#14 The Diplomatic Arts
City of Books
Ireland's man in Washington, Ambassador Daniel Mulhall, talks us through the rhyme and reason of poetry - and how literature can act as a cultural bridge. He practises what he preaches by tweeting daily poems.
info_outline
#13 Lemn Sissay and the Story of Why
City of Books
Lemn Sissay shoots from the hip and speaks from the heart in this interview about mother and baby homes, the Black Lives Matter campaign and his experience in the British care system.
info_outline
#12 Richard Ford on Flouncing and Failure
City of Books
Richard Ford is listing his failures. He wanted to be a lawyer in the US Marines. Didn’t work out. He wanted to be “a lawyer, period”. Didn’t work out.
info_outline
#11 Liz Nugent's Dark Materials
City of Books
Doyenne of domestic noir Liz Nugent’s work has an army of fans including Graham Norton, who describes her latest hit Our Little Cruelties as part rollercoaster, part maze.
info_outline
#10 Colum McCann on Motorbikes, Motivation and Middle East
City of Books
Writer Colum McCann talks about his hope that his book, Apeirogon, may contribute to peace. It fictionalises the true story of two fathers, an Israeli and a Palestinian, who each lose a child in the conflict.
info_outline
#9 The Maamtrasna Murders
City of Books
Five murders, three executions, one moving speech from the gallows... The Maamtrasna murders were sparked by a blood feud in 19th century Ireland. The trial caused an international sensation
info_outline
#8 Joanna Trollope Opens Up On Fiction, Family and Feminism
City of Books
Three Fs have been a consistent part of international bestseller Joanna Trollope's life:
info_outline
#7 The Child's Eye from Marita Conlon-McKenna
City of Books
The magic of storytelling, why famine stories continue to grip us and the powerful use of the child's voice in Tatty - the 2020 Dublin One City One Book choice. All this and more from Marita Conlon-McKenna, much-loved author of Under The Hawthorn Tree.
info_outline
#6 South Dublin Noir Meets White Knuckle Crime
City of Books
RTÉ Arts and Media Correspondent Sinéad Crowley, also a crime novelist, talks about books, her love of running, her passion for ghost stories and 'Tatty' - the 2020 Dublin One City One Book choice.
info_outline
#5 If You’re A Child You Know Where The Power Is
City of Books
Writer Carlo Gébler, son of Edna O'Brien, talks about One City One Book choices in the second of four weekly City of Books podcast extras. On his mother's classic trilogy, The Country Girls, he says it stands the test of time because it “talks about the truth of human experience”.
info_outlineIn this episode, artist Robert Ballagh talks about why Samuel Beckett thought he kept him waiting for breakfast, how his postage stamp design infuriated Northern Irish political leader the Rev Ian Paisley, befriending Nobel scientist James Watson and getting on the wrong side of Britain’s Prince Philip. He also discusses his autobiography A Reluctant Memoir, published by Head of Zeus
Later in the episode, writer Mary Costello takes a tour of the iconic James Joyce Tower in Dublin where Joyce set the opening chapter of his masterpiece Ulysses. During her walkabout in the 200-year-old building, she explains why she is drawn back again and again to Joyce’s work and why her latest novel The River Capture is inspired by him.
-----
A monthly podcast supported by Dublin UNESCO City of Literature in association with the Museum of Literature Ireland (MOLI).
-----
Presented & Edited by Martina Devlin
Produced by Steve Byrne
Music by Daragh Dukes