On the Irregular with Java Bere

Welcome to my chat with Welsh theatre director and acting tutor Helen Parry. After many years living in Manchester, Helen is considered by many to be the grand dame of the Manchester Fringe theatre scene. Legendary as a director as well as a dedicated audience member. In this conversation, where we sit down to eat Helen's signature leek and potato soup, we talk about Helen's post-war childhood in Wales, her first food memory from when she started teething, how Helen's teachings at drama school have shaped my entire creative life, the juggle of working in theatre as a single mother and why she chooses the seat near the fridge in her kitchen. It was a joy to talk to Helen, nearly 20 years after I first met her as my acting tutor at drama school in Manchester.I present to you my dear friend Helen Parry.This episode contains mild expletives.My debut book Your Space, Your Story: a Creative Guide to Personal Interiors is published by Batsford Books in February 2027 and now available for pre-order. You can order at your local bookshop or at the usual online retailers!

Welcome to this episode where I talk to my partner and great love, Jon Tipler. Audio engineer, artist, paper mache wizard and wonderful cook, he is a man who loves a chat around a kitchen table, preferably with a cheese board.We talk about growing up in the East Midlands of England, becoming a vegetarian at a young age, the Greek friend who shaped his whole approach to food and eating as an adult and the way sharing food has always been a central part of our life together. John is the main cook in our house and one of my favourite things is to walk through the front door straight into the kitchen and see John at the cooker with a wooden spoon in his hand and a glint in his eye. He bakes cakes for my workshops, makes his famous tortilla de patatas for any friend who asks and will go above and beyond to make your every meal a special occasion.I hope you enjoy listening to this as much as I enjoyed setting aside a morning to cook, eat and talk with my partner in life and at The Kitchen Table, Jon Tipler.This episode contains expletives.My debut book Your Space, Your Story: a Creative Guide to Personal Interiors is published by Batsford Books in February 2027 and now available for pre-order. You can order at your local bookshop or at the usual online retailers!

For the final episode of season 4 I talk with undertaker and owner of the independent funeral service Natural Endings, Rosie Grant.After listening to several episodes of this season, Rosie reached out to me to suggest talking with me about her creative, personal, and as she described it ‘radical’, approach to honouring the lives of those we love.I have admired Rosie and her fellow undertaker Lisa’s work from afar, via social media, so this felt like a true honour to be invited over for a chat, and the perfect way to end this season on creativity and grief.One grey July morning, Jon and I drove over to visit Rosie and Lisa in the old sorting office in the West Yorkshire town of Todmorden.Rosie has thoughtfully transformed the beautiful and characterful old buildings into a mortuary alongside a light and airy space for hosting ceremonies.Our conversation with Rosie was both moving and insightful. And because Jon was present to help out with recording, and I knew he would have questions and thoughts, I invited him to chime in if he felt compelled to.Which he did (although slightly muffled as he wasn’t mic’d up).what came out of this was an incredibly open and vulnerable conversation about grief, honouring the lives of others and developing our own personal rituals.I cannot wait for you to hear Rosie’s fascinating story, about how she first found her calling as an undertaker in the mid 90’s, through organising her own mother’s funeral, How she navigated the very traditional world of funeral directors, her stint as a cabaret performer, her training as a psychotherapist and then her return to her ultimate purpose as a funeral director.This conversation has stayed with me on a profound level, and the topics we discussed have ignited many important conversations with my own friends and family.Thank you Rosie and Lisa for inviting us into the beautiful space you have created and for demystifying the process of death, ritual and grieving. We feel truly honoured.A gentle warning, this episode contains some swearing, mentions of infant death and some references which may be upsetting.Welcome to the season finale of On the Irregular: On Creativity and Grief with Rosie Grant.You can find Rosie online at naturalendings.co.uk and on instagram @naturalendings or please head to the show notes for links.Support the show This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit javacbere.substack.com

In this episode I talk with writer, poet and playwright, Cordelia O’Neill.We discuss Cordelia’s play ‘Anything is Possible if You Think About it Hard Enough’ about a young couple whose baby is born still. We discuss creativity as a tool for developing empathy and how experiencing loss can bring you closer to joy, love and hope.And we talk about the twist of fate where Cordelia’s life imitated her art.This episode includes swearing and an in depth and detailed conversation about our personal experiences of late stage termination for medical reasons, so please be aware before listening.Welcome to my chat with the tender and ever so lovely Cordelia.You can find Cordelia online on X @cordeliaoneill3 or at www.smallthingstheatre.comIf you or someone you know has experienced or is experiencing baby loss through late stage termination, you can find support at ARC (antenatal results and choices) www.arc-uk.orgPost production and jungle composition: Jon TiplerSupport the show This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit javacbere.substack.com

