Sally Bayley
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Home Essays Essays Pondlife Events & Collaborations Events Collaborations: Films Collaborations: Audio Narratives Books Books Short Stories/Fairytales Press & Interviews Podcast Teaching Teaching Student & Reader Testimonials About
Sally Bayley
Blog Introduction
Edith Wants to be Bathed in Light
Edith Wants to be Bathed in Light

Edith wants to be bathed in light. To be chosen, to be elected, to be one of them: the on screen stars. To be or not to be?

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Sally BayleyMay 19, 2026Sally Bayley, cinema, loneliness, PondlifeComment
Not Beautiful Enough to Paint
Not Beautiful Enough to Paint

She looked and saw his canvas covered in murky patterns. The pond, he said, for atmosphere, the criss-cross of light. I see, she said, but she did not…

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Sally BayleyMay 19, 2026Sally Bayley, essay, Pondlife, paintingComment
Don't Clean it
Don't Clean it

Edith Cull was finding the pencil a less critical an implement than her pen. For one thing she could rub things out or smudge them if they began glaring back at her…

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Sally BayleyMay 19, 2026Sally Bayley, essay, Pondlife, drawingComment
No Room of Her Own
No Room of Her Own

The character of Edith has grown from the glimpses of women I saw as a child: women living alone, often remotely, and scuttling around like peculiar insects…

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Sally BayleyMay 19, 2026Sally Bayley, Pondlife, teachingComment
Behind the Curtain
Behind the Curtain

Withdrawal can be exquisite, that time spent behind the arras with the curtain blowing over shading your sight. Embroidered patterns flutter across the mind’s eye drawing out the shapes…

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Sally BayleyMay 19, 2026Sally Bayley, Pondlife, theatreComment

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Contact Sally directly: sally.bayley@ell.ox.ac.uk

Or her agents at The Wylie Agency: Sarah Chalfant: SChalfant@wylieagency.com