This week The Book Show visits hotels through the pages of a novel and a work of non-fiction. Joanna Walsh began writing reviews of hotels after her marriage ended and Hotel (Bloomsbury) is a part-meditation, part-memoir which recalls the places she visited and the atmosphere of anonymity and alienation. She’s joined by Rick Moody whose latest novel Hotels of North America (Profile Books) brings together a series of fictional reviews written by his main character Reginald E. Morse for a review site called RateYourLodging.com. As the reviews gather pace, the character of Morese gradually comes to life in an often very funny world of lonely rooms. Both authors tell Sinéad Gleeson about their times in hotels and some of it makes for uncomfortable listening!
Sinéad is joined in studio by Micheal McLoughlin who is the chair of a new organisation called Words Ireland. It was set up in response to a growing number of calls for better conditions for writers at the many book festivals which have sprouted up in recent years. Publishers are encouraging writers to attend these and, as writer Nuala O’Connor explains, they are great places to be but they are also work and should be treated as such. Bert Wright runs Mountains To Sea, a literary festival held every year in Dun Laoghaire and he discusses the challenges of running these events. WordCon, a conference to examine these and other issues facing writers, is being held in Dublin on May 19th. Wordsireland.ie
