Sleep Stories at Durham Book Festival

Our colleague Naomi Booth, along with Romalyn Ante and Sarah Hall join Durham Book Festival to discuss three specially commissioned short stories, which form part of Sleep Stories, a podcast series blending science and fiction, inspired by the contemporary sleep crisis.  

Each episode will feature these exclusive new short stories, focusing on the complex relationship women have with sleep at different stages of their lives. Each episode will be introduced by a leading sleep scientist, discussing the ways environmental factors, motherhood and caregiving can all directly affect women’s sleep. 

Romalyn Ante (joining online) is an award-winning Filipino-born British poet, novelist, and former NHS mental health nurse. Her debut poetry collection, Antiemetic for Homesickness, was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize in 2020, and her second collection, AGIMAT, was published in 2024. Her debut novel, The Left-Behind Child, was published in 2026. 

Naomi Booth is the author of the novels Raw Content and Exit Management, and the short story collection Animals at Night. Naomi teaches Creative Writing at Durham University. 

Sarah Hall has been twice nominated for the Booker Prize and is the first and only writer to win the BBC National Short Story Award twice. She has written 10 highly acclaimed novels including, most recently, Helm. She lives in Cumbria. 

Chaired by Dr Diletta De Cristofaro, Northumbria University.

Produced in partnership with Northumbria University.