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Donald S Murray, Lyrics and poetry, Publishing in Iceland and Greenland

Scottish writer Donald S Murray discusses his new novel As the Women Lay Dreaming, which explores the ramifications of the Iolaire disaster, in which 200 WW1 servicemen died.

Scottish writer Donald S Murray discusses his new novel As the Women Lay Dreaming, which explores the ramifications of the Iolaire disaster, in which 200 WW1 servicemen died on the last leg of their journey home in January 1919.

Collected lyrics by artists as various as Kate Bush, Leonard Cohen and Florence Welch have been making their way onto bookshelves this year. Music journalist Laura Barton and poet Andrew McMillan join Mariella to consider what distinguishes song lyrics on the page from poetry.

The next big thing in Greenlandic literature is Niviaq Korneliussen whose novel Crimson examines the lives and loves of a group of teenagers. In a literary postcard from the capital Nuuk, she considers why it is imperative that more young people like her are given the opportunity to tell their stories.

Neighbouring Iceland is said to be one of the most literary countries in the world, and this time of year is the most important in the books calendar. Writer and literary journalist Bj枚rn Halld贸rs discusses why the pre-Christmas period has become known as Jolabokaflod or the Yule Book Flood.

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28 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Sun 9 Dec 2018 16:00
  • Thu 13 Dec 2018 15:30

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