Send us a textIn this episode we invite Colm Tóibín to the breakfast table to discuss his new book A Ship in Full Sail: The Laureate Lectures and Other Writings. The book collects the blogs he wrote during his term as Laureate for Irish Fiction, one written each month on topics as diverse as Artificial Intelligence, reading Ulysses, the discomfort of Salman Rushdie in the wilds of County Dublin, Bob Dylan in concert, a life of Thom Gunn and the author’s role in a campaign to save the House of The Dead. Also included are essays on abiding interests – music and the visual arts. It's a wide-ranging collection full of fascinating insights into the mind of one of Ireland’s beloved writers.This episode is supported by a Project Award from the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon.Intro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomaire, ‘Thou Shalt Not Carry’ from The Hare’s Corner, 2008, with thanks to Colm for permission to use it. Logo designed by Freya Sirr.Support the show
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82: Henrietta McKervey on new fiction titles
Send us a textOn this morning's show novelist Henrietta McKervey talks to us about four recent novels: Fair Play by Louise Hegarty, Air by John Boyne, Murder takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman and Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. And she also does a surprising Toaster Challenge. Listen to see what she chooses ...Henrietta McKervey is the author of the acclaimed novels What Becomes of Us, The Heart of Everything, Violet Hill and A Talented Man. She has a Hennessy First Fiction Award and won the inaugural UCD Maeve Binchy Travel Award. She has programmed the ECHOES festival and International Literature Festival Dublin, and contributes to the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Independent and the Brendan O'Connor show on RTÉ Radio 1.This episode is supported by a Project Award from the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon.Intro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomaire, ‘Thou Shalt Not Carry’ from The Hare’s Corner, 2008, with thanks to Colm for permission to use it. Logo designed by Freya Sirr.Support the show
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81: Mary O'Donnell, Walking Ghosts
Send us a textThis episode sees us visiting Dublin's historic United Arts Club where Enda interviews Mary O'Donnell about her latest collection of short stories, Walking Ghosts. Praise for Walking Ghosts'Each story shines in its own distinctive light.' —Neil Hegarty'O'Donnell is unflinching in her ability to display humanity in all its flaws and vulnerabilities.' —Mary Costello'The magic of her writing is in the subtle, mysterious evocation of the unconscious, of the potent mixture of mood and thought and half thought which colours human lives.' —Eilis Ni Dhuibhne'Searingly intimate and subtle stories, the beauty, the pain and the hope of desperate lives lived in everyday places. A fascinating, varied and utterly compelling collection.' —William WallThis episode is supported by a Project Award from the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon.Intro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomaire, ‘Thou Shalt Not Carry’ from The Hare’s Corner, 2008, with thanks to Colm for permission to use it. Logo designed by Freya Sirr.Support the show
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80: Sarah Moss on Ripeness
Send us a textOn this episode we drop in to the Carlow University Pittsburgh MFA summer programme in Trinity College, Dublin to interview Sarah Moss about her latest novel, Ripeness. 'Tender and rueful . . . Sarah Moss is a marvel of insight and eloquence' - Emma Donoghue'One of our greatest living writers' - Katherine May, author of WinteringMore Praise for Sarah Moss:'Throws much contemporary writing into the shade' - Hilary Mantel‘One of our very best contemporary novelists’ - Independent'A brilliant mind' - The Guardian'Moss has quietly been putting out some of the most interesting and carefully sculpted novels of recent years' - Financial Times'One of the finest contemporary writers working in Britain today' - StylistIntro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomaire, ‘Thou Shalt Not Carry’ from The Hare’s Corner, 2008, with thanks to Colm for permission to use it. Logo designed by Freya Sirr.Support the show
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79: Mall Life: Karin-Lin Greenberg
Send us a textOn this episode we talk about this year's International Literature Festival Dublin which runs from 16-25 May, and where Enda will be interviewing novelists Gethan Dick and Patrick Holloway. We also talk to Karin-Lin Greenberg about Your Are Here, her novel set in a dying mall in upstate New York."Lin-Greenberg’s web of characters illustrate the complex lives of ordinary people." —Laura Zornosa, Time"Like Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, the charm of Lin-Greenberg’s engaging story lies in the sweetness of the characters’ everyday lives." —Becky Meloan, The Washington Post"Charming . . . The small lies woven into a lifelong marriage, the petty resentments harbored by polite neighbors and, above all, the comic discrepancy between a character’s outer and inner life—all emerge unforced and unadorned in this multifaceted narrative . . . But the everyday reality that Ms. Lin-Greenberg so memorably creates is not easily eclipsed. Compassion and wry understatement remain her strengths, and in You Are Here she captures not only the frayed texture of suburban existence but also the turbulent emotions, immediate and long buried, of protagonists who are ultimately far more than stereotypes." —Anna Mundow, The Wall Street Journal"Beautifully written and radically sympathetic . . . Among its achievements, You Are Here is a breathtaking depiction of a community—even one at the mall." —Jeffrey Condran, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"Absolutely irresistible." —PeopleIntro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomaire, ‘Thou Shalt Not Carry’ from The Hare’s Corner, 2008, with thanks to Colm for permission to use it. Logo designed by Freya Sirr.Support the show
A podcast focussing on fiction and poetry hosted by poets and writers Peter Sirr and Enda Wyley. Also features the Toaster Challenge where guest writers are given the time it takes to make toast to talk about a book that has resonated with them.
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