My radio debut

I was honoured to be invited to take part in Talking Stories on East London Radio.

In this series authors and storytellers record original stories based on myths, legends and their personal heritages. I chose to adapt a story passed down in my late father’s family. In the 1920s Dad loved to visit his grandparents, who lived in a small country town in County Derry, Northern Ireland. Hester and James Gracey (shown in the photo) kept bees, grew vegetables and baked bread. Best of all, because one of Jim’s jobs was distributing fishing licences, he was often gifted whole salmon fresh from the river Bann. When I was a child, the stories passed down about the hardworking pair had an almost magical status in my mind.

I’ve tried to capture this in my story The Honey Salmon.