The Book Show S4 #13 Robert Webb, Kit de Waal, Sally Rooney
This week on The Book Show, Sinéad Gleeson speaks to the UK writer and comedian Robert Webb about his new book How Not To Be A Boy. Webb is well…
The Book Show Season 4
The Book Show S4 #17 A Letter To A Character
This week The Book Show comes from Dublin’s Smock Alley Theatre where a special hour-long episode was recorded in front of a live audience. ‘A Letter To A Character’ is…
The Book Show S4 #18 1917
This week The Book Show hears about the Russian Revolutions of 1917 and the effect they had on Russian writers. Throughout the hour we hear from a number of speakers…
The Book Show S4 #16 David Hayden, John Fante, Julie Buntin
This week on The Book Show Sinéad Gleeson speaks to David Hayden about his debut collection of short stories, Darker With The Lights On which has been published recently. The…
The Book Show S4 #15 Hollie McNish, Ghostwriting, Alan Johnson
The week on The Book Show Sinéad Gleeson speaks to the UK poet Hollie McNish who recently published her latest collection of poetry, Plum. The collection received a lot of…
The Book Show S4 #14 Natasha Pulley, EM Reapy, Journals
This week on The Book Show Sinéad Gleeson speaks to the writer Natasha Pulley. Her latest book, The Bedlam Stacks, is set in the 19th century. Merrick Tremain, an India…
The Book Show S4 #12 Nick Laird, JP Donleavy, A Letter To A Character Competition
On this week’s Book Show, Sinéad Gleeson speaks to the Northern Irish writer Nick Laird about his latest novel, Modern Gods. It’s set in both Ireland and Papua New Guinea…
The Book Show S4 #11 Maggie O’Farrell, Seán O’Reilly, Letter To A Character
Sinéad Gleeson speaks to writer Maggie O’Farrell about her latest book which is a memoir. I Am I Am I Am: 17 Brushes With Death (Tinder Press) is, as the…
The Book Show S4 #10 Will Self
Tonight’s Book Show was recorded at Smock Alley Theatre in front of a live audience. Sinéad Gleeson interviewed the British writer Will Self during this year’s International Festival of Literature…
The Book Show Season 3
The Book Show S3 #24 Multitudes by Lucy Caldwell, Peter Dunne, and iOTillett Wright
This week, The Book Show travels to East Belfast with writer Lucy Caldwell. Sinéad Gleeson joins Lucy at her home on the outskirts of Belfast city to hear about Lucy’s…
The Book Show S3 #23 Work of Raymond Chandler, Flying with Father Browne, and Paul Beatty
This week on The Book Show Sinéad Gleeson is joined by crime writers Declan Hughes and Alan Glynn to look at the work of Raymond Chandler. Chandler is the author…
The Book Show S3 #22 Sara Taylor, Unwanted Books, and Maggie O’Farrell
This week on The Book Show, Sinéad Gleeson is joined by US writer Sara Taylor. Her latest book is called The Lauras and it follows a mother and daughter as…
The Book Show S3 #21 Eula Biss, Tom Gauld and Neil Hegarty
This week on The Book Show Sinéad Gleeson talks to Eula Biss, the author of a book called On Immunity: An Inoculation (Fitzcaraldo Editions) which is a personal and political…
The Book Show S3 #20 Erica Jong and New Orleans Lit Tour
We speak with feminist icon of The Fear of Flying Erica Jong about her sex, growing old and being taken seriously and visit New Orleans to hear how the city…
The Book Show S3 #19 Louis de Bernières & Kit de Waal
This week on The Book Show we talk to best-selling author Louis de Berniéres about his latest novel The Dust That Falls From Dreams. De Berniéres is probably best known…
The Book Show Culture Night Special S3 #18
RTÉ Radio 1’s The Book Show invites audiences to join them in recording a special programme for Culture Night. Sinead Gleeson speaks to crime writers Liz Nugent, Arlene Hunt and…
The Book Show S3 #17 The Aeneid, Tangerine & Garth Greenwell
This week Sinéad Gleeson visits theatre company Collapsing Horse as they rehearse their stage version of The Aeneid ahead of the Tiger Dublin Fringe Festival. Director Dan Colley and his…
The Book Show S3 #16 Kelman, Ministry of SUITs, Kate Summerscale
On this week’s show Sinéad Gleeson speaks to Scottish author James Kelman about his heart warming new novel, Dirt Road. The novel is set in Alabama and it tells the…
The Book Show S3 #16 Edinburgh Book Festival: Val McDermid & Ian Rankin
