Literary Landscape: John Banville and 1950s Dublin
Books news and features with Mariella Frostrup. John Banville takes Mariella on a tour of the foggy streets, smoke-filled bars and genteel hotel tea rooms of 1950s Dublin.
In a Literary Landscape special for Open Book, Irish author John Banville, aka crime writer Benjamin Black, takes Mariella Frostrup on a tour of the foggy streets, smoke-filled bars and genteel hotel tea rooms of 1950s Dublin.
Banville explains why he was drawn to the Fifties for his Quirke series of crime fiction and discusses some of the major writers from that period - J P Donleavy, Brendan Behan, Patrick Kavanagh and Mary Lavin. Together, he and Mariella visit some of the locations that feature in Benjamin Black's Quirke novels.
Presenter: Mariella Frostrup
Reader: Owen Roe
Producer: Emma Harding.
Last on
More episodes
![]()
JP Donleavy
Author JP Donleavy on Desert Islands Discs from 2007
BOOKLIST
Writers mentioned in this week鈥檚 programme:
听
John Banville writing as Benjamin Black - Quirke novels (Christine Falls, Elegy for April, The Silver Swan, Holy Orders, A Death in Summer)
The Ginger Man by J P Donleavy
Happiness and Other Stories by Mary Lavin
Borstal Boy and Confessions of an Irish Rebel by Brendan Behan
Selected Poems by Patrick Kavanagh
Dead as Doornails: A Memoir by Antony Cronin
Remembering How we Stood: Bohemian Dublin at the Mid-Century by John Ryan
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Mariella Frostrup |
| Reader | Owen Roe |
| Producer | Emma Harding |
Broadcasts
- Sun 10 Aug 2014 16:00麻豆社 Radio 4
- Thu 14 Aug 2014 15:30麻豆社 Radio 4
This Week's Book List
Read along with us - a list of books discussed in each programme
Books and Authors Podcast
Open Book for author interviews and A Good Read for recommended reads
Listen now to books on 麻豆社 Sounds
Escape with books & stories
