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Friday 04 July 2008
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When it comes to literature, are we what we read? Well, if you read novels, it seems that the answer is 'Yes'. Cognitive scientists at the University of Toronto in Canada claim to have found that reading fiction affects our psychology, in effect re-wiring our brains as we process the emotional ebb and flow of character and plot.
André Schiffrin was born in Paris, the son of one of France's most esteemed publishers, into a world that included some of the day's leading writers and intellectuals. This world changed completely when the Nazis marched into Paris on André's fifth birthday. Schiffrin's memoir A Political Education: Coming of Age in Paris and New York recounts the twists and turns of a life that saw Schiffrin become, himself, one of the world's most respected publishers.
Janet has just learnt that she is to receive a grant from the Literary Fund to enable her to travel overseas and 'broaden her experience'. For the young woman who spent much of her twenties incarcerated in mental institutions, the thought of this freedom is almost beyond belief. For copyright reasons this reading is not available as a podcast.
Thursday 03 July 2008
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In the year that marks the centenary of his birth, Richard Wright's biographer Hazel Rowley talks about the achievements of this African-American author who wrote powerful and at times controversial novels, short stories, poetry and non-fiction and who achieved a number of firsts: the first bestselling black American writer; the first black man to buy a house in Greenwich Village; the first African-American writer to leave for Paris after World War 2; the first black American writer to star in a movie based on his own novel.
As well as being a candidate for the United States presidency, Barack Obama is an author. His first book, Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, was originally published in 1995 and has recently been re-released. It was written before Obama became involved in politics and is part meditation on race relations and part personal memoir. In it he writes about his childhhood, his years as an organiser in Chicago, and his family connection with Kenya.
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Released from psychiatric hospital, Janet has headed to Auckland to once again embark on a new life, this time with the support of well-known writer Frank Sargeson. For copyright reasons this reading is not available as a podcast.
Wednesday 02 July 2008
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From Adolf Hitler's affection for animals to Rachel Carson's warning about dangerous chemicals to Walt Whitman's ode to the city, the latest Lapham's Quarterly charts the rocky terrain of our dealings with nature. The editor, Lewis Lapham, excavates the relationship between poetry, nature, morality and the future of the planet.
In her second novel The Solemn Lantern Maker, poet and playwright Merlinda Bobis takes the reader to the shanty towns that populate the streets of Manilla in the Philippines.
Janet is again leaving home on a train, to try and make a fresh start. But once again, her efforts seem doomed to failure.
For copyright reasons this reading is not available as a podcast.
Tuesday 01 July 2008
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Playwright Louis Nowra describes some political theatre as 'cardigan dramas' and says that rather than breaking boundaries it has become conformist.
Contemporary writer Richard Mason is what's known as a publishing phenomenon.
In 1999 his first novel The Drowning People was bought for a large sum, became an international bestseller and won the Italian equivalent of the Booker prize while he was still a student at Oxford University. The amount of attention he received after the book's publication was the beginning of a complicated journey that he says involved some very high points, very low points, two panic attacks and a lot of learning. He also wrote two more novels. The most recent, The Lighted Rooms, is about to be released in Australia.
Janet's struggle with the insecurity and anxiousness she suffered as a young student teacher resulted in a failed suicide attempt and involuntary committal to the notorious mental hospital Seacliff. The experience has of course marked her in many ways.
For copyright reasons this reading is not available as a podcast.
Monday 30 June 2008
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We may think we know the difference between fact and embellishment, between objective reportage and storytelling, but do the two ever go hand in hand? One woman who thinks they should is British journalist Christina Lamb.
South African born novelist and playwright Zakes Mda says the end of apartheid made it easier for him to write.
Janet Frame was born in 1924 and grew up in a poor family on the South Island. She did well at school, and was accepted into teacher training college. But for the shy young woman it was a lonely and anxious time, and now, having completed her training, she must find the confidence to enter the world as a young working woman.
For copyright reasons this reading is not available as a podcast.
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