Cambridge 105 has announced the launch of a new nighttime show – Book Night. The show will be broadcast every fortnight on Wednesday evenings from 10pm – 11pm (but available on listen again, or downloadable as a podcast, via the website cambridge105.co.uk) with the first show broadcast on March 20th.
The show will be hosted by Leigh Chambers and Alex Ruczaj, keen writers and readers who met through studying for the MA in Creative Writing at Anglia Ruskin University.
“We’re both very community minded and we love books and writing so this combined many passions for us. A community radio station is such a great way to bring people together and to be able to do that around literature is fantastic. We hope to make the show more and more interactive as the weeks go on and gain input from listeners on who they’d like us to interview as well as find out which books people are reading,” commented Alex.
“Cambridge is teeming with readers and writers so we’ll have no shortage of subject matter and, hopefully, no shortage of listeners either. We want to cover all book genres and plug in to what’s exciting those who love literature,” commented Leigh.
Each show will have a theme, the first will focus on memoir, with the in-studio guest being Cambridge resident, Azadeh Moaveni. The author of Lipstick Jihad, Honeymoon in Tehran, and co-author, with Shirin Ebadi, of Iran Awakening.
Azadeh has led a fascinating life, born in California and moving to Iran in 1999 as the only Western journalist in the territory at a highly volatile time. She’ll talk about her experiences in Iran and her decision to write a memoir as well as sharing some of her favourite music. The show also includes interviews with Joanne Limberg author of The Woman Who Thought Too Much (a memoir about battling neurosis and OCD), and biographer and life writing tutor, Midge Gillies.
Future shows will highlight crime writing, Cambridge Wordfest, short stories and science fiction.
Background
Leigh Chambers is a journalist, writer and editor, published in The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday and City Limits. She has also co-authored a series of books for children in the care system, published by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering. In 2010 she graduated from Anglia Ruskin University with an MA in Creative Writing and is currently finishing her first novel, Scapa Flow. The opening chapters were shortlisted for both the Hookline Competition (2009) and the Great Literary Openings Competition (2011).
Alex Ruczaj is a writer and marketing consultant and runs the Early Night Club in Cambridge, a night club for people who want to dance but don’t want to be out too late. The club night raises funds for local charity EACH as well as national charities like Red Nose Day. Alex has recently completed the MA in Creative Writing and is now working on a collection of short stories, including several shortlisted for national prizes such as the Asham Award and Cinnamon Press Short Story Award. Alex also runs writing events and recently hosted a workshop with the Booker nominated M J Hyland.
Both Leigh and Alex are members of Angles writers’ workshop in Cambridge, a group of dedicated writers that meets weekly to critique work and the challenges facing aspiring writers.
Contact the show on booknight@cambridge105.co.uk.
Pictures available on request
