This week The Book Show remembers the work of writer John McGahern.
This year is the 10th anniversary of his death in 2006. McGahern’s novels portray Irish society and family life in Ireland over the decades from the 50’s to the time of his death.
Novels such as The Barracks, The Dark, Amongst Women, That They May Face The Rising Sun and his autobiography Memoir are among his books which have place McGahern at the heart of Irish writing for over 40 years.
Sinéad Gleeson is joined in studio by Professor Frank Shovlin from the University of Liverpool. He is currently writing two books on John McGahern – ‘Touchstones: John McGahern’s Classical Style’ and ‘The Letters of John McGahern’.
Also in studio is writer Carlo Gebler who has adapted a number of McGahern’s works for television.
They discuss the impact that McGahern’s early work had on Irish society, explore his writing style and assess the importance of family relationships in the novels and stories.
Sinéad also travels to NUI Galway where she meets archivist Barry Houlihan there to look at a wealth of material from the archive of John McGahern kept at The Hardiman Library at NUIG. Drafts of stories written into old copy books, an unpublished novel and letters to and from the author all shine a light on McGahern’s writing process and some of the key relationships in his life. One letter is from his father Frank and the critical tone in it may expalin some of the difficulty John McGahern had in his early life with his father – a theme which recurrs thoughout his work.
Writer Eilis NíDhuibhne meditates on one of McGahern’s most famous books, Amongst Women, which was shortlisted for The Booker Prize in 1990, saying that the title alone, pointed to a new departure for McGahern. Women came into focus in the writing of the eighties and this is something which we can see in this novel.
We also travel to Ballinamore in McGahern’s home county of Leitrim. His novels and stories are rich in descriptions of the landscape and the communities there and a reader’s group from Ballinamore Public Library offer their own perspectives on his writing.
