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Dr Andrea Smith

@audioandrea.bsky.social

590 followers 280 following 340 posts

Shakespeare, drama, radio. Often all at the same time. Lecturer in English and Creative Writing at University of Suffolk. Formerly BBC producer. My views. https://linktr.ee/audioandrea

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Dr Andrea Smith @audioandrea.bsky.social · May 12

It's lovely to have a copy of this in my hands!
#ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧
If you buy it from publishers @edinburghup.bsky.social and use the code NEW30, it's only just over £10.
edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-shakesp...
#RadioDrama #AudioDrama

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Dr Andrea Smith @audioandrea.bsky.social · 1d

Great article about my wonderful friend @katiewardwriter.bsky.social in the EADT on Saturday. Have highlighted a couple of my fave bits #Ipswich #Shakespeare
I can also warmly recommend Katie's novel #Pathways 📙 - and if you're interested in writing yourself, #WolseyWriters is a fab place to start

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Dr Andrea Smith @audioandrea.bsky.social · 2d

What a wonderful weekend for the first #IpswichBookFestival.
My session on #ShakepseareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 at the #Ipswich Institute was pretty much a full house.
And our University of Suffolk students were brilliant yesterday – prompting the busiest Q&A I saw at the event.
Roll on next year! 📚

Dr Andrea Smith @audioandrea.bsky.social · 3d

Had a great time at the #IpswichBookFestival earlier talking about my book #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧
Very flattered by the number of people who came. These pics give you an idea of me in action. Towards the end I'm ripping some celery to simulate breaking bones!
#Shakespeare #RadioDrama #AudioDrama

Reposted by Dr Andrea Smith

Katie Ward @katiewardwriter.bsky.social · 3d

Thank you EADT Weekend for featuring me today 🖤

We talked about #WolseyWriters, the blended family love story at the heart of my novel PATHWAYS and @burylitfest.bsky.social

Do join us on Sat 11 Oct, 1:15pm, BSE Library
www.burylitfest.co.uk
www.burylitfest.co.uk/product-page...

#booksky #suffolk

Print edition of East Anglian Daily Times Weekend. The newspaper is folded at the top. The supplement is open to a photo of Katie Ward, author of Pathways. Headline reads: "Q&A. Author Katie Ward on Breast Cancer, Hilary Mantel and her new novel." Katie is wearing a black top.

Print edition of East Anglian Daily Times Weekend. The supplement is open to the first page of the interview. Headline reads: "Q&A. Author Katie Ward on Breast Cancer, Hilary Mantel and her new novel."

Print edition of East Anglian Daily Times Weekend and a copy of Pathways, a novel by Katie Ward, on top. A black cat is lying next to them looking unimpressed.

Print edition of East Anglian Daily Times Weekend. The supplement is open to the third page of the interview with a photo of Wolsey Writers, a creative writing group at New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich.

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Reposted by Dr Andrea Smith

Beyond Shakespeare @beyondshakes.bsky.social · 7d

🔊Early access release for our wonderful patrons - it's a chat with @audioandrea.bsky.social about pre-modern drama on the radio, the challenges and freedoms that the medium allow. Our patrons get early access to pod releases every Wednesday! #drama #AudioDrama #Radio www.patreon.com/posts/discus...

Discussing: Pre-Modern Drama on the Radio with Dr Andrea Smith (Early Access) | Beyond Shakespeare

www.patreon.com

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Dr Andrea Smith @audioandrea.bsky.social · 6d

You can see another monthly #Shakespeare recommendation on my Instagram - or below.
The 25th of Oct is St Crispin's Day so I chose Henry V (although I'm actually more interested in whether a diplomatic marriage can also be a love match).
#ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧
#Shakespeare #RadioDrama #AudioDrama

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Reposted by Dr Andrea Smith

Katie Ward @katiewardwriter.bsky.social · 12d

Wild Pages Writers Residency (paid) at #Suffolk Community Libraries: They're looking for 6 short-form writers to engage with nature and landscape. Open to #writers in different formats inc short fiction, poets, songwriters etc. Deadline 5pm Mon 20 Oct suffolkcommunitylibraries.co.uk/programmes/c...

