Episode 6: Night on Earth by Colin Walsh, read by Naoise Dunbar
On Leaving Cert night in a small Irish town Eoin is all buoyed up thinking how the whole world lies ahead, ready for him. Out of the blue he catches sight of a long-ago friend and he’s alive in that time again.
With the theme of ‘Creatures of the Earth’ Colin Walsh says ‘I’d been thinking about our creaturely innocence, and the point where, as we mature, that can evolve into naivete or willful ignorance. I’d been thinking about this alongside McGahern (and the post-independence disillusionment of his father), in terms of how Ireland has often turned from the ideals that underpinned the war of independence by turning a blind eye to the creaturely suffering of its most fragile citizens. Both these strands wove around one another in the writing of my story Night on Earth.’
Colin Walsh is an award-winning Irish writer living in Belgium. His short stories have been published in numerous anthologies, the Irish Times, and broadcast on RTE Radio 1 and BBC Radio 4. His awards include the RTE Francis MacManus Short Story Award, the Doolin Flash Fiction Prize and the Hennessy Emerging Fiction award.
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New fiction is an integral strand of contemporary Irish cultural expression. SPOKEN STORIES is an RTÉ 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 invited actors, cast to best serve the stories and audiences.
SPOKEN STORIES 2 Creatures of the Earth, a collection of 12 stories, is a evolvement of the SPOKEN STORIES concept 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 7.30-8pm pm starting on Sunday 16 October 2022 on RTÉ Radio 1. Colm Ó Ceallacháin is the Irish language story commissioned writer. His story is also being translated into English to be available as a text and as a podcast, following its initial radio broadcast in Irish during the series. Evgeny Shtorn is the contributing writer whose writing language is neither English nor Irish. His story Nessum Dorma will be translated into Russian as part of this project and also available as a text and podcast. The 12 stories will be available as podcasts and also available on https://www.rte.ie/culture/
Among the writers are winners and short-listed writers of many esteemed literary awards including The Booker Prize, An Post Irish Book Awards, the Costa Prize, The Dublin Literary Award, Oireachtas na Gaeilge, and 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 Creature of the Earth the title of a story by John McGahern, also the title of his final short story to be published in his lifetime. They illustrate how an idea or concept can be so variously and engagingly interpreted while collectively shedding light on us and our world. The commissions are shared across geographies, identities, those whose first language is neither English nor Irish as well as an Irish language writer. The themes, geographies, styles, locations, as well as the voices of the stories are as varied as the writers involved.
Readers of SPOKEN SPORIES 2: Creatures of the Earth include celebrated actors of stage and screen include Charlene McKenna, Daryl McKenna, Stephen O’Leary, Emma Dargan-Reid and Pat Shortt specially selected to add another layer of interpretation to these stories.