A brilliant, brave and honest insight into the process of writing a novel from start to finish. 200,000 words in 51 days? Should be required listening for my students who complain about having to write a 8,000 word essay by the end of the term!

Listener Comment on Apple Podcasts

Busts the myth that there’s one “right” way to write… Hugely inspiring, deeply humane… Highly recommended for anyone in search of the courage to put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard.

Listener Comment on Apple Podcasts

An amazing resource for writers at any stage of their career, not just first timers… Whatever genre or style you write in, there’s someone here who knows exactly what it’s like to be in your writing shoes, and someone you can learn some useful lessons from.

Listener Comment on Spotify

2024 – 2025
For Philip Holyman
in partnership with
University of Birmingham
Commissioned by
Philip Holyman
Funded by
Arts Council England
University of Birmingham

One month. Four words to inspire you. And the limitless power of your imagination.

Throughout October 2024, Philip Holyman transformed an old municipal bank in Birmingham City Centre into a hub for new writing.

As part of the project, he challenged himself to write a 90,000-word novel over the course of just one calendar month. Alongside that, he invited eight other professional authors — as well as members of the public from across Birmingham and the Black Country — to create pieces for an anthology of brand-new work.

All contributors responded to a broad inspirational theme: a four-word quote from Ursula K. Le Guin’s iconic novel The Dispossessed. The works produced are as unique and individual as the writers themselves — and now, a ten-episode podcast lets you hear from some of the amazing people who took part.

Digging deeper into each writer’s journey, both during this project and across their career, the podcast explores their radically different experiences of creating new work under some truly unusual circumstances.

You can find out more about True Voyage Is Return on Philip Holyman’s website: philipholyman.com

All ten episodes of the True Voyage Is Return podcast can be found below for your listening pleasure. They’re also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your podcasts.

Episodes 1 to 8 feature interviews with some of the commissioned writers, captured during their week on the project.

Episode 9 charts the ups and downs of Philip Holyman’s process and experience throughout the writing of his novel Obsolete Constellations.

Episode 10 features recorded extracts from many of the works submitted by the professional and public writers which have been compiled into the project’s anthology.

TRANSCRIPTS & RUNNING ORDERS

Download time-stamped transcripts for each episode:

Download a time-stamped running order for Episode 10 — Anthology here.

CREDITS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Project Leader and Manager | Philip Holyman
Podcast Producer, Engineer and Music Composer | Gareth J. Nicholls

COMMISSIONED WRITERS

CREATIVE COLLABORATORS

Graphic Design | Antony Antoniou / Design by Antony
Filmmaker | Paul Stringer
Photographers | Angela Grabowska, Greg Milner, Katja Ogrin

PODCAST PERFORMERS

Tom Bonam, Therese Collins, Tonia Daley-Campbell, Adaya Henry, Tyrone Huggins, Beth Organ, Marcus Paragpuri, Leon Phillips, Craig Stephens, Emma Waterford

UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM RESEARCH PARTNERS

For Philip Holyman | Professor Amaury Triaud
(Professor of Exoplanetology, School of Physics and Astronomy)

For Lorna French | Professor Patricia Noxolo
(Professor in Human Geography, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences / Chair in Postcolonial Geographies)

For Wren James | Dr Elliot Evans
(Associate Professor in Modern Languages)

PRODUCTION PARTNERS

Philip Holyman
in partnership with University of Birmingham

PODCAST PRODUCTION PARTNER

Midlands Arts Centre (MAC)

FUNDERS
Funded by Arts Council England through National Lottery Project Grants and by University of Birmingham

FOR UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM

Head of Public Programmes | Laura Milner
Public Engagement Digital Producer | Grace Chapman
Public Programmes Officer | Kate O’Connor
Public Programmes Officer | Anna Pitts
Research Engagement Officer | Lauren Deere
Communications Manager (Arts & Law, Social Sciences) | Ellie Hail
for UoB Department of Film and Creative Writing | Professor Luke Kennard

FOR THE EXCHANGE

Venue Manager | Fiona Innes
Venue Services Manager | Damien Vincent

THANK YOU

Peter Stones at Arts Council England; Debbie Kermode, Fozia Bano and the team at Midlands Arts Centre; Shantel Edwards, Suzie Evans and the team at Birmingham Literature Festival; Catherine Gale and Claire Dawes at The Heath Bookshop; Jenny Moore at How Brave Is The Wren; Peter Haynes, Nigel Proctor and Garrie Fletcher at Floodgate Press; Georgia Wall at The Emma Press; Indi Deol at DESIBlitz; Linda Muirhead at University of Birmingham, Department of Drama and Theatre Arts.