Wild Pages: Writers Residency - Suffolk Community Libraries

We're looking for six up-and-coming writers to take part in an intensive residency, engaging creatively with nature, landscape, and communities.

suffolkcommunitylibraries.co.uk

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Dr Andrea Smith @audioandrea.bsky.social · 13d

I know most people read academic articles digitally, but I do still love to have a physical copy of my work. So it was lovely when the most recent copy of #Resonance plopped through my letterbox this morning.
doi.org/10.1525/res....
#AudioDrama #RadioDrama #Shakespeare

Reposted by Dr Andrea Smith

Faculty of English, University of Oxford @engfac.bsky.social · 16d

Our #Shakespeare webinar series continues! Join us on 6 Oct at 6pm to delve into the new OWC edition of The Merry Wives of Windsor with @oldfortunatus.bsky.social &
@callanjd.bsky.social

All welcome! Register now via Eventbrite & you will be sent a Zoom link before the event. #teamenglish

English Faculty/OWC Shakespeare Webinar: The Merry Wives of Windsor

In this free webinar, Professor Emma Smith will be discussing the new edition of The Merry Wives of Windsor from Oxford World's Classics.

shakespeare-webinar-merry-wives.eventbrite.co.uk

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Reposted by Dr Andrea Smith

Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.blog · 21d

Robert E. Howard to H. P. Lovecraft, 22 Sep 1932

I notice where a mug named Oliver Herford has decided Shakespeare was Lord Oxford. It must have been a momentous decision, affecting the destiny of the world for Olivero got his map in the magazines. Personally, I never cared whether the Shakespearian plays were written by Shakespeare of Stratford-on -Avon, or Lord Oxford-on-Thames or Lord Bitchbelly of Hogwallow-on-the-Tripe. It’s a cinch somebody wrote ’em, because I’ve read ’em myself, unless I was suffering from an optical delusion, and if so, I enjoyed the delusion. Although there’s only one character of Shakespeare that I have any real attachment to, and that’s Sir John Falstaff. I have a sincere affection for that old bastard.

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Reposted by Dr Andrea Smith

Bigamy Killed the Radio Star @staffordquips.bsky.social · 20d

This month is both the 70th anniversary of the start of Crackerjack and of ITV. Trying my utmost not to have favourites, I've celebrated one in Yours magazine and the other in Radio Times.

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Reposted by Dr Andrea Smith

Edinburgh University Press @edinburghup.bsky.social · 20d

🎊 Book Launch
📍 #IpswichBookFestival
📆 Saturday 4th October, 10:30am
🎫 £10

Join our author @audioandrea.bsky.social for a discussion on how listening to #Shakespeare on the radio can help us understand the legendary writer's plays better.

Sign-up below:

Dr Andrea Smith — Ipswich Book Festival

edin.ac

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Reposted by Dr Andrea Smith

Bigamy Killed the Radio Star @staffordquips.bsky.social · 21d

Today in Yours magazine, I manage to cram the entire history of Crackerjack from 1955 to 2021 into a double-page spread.

That surely deserves a Crackerjack pencil.

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Dr Andrea Smith @audioandrea.bsky.social · 21d

Another spotting of #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 in the wild - this time in @waterstones.bsky.social Gower Street, London.
Thank you to @staffordquips.bsky.social for the photos 📘📘📘
@edinburghup.bsky.social
#Shakespeare #RadioDrama #AudioDrama

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Reposted by Dr Andrea Smith

Katie Ward @katiewardwriter.bsky.social · 21d

An opportunity to share your prose & poetry at @burylitfest.bsky.social. Following Helen Ivory's performance there will be an Open-Mic on Friday 10th October, 7.30pm, Unitarian Meeting House £10 (£5). #creativewriting #WolseyWriters

www.burylitfest.co.uk/product-page...

Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival @burylitfest.bsky.social · Aug 25

Friday evening at Bury Lit Fest is dedicated to the spoken word. This year, our poet is Helen Ivory, reading from her latest collection CONSTRUCTING A WITCH, followed by our annual OPEN MIC in association with @poetry_aloud

Book now to guarantee your spot! www.burylitfest.co.uk/product-page...

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Reposted by Dr Andrea Smith

Bigamy Killed the Radio Star @staffordquips.bsky.social · 23d

The book of the radio interview of the TV series is still available from all bookish outlets - shops, online and the odd ice-cream van. 'It's Friday, It's Crackerjack!' tells the entire history of the show from 1955 to 2021.

Bigamy Killed the Radio Star @staffordquips.bsky.social · 23d

I was on Good Morning Scotland today, somehow squeezing the whole of Crackerjack (including Peter Glaze) into the final five minutes of the show. Listen here from 2:54:33
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Good Morning Scotland - 15/09/2025 - BBC Sounds

The latest news from home and abroad, along with sport, travel and weather updates.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Dr Andrea Smith @audioandrea.bsky.social · 25d

That is so cool 😎💛

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Dr Andrea Smith @audioandrea.bsky.social · 25d

Three weeks today I'll be talking about #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 at the #IpswichBookFestival with my friend and University of Suffolk colleague, Dr Jenny Amos.
Can't wait!
#Shakespeare #RadioDrama #AudioDrama
#BookSky #BookCommunity
www.wolseytheatre.co.uk/events/andre...

