The Loopline Collection Volume 1

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J.G Ballard – Imprint: Writer in Profile

2nd April 2019

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In this episode, Theo Dorgan meets English novelist, short story writer and essayist J.G. Ballard to delve into his oeuvre of science fiction and post-apocalyptic novels, such as The Drowned World and Crash. Empire of the Sun is explored as an autobiographical account of a young British boy’s experience in Shanghai during Japanese occupation. Dorgan […]

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Imprint: Writers in Profile

Edward Said – Imprint: Writer in Profile

2nd April 2019

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In this episode, cultural critic Edward Said describes himself as ‘a writer for occasion’ – caught between journalism and being a ‘long distance runner’. Said discusses his upbringing; his status as a Palestinian intellectual; his  de-mystification of (particularly American) imperialism; and his positive response to criticism. Theo Dorgan questions him about his memoir Out of […]

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Imprint: Writers in Profile

John Montague – Imprint: Writer in Profile

2nd April 2019

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John Montague was an Irish poet who was born in Brooklyn, New York, but grew up in Tyrone, Ireland. At the time this programme was made, Montague was Ireland Professor of Poetry at Trinity College, Dublin. In this generous interview, Montague reflects on studying in college where he discovered that ‘there were such things called […]

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Imprint: Writers in Profile

Michael Longley – Imprint: Writer in Profile

2nd April 2019

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Irish poet Michael Longley was born in Belfast in 1939. In this episode, Longley discusses growing up in Northern Ireland where he wrote his first poems at sixteen to impress a girl he fancied. He then leads us to life in Trinity College, Dublin, his friendships with Derek Mahon and  Brendan Kennelly and the effects […]

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Imprint: Writers in Profile

Joseph O’Connor – Imprint: Writer in Profile

2nd April 2019

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In this episode award-winning Irish author Joseph O’Connor explores his many forms of storytelling from fiction to scriptwriting, and journalism with Theo Dorgan. O’Connor expresses a belief in the political responsibility of the writer to impact society and the revival he believes is happening in contemporary Irish fiction. The pair talk about his collection of […]

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Margaret Atwood – Imprint: Writer in Profile

2nd April 2019

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Canadian writer Margaret Atwood is perhaps best known for The Handmaid’s Tale, a novel that was recently adapted into a gripping TV series. This episode was filmed in 2001 and delves into, what Atwood describes as, her ‘precocious’ childhood, her early writer’s block and her desire to be a painter. She discusses how she wrote […]

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Imprint: Writers in Profile

Richard Ford – Imprint: Writer in Profile

2nd April 2019

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American novelist and short story writer Richard Ford opens up about his childhood dyslexia, the slowness of his writing and his beginnings in poetry. He talks to Theo Dorgan about earning a reputation as a ‘dirty realist’ after his novels The Sportswriter and Independence Day. Ford originally wanted to join the police force and had […]

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Imprint: Writers in Profile

Thomas Kilroy – Imprint: Writer in Profile

2nd April 2019

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Irish playwright Thomas Kilroy was born in Limerick and through a career spanning fifty years, he has resisted fixed categories and boundaries in both his stagecraft and themes of his plays. This episode begins with a discussion about what interviewer Theo Dorgan refers to as a ‘double life’ – Kilroy’s role as a playwright and […]

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Gore Vidal – Imprint: Writer in Profile

2nd April 2019

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This episode of Writers in Profile features the novelist, playwright, screenwriter and essayist, Gore Vidal. We gain a glimpse of Vidal’s early childhood, the controversy around his novel The City and the Pillar, and his experience writing scripts for films such as Ben Hur (1959). A desire to dissect the roots of American society has […]

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Imprint: Writers in Profile

Eavan Boland – Imprint: Writer in Profile

2nd April 2019

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Irish poet Eavan Boland was born in Dublin, Ireland, but moved to London at the age of six. where she had her first experience of anti-Irish sentiment. She returned to Ireland to study at Trinity College, Dublin, and was also educated in New York. In this episode, Dorgan and Boland delve into her self-consciousness about […]

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Imprint: Writers in Profile

Bernard MacLaverty – Imprint: Writer in Profile

2nd April 2019

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Novelist Bernard MacLaverty recalls his beginnings as a Medical Lab Technician and compares writing to ‘a science of feelings’. This interview explores topics around his early poetry, moving to Scotland after the Ulster Worker’s Strike and  being inspired by Brian Moore and the short stories of Michael MacLaverty. He explores the political underpinning of his […]

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Doris Lessing – Imprint: Writer in Profile

2nd April 2019

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Doris Lessing was a British-Zimbabwean novelist who spent her childhood in South Africa in the 1920s. In this programme she talks about writing radically on social issues, how children with traumatic childhoods become good writers, and on publishing her first writing at seven years old. She expresses the importance of having a thick skin as […]

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