The Book Show returns from its summer break with a special programme recorded at The Edinburgh International Book Festival. It’s one of the largest book festivals and this year over…
The Book Show Season 2
The Book Show – S2 #32 Finale
This week is our last episode in the current season of The Book Show and we’re devoting the whole episode to writing and music. Gavin Corbett’s 3rd novel Green Glowing…
The Book Show – S2 #31
This week writer and journalist Johann Hari talks to Sinéad about his book Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs. In 2011 Hari was…
The Book Show – S2 #30
This week on The Book Show, American writer Ben Lerner talks to Sinéad about his novel 10:04 (Faber). It’s his second novel. The novel is set in New York and…
The Book Show – S2 #29
This week on The Book Show Sinéad talks to Kevin Maher about his second novel Last Night On Earth (Little Brown). It’s set in 1995 and tells the story of…
The Book Show – S2 #28
This week on The Book Show we broadcast from Galway where the Cúirt International Festival of Literature is celebrating its 30th birthday. The streets are packed with book lovers, readers…
The Book Show – S2 #27
On tonight’s show Scottish author Ali Smith talks to Sinead about her latest novel How To Be Both. The novel, which was published last year by Hamish Hamilton has this…
The Book Show – S2 #26
Tonight on The Book Show we travel back to 1915, the year before The Easter Rising. We explore the ideas, books and writers that were current at that time. The…
The Book Show – S2 #25
This week The Book Show turns the spotlight on Roddy Doyle in a rare feature length interview. His celebrated The Barrytown Trilogy (The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van) is…
The Book Show – S2 #24
On this week’s Book Show we hear a reading from Akhil Sharma’s novel Family Life. Akhil was a guest on The Book Show last year and this week his novel…
The Book Show – S2 #23
On this week’s Book Show we hear a reading from Akhil Sharma’s novel Family Life. Akhil was a guest on The Book Show last year and this week his novel…
The Book Show – S2 #22
On The Book Show this week we talk to debut novelist Lucy Wood about Weathering. It’s the story of three generations of women whose lives are centred on a house…
The Book Show – S2 #21
We celebrate International Women’s Day this week on The Book Show with an all-woman show! Beginning in Bath, in the UK, Sinead Gleeson talks to Viv Groskop. Viv is a…
The Book Show – S2 #20
This week on The Book Show, we explore books and translation. We begin at the Centre for Literary Translation which this year celebrates its 21st anniversary. Sinéad Gleeson visits…
The Book show – S2 #19
This week The Book Show visits The Irish Writers’ Centre in Dublin to hear about their annual Novel Fair. On Saturday 21st of February, 12 writers (from a list of…
The Book Show – S2 #18
In this week’s show, writers Liz Nugent and SJ Watson join Sinead in studio to discuss their psychological thrillers and the dark side of love. Liz Nugent’s debut novel Unravelling…
The Book Show – S2 #17
This week on The Book Show we look at the relationship between writers and place and how themes such as emigration, leaving home, returning home and living abroad can influence…
The Book Show – S2 #16
Tonight we travel to New York to meet filmmaker, artist and author Miranda July who has just published her first novel, The First Bad Man (Canongate Books). The novel tells…
The Book Show – S2 #15
As the UK publisher Picador announces its new imprint, Picador Classics – which includes Irish authors John Banville, Colm Toibín, Pat McCabe and Niall Williams – we ask What Makes…
The Book Show – S2 #14
This evening Sinead Gleeson is joined by broadcaster Rick O’Shea, bookseller Louisa Cameron and Sam Jordison from The Guardian Readers’ Group to discuss book clubs. Both Rick and Sam host…
The Book Show – S2 #13
On the show this week Sinead talks to Marie Helene-Bertino about her debut novel 2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas . Aspiring jazz singer Madeleine Altimari is a clever, rebellious…
The Book Show – S2 #12
On the show this week Regan Hutchins explores the work of American poet Thom Gunn, an award-winning poet known for works that included Fighting Terms, Touch and The Man With…
The Book Show – S2 #11
