SPOKEN STORIES Independence
A Landmark Contribution to Ireland’s Decade of Centenaries
RTÉ Radio 1 commissions a series of 12 half hour stories from across the generations of the finest writers associated with Ireland and the short story
Anne Enright • Roisín O’Donnell • Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhríde • Yan Ge • Kevin Barry • Danielle McLaughlin • Wendy Erskine • Sue Rainsford • Neil Jordan • Mary Costello • Colin Barrett • Mike McCormack.
New fiction is an integral strand of contemporary Irish cultural expression. SPOKEN STORIES is a brand-new concept for short fiction to be commissioned and produced under a common theme or thread, and through which the listener is treated to readings of them by their authors or by invited actors, cast to best serve the stories and audiences. SPOKEN STORIES Independence, a collection of 12 stories, is a RTÉ landmark contribution to Ireland’s Decade of Centenaries. The SPOKEN STORIES concept and this series was originated by Clíodhna Ní Anluain, who is also its producer. It is being made with support from the BAI and RTÉ.
All stories can be enjoyed by audiences on their first broadcasts from 7-7.30pm starting on Sunday 10 January 2021 and running through until Sunday 28 March 2020 on RTÉ Radio 1. This scheduling allows for the story An Authentic Conversation by Yan Ge to be broadcast during Chinese New Year. A commission for its translated version into Chinese Mandarin has been given to Sally Rooney’s translator, Naomi Zhong. This will also be made available as a text and as an audio story. Snáithíní Solais by Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhríde is the Irish language story commission. This story is also being given a translated version into English and accordingly made available as a text and as an audio story, following its initial radio broadcast during Seachtain na Gaeilge 2021. The 12 stories will be podcast and available on https://www.rte.ie/culture/
Among the writers are Dublin Literary Prize winners, a Booker Prize winner, an IFTA award winner, an Oscar winning writer, authors whose work has been awarded Irish short story of the Year, as well as numerous other international awards and short-listings, along with major national and international publishing contracts. Their stories originate from a consideration of Independence, a hundred years after Ireland’s War for Independence. They illustrate how an idea or concept can be so variously and entertainingly interpreted while collectively shed light on us and our times. The commissions are shared across geographies, genders, those whose first language is neither English nor Irish as well as an Irish language writer.
The themes, geographies, styles, timelines, locations, as well as the voices of the stories are as varied as the writers involved. Without intention the spread of years figuring in the stories literally spans across a hundred years from 1938 to 2038.
SCHEDULE FOR JANUARY:
10 January – Wildlife by Anne Enright read by the author.
Wildlife is set in Cape Breton, against the backdrop of post-crash Ireland and a family holiday in Canada. Marieva and Finn have each other under the microscope as they and their children spend more than usual time together on a break that may reveal more to them than either of them expect.
17 January – Assignation by Mary Costello read by Caitríona Ni Mhurchú
Assignation opens hopefully on a bright mid-April New York morning in 1938. The quiet intimately devastating telling of the story of Irish emigrant, Marion, signals the life-changing consequences of how we handle what is thrust upon us.
24 January – A Pirate, Dreaming by Kevin Barry and read by the author
A Pirate, Dreaming lands us smack in the middle of 1980s Ireland and the daily morning rituals of a pirate radio DJ spinning discs from Joe Dolan to Mike Oldfield and FR David. From his high-up perch under his Velux window, he watches a routine morning grow and the good people of Limerick city getting up and out into another April day.