Episode 4
Shorn by Sue Rainsford is read by Saoirse Ronan.
It moves hauntingly between a brutal long ago and a present time of purge the past, while not forgetting it. Two daughters do with their mother’s hair what she asked of them to do with it after she died, to cut off her long plait and to take it back to where she lived her early life.
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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.