7f74G&pageLoadId=hQdFNUONgdJ9k2nq&creativeId=43463e8d-6f2b-4d01-a759-854a1034c4b8&ref=a_podcast_S_c4_lAsin_0_1

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2ETIEEs11yLPEjFzV62vkx

Steve Schlam - Spoken Label, November 2025

 

Latest up from Spoken Label (Author / Artist Podcast) making his debut is Steve Schlam.

Steve advises he first gained entry to the City of Words through the doors of the public library in Brooklyn, New York, where he was born and spent a good part of his childhood; and has maintained his residency ever since while living in cities and towns across the United States and in Mexico. An actor as well as an author, he has performed on stages in all the places he has called home, and earned a Master's Degree in Creative Writing and English under the tutelage of Joseph Heller, renowned author of "Catch-22." He lives currently in Southern California in a pretty little Craftsman bungalow with orange and lemon trees growing in the backyard, in the company of his wife, Liora. His debut novel, "The Harvesting of Haystacks Kane," was released in March 2024.

More about Steve can be found at: https://www.steveschlam.com/

*

Podcast can be downloaded from the following places including::

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Steve-Schlam-Spoken-Label--November-2025-e39to42

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/steve-schlam-spoken-label-november-2025/id1501847969?i=1000736407511

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/b241c4a4-910a-4e4c-8ad4-7760c537a36b/spoken-label-steve-schlam-spoken-label-november-2025

https://youtu.be/WM41JKEHRpY (Chat)

https://youtu.be/3CXvZ_1PVu0  (Reading)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4If9owWv35HE0vDzhF4NWZ

Ray Whitaker (Spoken Label, November 2025)

 

Latest up from Spoken Label (Spoken Word Podcast) features making his debut, Ray Whitaker .

Ray advises he has been writing both prose and poetry since he was seventeen. What Ray is writing now is very different from what he wrote those so many years ago. All writers and poets are writing out of "the Self" however there are directions that the self speaks into, that change. Now Ray is attempting to put foremost in his work, just who he is writing for. He intends on writing for the everyday man and woman. He firmly believes that poems need to reach into the everyday person's pictures in their minds, and engage with those. This is where he aims to make a difference in his creative writing. Ray does readings around the state of North Carolina [USA], and is a member or the North Carolina Poetry Society, the Winston-Salem Writers, and The North Carolina Writer’s Network. He has thrice been a ‘Writer-in-Residence” at the North Carolina Center For The Arts and Humanities, at Weymouth, in Southern Pines,NC. He is the father of two daughters. Originally from the South, he now lives in Colorado, where he is seeking venues.

More details can be found at:

https://raywhitakerblog.wordpress.com/

*

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ray-whittaker-spoken-label-november-2025/id1501847969?i=1000735380723

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Ray-Whittaker-Spoken-Label--November-2025-e3aclra

https://youtu.be/2v8FQPGwgA4 (Chat)

https://youtu.be/Ihiah6rLNl0 (Reading)

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/1d9255b8-5114-4ae8-9320-5dcbba53cf07/spoken-label-ray-whittaker-spoken-label-november-2025

https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/Ray-Whittaker-Spoken-Label-November-2025/B0FZVHC93Y?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=1GW7WYQC8W14V4WBANY2&plink=9yeff8OfASL1tEVE&pageLoadId=g9sw9ITZR5u4gz2f&creativeId=43463e8d-6f2b-4d01-a759-854a1034c4b8&ref=a_podcast_S_c4_lAsin_0_0

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1P9s1MjrTBveahw31RGR74

Speak Easy thank you's and how to book for December 2025

 

Thanks to everybody who attended our latest Speak Easy (Spoken Word Open Mic night) at Chorlton’s always welcoming Dulcimer Bar, Chorlton.

We had a great night; there were somewhere around 55 people there, hosted magically by the wonderful Lindy Newns (Thanks, Lindy).

Thanks to everybody who attended to watch, and we want to thank the following for reading:

1. Lindy Newns
2. Luke Piercy
3. Alison Knowles
4. Michael Hulley II (Volodya Gorky)
5. Karen Kendrick
6. Natasha Morris
7. Noemi Scotellaro Massimi
8. Mark Quinn
9. Andy N
10. Gordon Zola
11. Amanda Nicholson
12. David Bond
13. Olga Gerke
14. Andy Cash/ Anson Clark
15. Sophie Gannon
16. Ella Holmes
17. Martin Elder
18. Piper Cusmano
19. Jeremy Pak Nelson
20. Kai Luckman
21. Martin CM (Martin Corlettmoss)

Amanda has uploaded the pictures from last night here in full: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=speakeasymanchester&set=a.1364151092170338&__cft__[0]=AZWeBLIJzVafXDsp0nSSymYjxPIMJhmNGf3DRS9FkZsYKPCqQlzw6zwBB2f8-UDq_g2zhOuywxR71gS0HrslKKJPD7KdA49m87ZYwdKevBmT92653KshwSueyBgJaqs2C-jSidpQCB7_B1B3I1rH9Ihi2vq0uzEOa1dybDRJcmiyjsO9IVB7jmYC12SzIqnlQdg&__tn__=-UC%2CP-R

Next Speak Easy will be our Xmas special on Thursday 04 December 2025, and bookings shall open this Sunday 09 December from 12 Noon by emailing Andy N on aen1mpo@yahoo.co.uk

Please note that there will be no Speak Easy in January 2026 and we shall be back in February 2026 as normal.