Stories and Stanza

Please join me in welcoming Stephen Gyde to the show today. Stephen is 44 years old and lives in London where he works in the corporate business sector. He is a passionate advocate for equality and enjoys writing. His interests include sports and the arts. He is a keen runner and plays golf. Stephen's love for writing began after his father read him The Hobbit.
During our conversation, we will discuss Stephen's creative journey, his struggles with Dyslexia, his inspiration from grief, his impromptu writing, and his learning path to becoming a writer. I hope you enjoy listening to our discussion.

Please join me in welcoming Sarah Zink to the show today. In a series of episodes, titled Fail with me, we will navigate many aspects of failure and healing. 
Sarah is a retired consultant and behaviourist living in Central America in the beautiful mountains of Boquete, Panama. She is passionate about emotional intelligence and mindful living. Sarah has authored several books, hosted radio and TV shows, and built and sold several businesses. An avid learner of all things spiritual, she spent an entire year studying the nature of forgiveness and has developed a theory on how everyone can learn to forgive and move forward. It is essential to know that Sarah doesn’t just *theorize* about the power of changing your life; she has lived it. She grew up in an impoverished home and was the victim of both sexual abuse as a child and domestic abuse as an adult. She has known grief, loss, and despair. And yet – she prevailed to live a full and passionate life.
Thank you. I hope you enjoyed the episode. See you in the next one. 
 

The episode is named after a poem, in my last book - "Language of Water" 
In the creative world, a lot of pepole go through a period of void - from fear of failure to perfectionism and everything in between. This episode tackles the dreaded writer's block, that nemesis of storytellers everywhere.
Is life a constant state of "waiting?" In this episode, we unpack the pressure to be perpetually happy and explore a different perspective. 
As usual, the episode includes a poem. 

Welcome to a new episode of Stories and Stanza - where we will discuss the writing process. I welcome our guest, Steven Ross.
Steven Ross is a Canadian Author and Poet from outside the Nation’s Capital. A weaver of dark words with a penchant for penning tales both visceral and disturbing, you will often find him lurking in the bloodstained shadows of the horror genre. Never one to be satisfied with being cast in a single mould, he also enjoys writing poetry focused on all aspects of life: from pain, loss and suffering to tales of romance and erotic desire to good old-fashioned humour. So come, gentle reader, he has something behind the curtain just for you. But a word of caution: it may have teeth… or bite.
Website 
Amazon  
X/Twitter  
Tiktok  
Facebook
Goodreads

Welcome to the latest episode of Stories and Stanzas! In this episode, we delve into a topic that many outside of Australia may not be familiar with - the rabbit troubles. We explore the history and impact of rabbits in Australia, a species that, despite their cute appearance, are considered pests in the country due to their detrimental effect on native wildlife and vegetation.
In our fascinating narrative, we take you through the journey of how the first domesticated rabbits arrived in Australia, how their population exploded, and the attempts made in controlling the burgeoning rabbit population. We also shed light on the negative effects that these creatures have on agriculture and native plant and animal species, thus illustrating the devastatingly broad impact that one invasive species can have in its adopted environment.
What makes this story more gripping is the various attempts made to curb rabbit population growth that ranged from constructing a rabbit-proof fence, spreading a disease targeting rabbits, to releasing another virus. With each new measure introduced, rabbits developed resistance, thereby making it extremely challenging to control their population growth.
Beyond Australia's bunny issue, the ripple effects caused by invasive species in other parts of the world are briefly highlighted, setting a potential stage for our future episodes. This episode's conclusion features a poignant poem reflecting on our relationship with the environment, stirring some deep, introspective thoughts on our interactions with the natural world.
This episode offers a unique perspective on Australia's wildlife story and serves as a hard-hitting reminder on the importance of maintaining ecological balance, and the consequences we face when it's disrupted. To know more about the environment and various intriguing aspects of life, join us on our next episode of Stories and Stanzas!

What is your favourite time of the day? For some of us creatives, being nocturnal is part of our existence. Here is an episode with some stories of the night, along with two short poems I have written this week from a poetry prompt. Hope you will like it - let me know if you have any thoughts. See you in the next one. 

Join me on a linguistic journey across continents as we celebrate International Mother Language Day! Today, we'll explore the rich tapestry of languages spoken in India and Australia, their fascinating histories, unique characteristics, and the challenges they face.

Hello! I am doing this to introduce myself and share the ideas behind my podcast. My podcast is Stories and Stanza. To find my podcast on any platform, like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon, search with the title 'Stories and Stanza'. My website also has links to respective platforms. 
My name is Abhra - the 'A's in my name sounds like an 'O' in traditional Indian pronunciation. I live in Melbourne with my family and work as a technology architect in the financial services industry. I was born in India and emigrated to Australia sometime back. I am a published poet, and I have published two poetry collections so far - Words from Isolation and Language of Water. I created this podcast to bring you real stories that make life as beautiful as poetry. Some stories are my own, and some are from wonderful people who have chosen to be my guests. I have three different segments where I invite guests to join me:
In author's chair
Fail With Me
Oh, Past! Speak out.
"In Author's Chair" segment, I talk to writers about their published or upcoming work, motivation, and challenges. I request the author to share something from their book to create interest for the readers. I have interviewed many writers from Australia and overseas. My idea in this space is to create a platform to amplify the voices of the writers. I have also interviewed artists and filmmakers in this space.
The second segment, "Fail with Me", is my version of creating a motivational series. We live in a world where we celebrate success and assign the stigma of failure to anything that does not fit that cutout. In this series, I explore what failure truly is and link it with emotional intelligence in a supportive space. Many self-help articles are preachy and assume the reader is doing something wrong. So, the rebel inside me flips the script. I have discussed this idea with therapists, psychologists, behaviourists, educators, speakers, writers, and social workers, and now, "Fail With Me" has become much more significant than just my own story. It involves mental health awareness, healing, self-awareness, relationships, disability, and depression, and the possibilities are endless. I had a few bad years of struggling, and this is my attempt to give something back to society and extend a helping hand to anyone struggling. You can find this series in the category on my website and by the "Fail with Me" prefix in the episode title and artwork.
In the "Oh, Past! Speak out" segment, I explore unfamiliar chapters of history that have left us with some unique perspectives. History in books is very directional, while if we look back with a lens of awareness, there is so much to explore. History has always been my area of interest, and I intend to share it to the best of my ability.
If you would like to be a guest to share your story on my podcast and are okay working with the Australian timezone, feel free to reach out on social media or email me, and I will connect with you about the next steps. Thank you so much for all the love and support. This is my Amazon author page if you want my poetry books. 
Thank you.