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Woman's Hour

Performance poet Salena Godden, Taiwan's female president, Gambling, addiction, Narcissistic mother, Kelsie Grieg gamer.

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.22.9K Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2023

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Taiwan's first female president, Tsai Ing-Weng, arrived in New York yesterday to criticism from China. She is stopping over in the US on her way to Central America, but may meet with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on her return. China says that if it goes ahead, it could lead to a 'serious confrontation'. To find out more about Tsai Ing-Wen and the significance of this trip, Anita speaks to Tessa Wong, the BBC's Asia digital reporter who regularly reports on China. Pessimism is for Lightweights is a new collection of poems by the celebrated performance poet Salena Godden. It consists of 30 poems written to celebrate courage and resistance, including poems responding to the Women's march, period poverty and everyday sexism. Salena joins Anita to discuss the collection, how poetry can confront misogyny and injustice, and why she personified death as a woman in her debut novel Mrs Death Misses Death. Tracey Stevenson describes her experience of using a gambling site. In 2017 she was sent to prison after stealing £1.7 million from the company she worked for, in order to help fund her online gambling addiction. She also works for the St. Giles Trust helping women in the criminal justice system. We have recently heard from two sisters - we are calling them Charlotte and Louise. One had a revelation in therapy that their mother was a narcissist and the realisation has changed her life. The other is more cautious - she knows their mum could be 'volatile' but she has empathy for her.Ena Miller talk to the two sisters together. What impact has all of this had on their relationship? Can they move forward? Kelsie Grieg, or Kels as she's known in the gaming world, made history recently when she became the first woman to qualify for the Call of Duty Challengers Elite tournament. She explains how swapped the football pitch for video games after an injury forced her to give up a promising career on the pitch. Presented by Anita Rani Producer: Louise Corley Editor: Beverley Purcell

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

0:05.2

Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4.

0:10.5

Morning all, we have made it to Friday and today I'm going to be joined by the writer and

0:15.2

performance poet Selena Godden.

0:17.3

Her brilliant new poetry book is called Pessimism is for Lightways, provocative title that

0:22.9

really makes you think.

0:24.8

So today I would like to know from all of you what keeps you optimistic, what gives

0:30.4

you hope, what makes you feel strong, what gives you courage, when life seems like an uphill

0:35.2

battle, what gets you through, is there a quote, a song, a book, a piece of art, a poem,

0:41.1

you always go back to, is there a person you call who always boosts your soul, puts

0:44.8

the fire back in your belly, is there a place you go to in your mind or indeed a real

0:48.8

life place that helps you get up to plow forward on the days, you just want to hide away,

0:54.2

what pushes you through the struggle.

0:56.6

Share your wisdom on how to stay optimistic and you never know your words might be just

1:01.3

what someone else needs to hear today.

1:03.5

Here's a burst of something, just a lift your spirits.

1:05.5

Just think of it as a gift from me to you, optimistic by the sounds of blackness because

1:10.1

why not.

1:11.1

You can text me 84844, you can contact me via email through our website, you can also

1:17.1

leave me a WhatsApp note 0300 100444 and it's social media, it's at BBC Women's

1:24.1

Hour, share your wisdom on what keeps you optimistic with me.

1:28.6

Also, we enter the world of gaming this morning, Kelsey Greeg has made history as the first

...

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