In this episode I talk with Yorkshire artist, Jess Kidd.We discuss Jess’ childhood as an acutely shy child who often lived in her own imaginary world, the comfort she found in creativity as a form of expressing herself, the challenges she experienced at art school and then being diagnosed with health issues that impacted her life dramatically.We also talk about cognitive behavioural therapy and the place it has in her creative process, her multi disciplinary practice and the solace she finds in nature..Welcome to my chat with the ever so gentle, and ever so thoughtful Jess Kidd.A gentle warning, this episode contains swearingYou can find Jess online at https://www.jesskiddart.co.uk and on instagram @jesskiddart Jess would like to share the following resource which she has found useful:https://letstalkaboutloss.org/     @talkaboutlossPost production and jingle composition: Jon TiplerSupport the show This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit javacbere.substack.com

In this episode I talk to photographer Jo Ritchie and writer Laura Mcdonagh.We talk about their work on Projecting Grief, a collection of stories and portraits from individuals who have found comfort, distraction or hope in a creative pursuit after losing someone they love.We also talk about how they came together creatively, their own experiences of grief and how it has changed them in defining ways, the power in sharing your own story of grief and the things we gain through loss.Welcome to my conversation with the utterly wonderful Laura and Jo.A warning, this conversation contains swearing and the odd bit of background drilling from the workmen next door.You can find Projecting Grief online at projectinggrief.com and on Instagram @projecting_grief Post production and jingle composition: Jon TiplerSupport the show This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit javacbere.substack.com

In this episode I talk with writer and disabled content creator, Helen Lear.Helen and I met at drama school in Manchester, sixteen years ago. Since then, a lot has happened.In her twenties, Helen dropped her life in the Uk to travel through Australia and New Zealand, envisioning a life of further international travel ahead of her.During this time she began to experience serious health issues that were impacting her day to day life, which led her to the difficult decision of moving back to the UK.Then, Age 27, and eight months into a new relationship, Helen suddenly lost her vision and became paralysed from the neck down, both overnight. Helen then had to go through the process of regaining her sight and learning how to walk again.We talk about adjusting to her newly medicalised life at the time, having to give up a job she loved, and all the other versions of herself that she often thinks about, had none of this happened,We talk about how using a wheelchair has opened up the possibility of travel for her again and how meeting new people and visiting new places soothes her feeling of unsettledness.Welcome to my conversation with my lovely friend, Hele Lear.A gentle warning, this episode contains swearing.You can find Helen online at https://www.wheelybraw.scot and on Instagram @wheelybraw or you can head ot the shownotes for links.Post production and jingle composition: Jon TiplerSupport the show This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit javacbere.substack.com

In this episode I talk with autoethnographic artist Hannah Turlington.We talk about growing up as a people pleaser,training as a teacher despite wanting to study textiles,eventually becoming a textile designer and realising it was no longer what she wanted,grieving the person that she thought she would one day be,Coming to terms with not being able to bear children and her experience of the adoption process.We also talk about her work with a creative mentor and later, Hannah was kind enough to share some of her pieces of writing with me.Welcome to my conversation with the no longer people pleasing Hannah TurlingtonA gentle warning, this episode contains swearing.You can find Hannah online at hannahturlington.co.uk and on instagram @hannahturlingtonart Post production and jingle composition: Jon TiplerSupport the show This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit javacbere.substack.com

In this episode I am talking to calligrapher, bookbinder and writer Gaelle Jolly.Gaelle and I have followed each other on Instagram for many years, and it was a joy to finally meet over zoom.In this chat we talk about our shared love of writing letters, Gaelle’s passion for getting lost in imaginary worlds, we talk about losing her husband and how instagram helped her process her griefWe discuss the dangers of placing all our self worth into our creative process, and how fruit is only exciting when it is wrapped in pastry.Welcome to my chat with the delightful Gaelle Jolly.This episode contains swearing and conversations on death. It also contains some background hammering noises from the workmen next door.You can find Gaelle on Instagram @inkysquare and her website hereSome notes from Gaelle on resources for anyone seeking support related to the topics we touched on:'Sobell House Hospice (https://sobellhouse.org/). They’re local to Oxford though so I guess not so relevant to most people, but they provided the best care to my husband in the last 5 weeks of his life, and supported me for two years afterwards with free bereavement support.Another important resource for me was everything written and produced by Nora McInerny (https://noraborealis.com/). I think of her as my widowhood guru (because we all need one of those 🤣) but she is brilliant on all flavours of grief.'Post production and jungle composition: Jon TiplerSupport the show This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit javacbere.substack.com