Words & Music: from the page to the stage

The connection between songs and books is nothing new. Login or signup to continue reading One's mind quickly turns to Kate Bush's debut 1978 single Wuthering Heights , in which the acrobatic singer channelled Catherine Earnshaw, the yearning spectre of Emily Bronte's celebrated 1847 gothic fiction novel of the same name. Led Zeppelin's soaring vocalist Robert Plant referenced the works of J.

R.R. Tolkien in songs Misty Mountain Hop , The Battle of Evermore and Over the Hills and Far Away .



In the band's thumping classic Ramble On , the evocation of The Lord of the Rings could not be more explicit: "'Twas in the darkest depths of Mordor I met a girl so fair, but Gollum and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her." In a 2022 interview with Rolling Stone , Plant expressed embarrassment about his frequent visitations to Middle Earth. "Obviously, I was developing all the time with what I felt and what I was surrounded by," the music icon explained.

"Although sadly ...

there were maybe one or two too many, well ...

hobbits." Sales of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four passed the 1 million mark by 1973 and the dystopian masterwork would be referenced in songs by John Lennon and Stevie Wonder. It also had a profound impact on David Bowie.

The musician developed a rock musical based on Orwell's ubiquitous novel but, when denied permission by the author's widow Sonia, Bowie salvaged the songs for what would be his eighth studio record, Diamond Dogs . This long-held tradition of turning books into songs is the concept behind an annual Newcastle event called Words & Music. Now in its third year, the Newcastle Writers Festival showcase will feature nine musicians invited to pen and perform an original song inspired by a written work.

This year the line-up includes ARIA award-winner William Crighton, Melody Pool, ChaiChester, Ziggy Ramo, Tim McPhee, Khin Myint, and Dave Wells with Symphony Rain. In a Words & Music first, two of the acts, pop songwriter Chelsea Reed and folk duo Chain Daisy, both independently chose to interpret the novel A Language of Limbs by Sydney author Dylin Hardcastle. "It's such an important book, in so many ways," Reed says.

"It captures a period in Australian queer history that I didn't know much about. It's shocking and quite brutal in parts but also tender, moving and very human. Dylin's writing is captivating and visceral, I could feel myself transported into the story in such a cinematic way.

" Hardcastle's sensory work, which compares and contrasts the lives of two queer protagonists across three decades, opening on a fateful summer night in Newcastle in 1972, is longlisted for the 2025 Stella Prize. Chain Daisy comprises the sublime harmonies of Poppi Kent and Josi Veneziano, who have fast become one of Newcastle's must-see emerging acts. Kent came across A Language of Limbs in a local bookstore.

"When I read the blurb and discovered it was set in Newcastle and Sydney during the 1970s, around the time of the first Mardi Gras, I immediately thought, 'This is perfect for me'," the songwriter says. "This was my first time reading Dylin's work and I've fallen in love with their writing style. It's so descriptive, poetic, and lush.

" When Reed and Chain Daisy both learned they'd chosen the same novel, they quickly decided to collaborate, an arrangement that will see Kent join Reed on stage before Chain Daisy's own song. Kent continues: "At first, I thought, 'Oh no! I'm going to have to change the book'. But we realised we could just collaborate and share our love for Hardcastle's work.

And honestly, I'm not surprised. It's absolutely phenomenal. Josi and I are excited to share our spin on the novel and I'm excited to delve into Chelsea's ideas too.

" Veneziano adds: "Taking inspiration from a written work has been a new and enriching approach for us. This shift has allowed us to step outside of our usual routine, offering a fresh perspective and valuable learning experience. We've thoroughly enjoyed the process.

" In a coup for the event, Hardcastle will also take the stage to read from A Language of Limbs . "I was thrilled and deeply moved to hear not one but two acts had chosen my book as inspiration for Words & Music," Hardcastle says. "To have my art inspiring the creation of new work for other artists is, at least to me, the greatest compliment I could receive as an author.

I'm so excited to hear what comes of these two projects - especially to discover what the musicians are able to draw from my writing. I imagine they'll unearth parts of the work that I didn't even know were there." Though based in Sydney, Hardcastle is no stranger to Newcastle.

"My sister and my mum live in Newcastle and I've spent a considerable amount of time there over the last 12 years," the author says. "I chose it as a location partly due to my familiarity with the city, but also because one of the characters in my novel hitchhikes to Sydney after being kicked out of home as a teenager, and hitchhiking from Newcastle to Sydney felt like a relatively 'short' distance in the grand scheme of things, and therefore was a believable journey for the character to make as a teenager." For ChaiChester, real name Patrick Truscott, whose song Lover's Lullaby fast approaches a million plays on Spotify, writing to a brief has been a new experience.

The songwriter happened to choose my new novella, Guardian , an eerie story set in Morpeth in 1992, about a devout single mother Agnes, who comes to believe her young son, Sam, might be possessed by a supernatural entity. "Writing music to a specific concept was a completely new thing to me," Truscott says. "I found it quite challenging at first and definitely did a lot of overthinking, but it's been really fun to write something outside of my own periphery.

" The resulting song, Rivertown , has a suitably haunted atmosphere, unlike anything Truscott's previously released. "It's darker than what I have written before," the songwriter says. "There's a few techniques and textures that I normally wouldn't reach for when writing a ChaiChester song, but this ended up being one of the most enjoyable parts of the experience.

" Guardian was something I connected with quickly, having grown up in the same town [Maitland]. It has really well-written characters and I could empathise with their struggles and emotions, so I focused on their experiences in the lyrics, while trying to convey the bigger world themes in the melodies and arrangement." Tim McPhee, an enduring Newcastle songwriter known for projects like The Instant and Firekites, chose to adapt Rick Rubin's The Creative Act .

The book is a poetic rumination on the nature of creativity by one of the world's most prominent record producers. "I haven't stopped reading The Creative Act since its release in 2023," McPhee says. "It continues to resonate with me in such a profound way - I'll pick it up and randomly hit a chapter.

It's almost like the book knows what I need to be reading in that given moment. Instantly inspiring every time." McPhee believes Rubin's book explores not just creativity but ways of being an artist in the world - something to which an event like Words & Music speaks.

"Intentionally drawing on the sentiment of The Creative Act has been a real buzz and almost effortless," the songwriter says. "Rick's musings continue to be the source of deep inspiration and not just in music. It really does inform a way of being.

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