Tonight on The Book Show we hear all about ghost stories. Sinead visits the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and is joined by archivist Maedhbh Murphy there who shows…
The Book Show – S2 #10
Alan Cumming has just been nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in The GoodWife and his now reprised role in Cabaret on Broadway has earned him huge acclaim…now…
The Book Show – S2 #9
This week on The Book Show we’re live from The Twisted Pepper The Book Show is broadcast in front of a live audience in Dublin’s Twisted Pepper this week, in…
The Book Show – S2 #8
This week on The Book Show we’re focusing on Young Adult Fiction. Eoin Colfer is the Children’s Laureate for ireland and the author of the Artemis Fowl series (which has…
The Book Show – S2 #7
This week The Book Show visits the writer and broadcaster Clive James for an extended interview at his home in Cambridge. Since he joined The Observer newspaper as a television…
The Book Show – S2 #6
This week Sinead talks to Irish writer Bernard MacLaverty about his work Lamb, Cal and just-published short stories and also in the programme we learn what to do with an…
The Book Show – S2 #5
Peter Carey Two time Booker winner Peter Carey’s new novel Amnesia uses as background mid-70s Australian history, when the Whitlam Labour government was brought down by US and British…
The Book Show – S2 #4
SUBURBIA AND WRITING Encircling Worlds: Imagining Irish Suburbia was a recent conference, held at Carlow College and VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art, where a number of writers and artists came…
The Book Show – S2 #3
The Tools of Historical Fiction On this week’s show Sinead visits Marsh’s Library with Eibhear Walshe (The Diary of Mary Travers) to discuss the inspiration for this historical novel. The Diary…
The Book Show – S2 #2
Sinead talks to Tana French, author of The Secret Place and Megan Abbot author of The Fever. Both these novels centre on schools: The Secret Place focuses on a school in South Dublin…
The Book Show – S2 #1
David Cronenberg is an acclaimed filmmaker with more than 20 movies to his name. Even though he always thought he’d be a writer, his ambitions were sidelined by his movie…
The Book Show Season 1
The Book Show – S1 Finale
In this the season’s final episode of The Book Show we walk across three cities to find out what connects writers and walkers by looking the work of William Hazlitt,…
The Book Show – S1 #15
Sports Writing Michael Moynihan joins Sinead to discussion American Sports writing and how it compares to Irish. His own book GAAconomics looks at money in the GAA in Ireland. Jim…
The Book Show – S1 #14
Gay and Lesbian Sexuality in Literature Brian Merriman Director of the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival and author of Wilde Stages in Dublin and broadcaster and Journalist Una Mullally join…
The Book Show – S1 #13
Short Stories – Pindrop This week’s show is dedicated to the short story, and we’re in three countries. In New York, we visited New Yorker Fiction Editor Deborah Treisman at…
The Book Show – S1 #12
JP Donleavy Almost 60 years ago, James Patrick Donleavy published what is now regarded as both a cult and classic Irish novel, in The Ginger Man. It was the beginning…
The Book Show – S1 #11
Hanif Kureishi Hanif Kureishi ’s new novel The Last Word focuses on the relationship between an ambitious young biographer; Harry Johnson and his subject; Mamoon Azam an elderly Indian novelist….
The Book Show – S1 #10
First World War On this week’s Show Broadcaster and Historian Myles Dungan and writer Lia Mills join Sinead Gleeson in studio to discuss books written about and during the First…
The Book Show – S1 #9
Junot Diaz Dominican writer Junot Diaz is the author of The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao, which won him a Pulitzer Prize, and of the short story collection…
The Book Show – S1 #8
Kate Atkinson This week, Kate Atkinson won the Costa Novel of the Year Prize for her book, Life after Life. It tells the story of Ursula Todd, a woman who is reincarnated over the course…
The Book Show – S1 #7
On the show this week Sinead looks at Young Adult fiction with writer Sheena Wilkinson and David Maybury, Children’s Books Editor at Penguin Ireland as well as double Carnegie medal…