The summer is a time for festivals and celebrations and this isn’t restricted to music and flowers. While the Listowel Writers’ Week and International Festival of Literature Dublin have just passed there is still the Dalkey Book Festival, Hay Festival Kells, and West Cork Literary Festival to look forward to. With Susan still off working in Haiti, this week’s ‘Talking Books’ is dedicated to some of our best interviews from last year’s book festivals.
Starting the show at the new time of 10pm Susan revisits her chat with the celebrated new author Audrey Magee and her debut novel, ‘The Undertaking’. Following the characters of Peter Faber and Katharina Spinell this book tells the tale of a marriage of convenience as it blossoms into something more under the shadow of war. A regular soldier in the German Wehrmacht Peter marries Katharina for both parties mutual benefit; he gets three weeks leave and she secures a pension should he never return.
As the date for Peter’s departure to the Eastern Front approaches, however, romance blossoms between these two lovers. On the long march to Stalingrad Peter is unable to shake the memory of Katharina and his growing love from his mind. Meanwhile Katharina cannot forget the man she fell in love with or his child growing inside her.
Join ‘Talking Books’ this Sunday as Susan looks back on her chat with Audrey last summer. What pushed her to write this book? Where did the characters come from? And what was it like to delve into the lives of these star-crossed lovers?
Rounding off the show Susan revisits her interview with celebrated Irish author Hugo Hamilton about ‘Every Single Minute’. A fictionalised account of his last journey with his close friend, the writer and broadcaster Nuala O’Faolain, Hugo’s novel was commended for its bravery and emotional depth. Based on a trip to Berlin only two weeks before Nuala’s death ‘Every Single Minute’ looks at how friends deal with their final moments together and our search for closure.
In a touching interview Hugo spoke with Susan about this book, the process of memoir writing, coming to terms with death and the past, and his final journey with his close friend. Join ‘Talking Books’ this Sunday as we look back on this piece from last summer. What makes us who we are? Is it ourselves or others? And can we ever let go of memory and the past?
