Nihal Arthanayke, Henry Normal, Donna Ashworth, Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Mike Harding, The Lovely Eggs

Loose Ends

Nihal Arthanayake presents Loose Ends from the third annual Morecambe Poetry Festival. He's joined by Henry Normal. Henry is a writer, poet, TV and film producer who has been involved with many of our most loved comedies, such as The Mrs Merton Show, The Royal Family, Gavin and Stacey and Alan Partridge. He's a prolific poet, and his latest collection is 'A Moonless Night'. He also presents the occasional 'A Normal...; series for Radio 4 combining stand-up, poetry and stories about his life and family. Henry explains how, prematurely old at 23 he turned his back on a traditional career path and entered the worlrd of comedy and performance.

Donna Ashworth's lockdown poetry went viral in 2020 and her popularity has been credited with 2023 being the best year for poetry sales in Britain since records began. Her new collection is 'Growing Brave'. She tells us about her days as a Butlin's red coat, celebrating overlooked kinds of bravery, and her dogs Dave and Brian.

Mike Harding is a stand-up comic, musician and poet. He's been performing since the 1970's, and has released over a hundred books and recordings. He presented the Folk show on Radio 2 for 15 years. He's performing alongside Henry Normal at the Morecambe Poetry Festival. His latest poetry collection is 'The Lonely Zoroastrian', and he also tells us about the luck involved in his hit single, 'The Rochdale Cowboy'.

Lisa Goodwin-Allen is Morecambe born and bred. She's the executive chef at the nearby Northcote and appears frequently on TV including on The Great British Menu and James Martin's Saturday Kitchen. Lisa's ingredients for success in the kitchen include imagination, being an adreneline junkie and a passion for seasonal and local produce.

And we have music from the Lancaster based musical duo The Lovely Eggs, from their seventh album. 'Eggsistentialism'. The album is personal, inspired by their lives, particulary their struggle to save the Lancaster Music Co-op.

The Lovely Eggs are Holly Ross and David Blackwell and the show is dedicated to David's mum, Annie Blackwell, who died shortly before this programme was broadcast. A former acress and headteacher, Annie was a was known Morecambe character. A keen member of Morecambe Speaker's Club, she lived and breathed theatre and performing and was much loved within the community.

Presenter: Nihal Arthanayake Producer: Jessica Treen