1,721,754 research outputs found
The Dragon Man (BBC Radio 4 dramatisation)
No full text90-minute drama from Garry Disher's novel in the BBC Radio 4 series Crime Down Under
Bringing Holly from the Bongs
No full textChristmas 1965: The children of Goostrey Primary School in Cheshire are preparing to perform a special nativity play in the stable of the Crown Inn. Holly from the Bongs has been written especially for them by the famous children’s writer Alan Garner (The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Moon of Gomrath, The Owl Service) who lives locally and worked with them to help create the play.
Christmas 2015: The grown-ups who originally performed in the play return to the Crown Inn, 50 years on, to reflect on this unique theatrical experience with Alan Garner – who still regards Holly from the Bongs as his most technically perfect piece of writing.
Leslie Pimlott who played the Doctor in the original production, recalls with other cast members the story of how this customised nativity play was created by Alan Garner. The author spent many afternoons walking the children round the village’s boundaries, fields and The Bongs, the wooded area behind the school to explore the history and living heritage of Goostrey. Leslie celebrates the excitement of taking part in the original production and its memorable first performance half a century ago.
Part nativity play/part mummer’s play Holly from the Bongs is a customised piece of theatre written for the voices of the individual children of Goostrey School in 1965. A stylistic lesson in English writing from the middle ages to the 1960’s that has a very special place in the hearts of the original cast and the village of Goostrey.
Producer: Andy Cartwright
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Soundscape Productions.
First broadcast in December 2015
The Oracle at Glencolumbkille: Short story for BBC Radio 4
No full textwriters choose 5 poems as inspiration for new stories.Episode 2/5The Oracle at GlencolumbkilleA teenager at a crossroads in her life visits a famous Oracle for advice.A new story inspired by 'The Homeric Hymn to Apollo', written by Garrett Carr author of The Rule of the Land.CreditsWriter ..... Garrett CarrReader ..... Cara KellyProducer ..... Claire SimpsonA BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4
Charting the Border: Documentary for BBC Radio 4
No full textA half-hour commissioned documentary for BBC Radio 4. 'Charting the Border' is a study of Ireland's border viewed through the prism of my own cartography work. Most recording was done in the field. The programme received much attention on social media networks and was selected for BBC Radio 4's 'Pick of the Week' broadcast on the following Sunday
Charting the Border: Documentary for BBC Radio 4
No full textA half-hour commissioned documentary for BBC Radio 4. 'Charting the Border' is a study of Ireland's border viewed through the prism of my own cartography work. Most recording was done in the field. The programme received much attention on social media networks and was selected for BBC Radio 4's 'Pick of the Week' broadcast on the following Sunday
The Oracle at Glencolumbkille: Short story for BBC Radio 4
Full text linkwriters choose 5 poems as inspiration for new stories.Episode 2/5The Oracle at GlencolumbkilleA teenager at a crossroads in her life visits a famous Oracle for advice.A new story inspired by 'The Homeric Hymn to Apollo', written by Garrett Carr author of The Rule of the Land.CreditsWriter ..... Garrett CarrReader ..... Cara KellyProducer ..... Claire SimpsonA BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4
The Missing Hong Kong Booksellers: Podcast of Interview with BBC Radio 4 Front Row
No full textPodcast of live radio interview with BBC Radio 4's Front Row, 7 January 2016Five men—Gui Minhai 桂民海, Lui Por 呂波, Cheung Chi-ping 張志 平, Lee Po 李波, and Lam Wing-Kee 林榮基—all associated with Causeway Bay Books and its publishing arm Mighty Current Media, located on Hong Kong island -- went missing between October and November 2015. The company was set to publish a book about President Xi Jinping
London calling
No full textJack London created the mould for a particular kind of hard living writer; long before Hemingway picked up his first whiskey bottle, London was off out on dangerous adventures to the Klondike Gold Rush, the front lines of the Sino-Russian war, and round the world on a boat that cost him millions and nearly cost him his life; his chronic alcoholism finally proved his undoing. Before he did finally die at the age of 40, London managed to write some of the most popular stories ever to emerge from America, including 'White Fang' and 'Call of the Wild'. It was these books that Aminatta Forna first immersed herself in as a child growing up in Sierra Leone, feeling the chill of snow covered landscapes London described so vividly as she lay reading in the intense West African heat. Now a writer herself, she shares many of London's passions, including wild animals and the natural landscape; it's no co-incidence that her new novel has at its heart a man who tracks wild dogs, and in 'London Calling' we accompany her to the forests of New England where she tracks coyotes and unpicks the influence London's writing has had on her. Along the way she'll find out about his extra-ordinary life and the great success of his work; author Tobias Wolff tells us that London's influence on him was so powerful that in his teens he chose to be re-christened as Jack before his father forced him to change back to Tobias. We also hear from George Monbiot about the appeal London has for him as a writer who so vividly depicts the rawness of the wilderness in contrast to the drudgery of civilisation. London said that he'd, 'rather be ashes than dust,' that he,'would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.' As Aminatta Forna will explain, very few writers could claim to have burned so brightly
Guest Expert, 'Magic', The Digital Human (BBC Radio 4)
No full textIn 2015, I was a guest on BBC Radio 4’s The Digital Human episode on Magic (S7, EP2), in which Aleks Krotoski explored whether Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law law, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic", is applicable to the modern digital world.
From people living under the 'curse' of electro-sensitivity to the rituals we all go through to ward off evil spirits like updating our anti-virus software, Krotoski spoke to people teaching the language of magic to technologists. Through this programme, she asks in a world of install wizards and demon programmes why is the vocabulary of magic so powerful and what does that mean for our understanding of how our technology works?
As a guest on the show, I spoke about the historical relationship between magic and technology, from Spiritualist practices of the nineteenth century through to how contemporary technologist embody visual and spoken language that remediates the work of nineteenth century magicians
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