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An Introduction to Imprint: Writer in Profile

12th April 2019

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Imprint, a literature review programme, and its sister show Imprint: Writer in Profile screened on RTÉ1 for three seasons. Both were presented by Irish poet, writer and lecturer Theo Dorgan. Over the course of the Writer in Profile series Dorgan conducted extended, in-depth interviews with a wide range of Irish and international writers including Colm […]

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Imprint: Writers in Profile

Paul Durcan – Imprint: Writer in Profile

11th April 2019

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This episode with Paul Durcan begins with his interest in sport in his early childhood. He explains that he started writing poetry at 14 years old in the hope of attracting interest from girls. Durcan outlines his powerful relationship and mentorship with Michael Hartnett and how his influence led him to the work of James […]

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Imprint: Writers in Profile

Dermot Bolger – Imprint: Writer in Profile

11th April 2019

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Novelist and poet Dermot Bolger sits down with Theo Dorgan to discuss his life and work. In particular, he explores the misperception of his writing as ‘realism’, his establishment of Raven Arts and his admiration of W.B. Yeats. Other topics are  discussed including dealing with death and loss, criticism and ‘coincidental writing’. Bolger compares the […]

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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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