Jenny (left) and Andrea outside the Ipswich Institute

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Dr Andrea Smith @audioandrea.bsky.social · 26d

It's often suggested that Kenneth Branagh has been heavily influenced by Laurence Olivier - but with his recent King Lear and now The Tempest, I'd say he's now in his John Gielgud phase...
@the-rsc.bsky.social
www.rsc.org.uk/the-tempest/

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Reposted by Dr Andrea Smith

Katie Ward @katiewardwriter.bsky.social · 27d

Applications are open for the @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social Mentorship Programme 2025. 'We want to help change the future of publishing so you can tell the stories that reflect our community.' Closes: Fri 10 Oct 2025 www.bloomsbury.com/uk/connect/b...

#writingcommunity #wolseywriters pls share

Bloomsbury Mentorship Programme 2025

The Bloomsbury Mentorship Programme 2025 is seeking unpublished, underrepresented fiction writers. If that’s you, we want to help you write your story.

www.bloomsbury.com

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Dr Andrea Smith @audioandrea.bsky.social · 27d

Delighted to see this.
If it wasn't for Elizabeth, #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 wouldn't have happened.
She was the first person I spoke to at @edinburghup.bsky.social and was really encouraging, as well as putting me in contact with the wonderful @emilysharp.bsky.social What a great team 💛
📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘

Edinburgh University Press @edinburghup.bsky.social · 29d

"A bright future ahead of her in publishing..."

We’re pleased to announce that Elizabeth Fraser has been selected as one of the winners of the @alpsp.bsky.social Rising Star Awards 2025!

Congratulations 🎊

Elizabeth Fraser wins the ALPSP Rising Star Award

Elizabeth Fraser has been selected as one of the winners of the ALPSP Rising Star Awards 2025.

edinburghuniversitypress.com

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Dr Andrea Smith @audioandrea.bsky.social · 27d

Unfortunately the first two episodes have already dropped off #BBCSounds, but glad to hear the following series is coming next month...
#InTheRed #InTheBalance @radiotimes.bsky.social

Letter in the Radio Times:
SEEING THE FUTURE?
Thank you, Radio 4 Extra! What a joy to hear Mark Tavener's humorous political thriller In the Red again. And how prescient he was in 1995, foreseeing Reform UK (as "the Reform Party") and the "assisted" departure of Ken Bruce from Radio 2.
We now eagerly await re-runs of Tavener's other thrillers, In the Chair, In the Balance and In the End.
Andrew and Wendy Gibb.
Marlow Bottom, Buckinghamshire.

Editor's comment: Good news - listen out for In the Balance in October.

Dr Andrea Smith @audioandrea.bsky.social · 28d

Age verification: I recorded radio programmes on open reel tape and edited it with a razor blade.

Reposted by Dr Andrea Smith

Hester L-J @starcrossed2018.bsky.social · 28d

It's #WorldSuicidePreventionDay; it was really important to me when I wrote a new introduction to the New Cambridge Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet that I included a page of 'Advice and Support', which I hope might be useful for students, teachers, actors, readers... Here it is

Text reads:

Advice and support

Romeo and Juliet is a dramatic fiction and its characters are not real people. Many people of all ages sometimes struggle with their mental health, and some will have suicidal thoughts. The websites listed here offer advice and support, particularly aimed at young people and those supporting them, in the UK.

The Samaritans www.samaritans.org can be contacted on 116 123 for free (also in Ireland), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Shout www.giveusashout.org is a text-based crisis line for those struggling to cope and who need immediate help: text 85258. It is a free service for all the major UK mobile networks, available 24/7.

Papyrus www.papyrus-uk.org is a suicide prevention charity. For support and advice, call 0800 068 41 41 or text 07786 209697 Monday–Friday 10am–10pm, weekends 2pm–10pm, bank holidays 2pm–5pm.

CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) www.thecalmzone.net has a helpline 0800 585858 available 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, and many resources on the website, especially for peer-peer support, and for young men.

Young Minds www.youngminds.org.uk has resources for young people and their adult support networks.

In an emergency situation, if someone has taken steps to end their life or if you are worried for your own or someone else’s safety, always call 999 (UK) or go straight to A&E. Mental health emergencies are serious; asking for help isn’t wasting anyone’s time.

Forced marriage continues to take place in many different communities, and can affect people of all genders. The websites listed here offer advice and support, and link to many other resources.

Childline www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/crime-law/forced-marriage/ provides information and sources of support.

Karma Nirvana www.karmanirvana.org.uk supports victims and survivors of Honour Based Abuse, including forced marriage, and campaigns to end it.

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Reposted by Dr Andrea Smith

Bigamy Killed the Radio Star @staffordquips.bsky.social · Sep 8

In 1924, John Henry and Blossom became the first radio stars to broadcast a live comedy routine from an aeroplane flying over London. And quite possibly the last.

Read about this and their many other exploits in 'Bigamy Killed the Radio Star' from your local bookshop or online bookstore.

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