Books and audio
©2024 Nick Lockett - photography
additional images by Kate A Hardy
ML web designP003 → Londonia podcast
Episode 1 - Introduction
Interview with Kate A. Hardy, the author and narrator, followed by an introduction to the Londonian world by Jake the Prophet.We enter the strange post-apocalyptic world of 2070, and meet its cast of characters.In week's podcast the author Kate A Hardy delves into the creation of the immersive soundscape in conversation with Mark Lockett. Following on from last week's Ouverture set in 2070, the real action of the book starts here in 2072 in the first chapter, presented here in its entirety. Today, as an introduction to the complete 2nd chapter, we talk to the author Kate A. Hardy about voice acting and the multitude of accents in the audiobook - Cockney, Jamaican, Polish, French, Scots, Irish and Margaret Thatcher-style English.Today we meet Fred and Mimi, the proprietors of "Fred's Threads" who recycle all old clothes, patch them up to trade, sewing in recycled designer labels for the privileged folk who live in the Cincture. There is also the first encounter with the Clashers, Londonia's most feared gang. As an introduction we speculate about the intervening years between now and 2072. What was the "Final Curtain"?
Providing a free taster for the Londonia audiobook, a weekly Londonia podcast series launched on Monday 20th January in advance of the audiobook’s release (3rd February), sharing the first six chapters of the audiobook over a six-week period. Link to episode 1 above.
A raucous satire on our consumer society, the gap between haves and have-nots and the vacuous, fickle nature of fashion, Londonia offers timely signposts for how we can live more lightly on our beleaguered planet - recycling and reusing, growing food and foraging, less immersed in screens and more connected to ourselves, to each other and to nature.
I hope the audiobook accentuates the book’s mission to explore what can emerge in the future while also satirizing where we are now.