Most of life is so dull that there is nothing to be said about it, and the books and talks that would describe it as interesting are obliged to exaggerate, in the hope of justifying their own existence– E.M. Forster in ‘A Passage to India’
These words from E.M. Forster’s most famous work belie the truth of his own extraordinary life. Born in London in 1879 to a decidedly middle-class family Edward Morgan Forster was perfectly placed to enjoy many of life’s finest fruits while living through one of the most revolutionary times in history. His life wouldn’t, however, be without struggle or sorrow and today Forster is remembered mainly for the melancholic humanism of his writings.
At a young age Forster’s paternal great-aunt passed away. She left her young descendent a veritable fortune of £8,000. This allowed Forster to pursue the highest education and afforded him the financial freedom needed to pursue a career as an author. It also afforded him the opportunity to enroll in King’s College, Cambridge at the turn of the 20th century.
At Cambridge Forster rubbed shoulders with many of the leading figures of the coming British artistic revolution that would see massive upheavals in aesthetics and style across all mediums. Though Forster would never be at the centre of this so called Bloomsbury Group he did orbit its outer peripheries during period of the 1910s and ‘20s. This time also provided him with the inspiration for what many regard as the greatest of his works as he ventured to India before the outbreak of the First World War and again in the early 1920s.
Forster called the work that blossomed from these two voyages ‘A Passage to India’. Published in 1924 this book became one of the greatest works of literature of the 20th century, and possibly all time. Revolving around a purported case of an Indian man sexually assaulting a British woman this book delved into to turbulent waters of relations between the British Empire and her colonies that were increasingly agitating for independence. More than that, however, it told the story of a dying world caught up in a rapid race toward modernity.
This book and the events surrounding it proved to be the inspiration for what is quite possibly Damon Galgut’s greatest work, ‘Arctic Summer’; not a small boast for a multiple Man Booker Prize nominee and award-winning author. A fictionalised account of the great author’s life, from his first adventure to India in 1912 to the publishing of ‘A Passage to India’, Galgut’s novel transports us to a lost world as we gaze at Forster’s intimate life unfold on the page.
Join Susan on ‘Talking Books’ as she journeys with Damon Galgut through his great book and the fascinating life of E.M. Forster. How did Forster come to venture to India and compose ‘A Passage to India’? What role did the First World War and his time in Alexandria play in Forster’s life? And why is his homosexuality so important to understanding Forster’s work?
Susan starts the show with a different journey to the east, however, as she takes a look at the history of Irish Buddhism. Dr Laurence Cox, lecturer in sociology in NUI Maynooth, has been fascinated by how Buddhism journeyed from Asia to Ireland; where it has taken root and flourished. In his 2013 publication ‘Buddhism and Ireland; from the Celts to Counter-Culture and Beyond’ Dr Cox has traced this philosophy’s path through history and geography from its home in the east to our small Atlantic island.
1871 saw the first Irish person identify themselves as Buddhist as they anonymously filled in their census form. It would take another century before anyone would publicly identify themselves as Buddhist in Ireland. Yet the history of Irish Buddhism reaches much further back in time than these first Irish records.
The spread of the British Empire across the world from the 16th to the 20th century wasn’t fuelled solely by Jingoistic fervour. A great number of the legions of soldiers and civil servants that ensured the smooth running and continuation of the British Empire were Irish. While most of these individuals returned home at the end of their tours there were many others who chose to make a new home in these foreign lands.
Some of these individuals who chose to make Asia their home became enamoured with this peaceful eastern philosophy. It was these individuals and other cosmopolitan Irish émigrés who provided the fiercest breeding ground for Irish Buddhism. Yet, as the record proves, Buddha’s Middle Way managed to find its way to the shore of Ireland.
Listen back as Susan hears the tale of Ireland’s relationship with Buddhism. How did it eventually arrive at our shores? Who were the Irish pioneers who chose to follow this foreign Way? And what has been its legacy since the first Irish Buddhist came out in the census of 1971?
Rounding off the show Susan takes a look at innovation and multiculturalism in Irish fiction and asks: how conservative is Irish publishing? Irish identity has long been a complicated and fluid concept. With Ireland’s cultural makeup growing increasingly diverse has our publishing industry managed to keep up with the ever changing Irish experience and narrative or are we still hung-up on traditional narratives.
Susan discusses this together with Oona Frawley, author and lecturer in English in NUI Maynooth, and Lisa Cohen, co-founder of Tramp Press—Ireland’s newest publishing house. In 2005 Oona penned her first work of fiction, ‘Flight’. Following the pregnant Sandrine as she journeys from her native Zimbabwe to Ireland in search of a better life ‘Flight’ tells the story of four world travellers as their paths intersect in a quite Irish house.
It would take the founding of a new publishing house to allow ‘Flight’ to see the light of day, however. Listen in to ‘Talking Books’ as Susan chats with Oona and Lisa about their experiences in the world of Irish publishing. What does the future of Irish fiction look like?
