POEM ON RTE'S ARENA

I read my poem 'The Birds of Madrid' on RTE Radio 1's Arena on Monday. It features in the Salmon Poetry​ anthology Even the Daybreak. Here.

WAMC RADIO INTERVIEW

The warm and lovely Katie Britton interviewed me about Miss Emily for WAMC Radio in Albany, NY. You can listen back here.

And with that I am off to the USA for my book tour. If I can, I will report from the road. If not (it is going to be hectic) I will report when I get back. Slán!

TWO RADIO INTERVIEWS - ARENA & GLUCKSMAN HSE

Life is kind of bananas at the moment - lots of radio interviews with the USA, off to Glasgow tomorrow for a newspaper interview, trying to pack for the New England trip (book tour! Emily Dickinson Intl Society meeting!), prepping PR stuff for the UK release etc. etc.

I have been wondering whether other writers love this stuff, like really enjoy and relish it? I like it in many ways but the hecticness gets a bit overwhelming at times. I'm normally a Dickinson-like recluse: happy in my own company, at my desk, living a quiet life here in Ballinasloe. So all this running around to airports and festivals, constantly answering questions about myself and about Emily, feels frenetic. (My husband reckons other writers leave five years between books in order to avoid it all for a nice chunk of time. I should try that, maybe.)

Anyway, the PR whirl continues: Catherine Dunne and I will be on Arena on RTÉ Radio 1 tonight to discuss the Italo-Irish Literature Exchange English language anthology, Lost Between (New Island). Tune in here or listen to the podcast from tomorrow.

And my interview with of Dr. Miriam Nyhan of Glucksman Ireland House NYU Radio Hour is now online here. If you're a Mary Costello fan she was interviewed by Miriam earlier in July here.

READING BOWEN ON ARENA & THE HIGHLANDS ON SUN MISC

Two of my faves: Sylvia Plath interviewing Elizabeth Bowen for Mademoiselle, summer 1953

Tomorrow night, Christmas Eve, I'm reading an extract from 'Home for Christmas' a non-fic piece by Elizabeth Bowen, on the radio. A friend recommended a volume of her letters to Charles Ritchie to me this year and it was one of the best books I've read in a long time. I am also currently reading (and awed by) her novel The House in Paris. So, in honour of all of that, I will read the sublime Miss Bowen's words on the season. Arena, 7pm to 8pm, RTÉ Radio 1, Christmas Eve.

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Loah - photo by Eve North

Then on Christmas Day I read a piece about spending Christmas in the Scottish Highlands on Sunday Miscellany, also on RTÉ Radio 1, at 9am. This is the broadcast of the Sunday Miscellany Live at Christmas event which was recorded in the National Concert Hall earlier this month. Listen out especially for The Carol of the Cherry Tree sung by the sublime Loah.

The first half of the concert was broadcast on Sunday the 21st and you can listen back to it here.

Nollaig shona!

THE BOOK ON ONE - YOU

My novel YOU is the Book on One, all week, Monday to Friday, 26th to 30th November, at 11.10pm on RTÉ Radio 1. Listen Back online afterwards (for four weeks) here.

Actress Martina Carroll is the reader. You may know her as Handy Sandie's Ma on 'Republic of Telly' :)

GALWAY FRINGE FESTIVAL & ARENA

I am reading at the Galway Fringe Festival tomorrow, Saturday 21st July, at 2pm in Bridge Mills, Galway. FREE admission - tell your Galway pals!

I'll be reading from Mother America, the book will be for sale for the special Fringe price of €10 and I'll be signing copies after the reading.

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My Arena interview on RTÉ Radio 1 is now up on their site here. My bit starts at 17 minutes 58 seconds.  I read from the book and am interviewed by the lovely Seán Rocks. Seán is so nice it just feels natural, like a chat, to sit with him in his studio.

RADIO INTERVIEW - THE JUNO CHARM

I'm on Dublin South FM's Rhyme and Reason programme at 7pm this evening, talking about my latest poetry collection The Juno Charm (Salmon 2011) and reading a few poems. Helen Dwyer conducts the interview. It will be live online here for those outside Dublin.

They are behind with putting the podcasts on their site but it will be up there eventually, apparently.

BOOK ON ONE TONIGHT - YOU

My novel YOU is The Book on One starting tonight, for five nights. 11.13pm RTÉ Radio 1. Martina Carroll will do the reading honours. I am assured that this time it is actually happening :) It was pulled last time for Paddy Galvin's Raggy Boy, which is absolutely fine except no one told me or my publisher. Anyway, I am told it will be broadcast tonight and I can't wait to hear what it sounds like.

BBC ARTS EXTRA INTERVIEW ONLINE NOW

The interview I did yesterday with Marie-Louise Muir (left), on BBC's Arts Extra, is online here now. Even though I was in the RTÉ studio in Athlone and Marie-Louise was in Belfast, it felt like we were having a little chat. It was also the first time I've been interviewed by a female presenter, which felt different somehow. Well she had read and enjoyed the book, and she has a lovely, soothing voice so my nerves flew out the door and it felt easy talking to her. I get less and less nervous the more of these radio interviews I do. Bring 'em on! And, I must say I like the way RTÉ and the BBC facilitate each other with studio space etc. How's that for cross-border co-operation?

ARENA INTERVIEW ONLINE & LMFM INTERVIEW TODAY

My Arena interview, with the very affable Seán Rocks, is online here now.

My interview with LMFM is on at 11.20 am this morning. No livestream so you have to be local!

CALL ME 'WRITER' NOT 'POET', PLEASE

I feel rather procrastinatey today; maybe just getting back into the swing of things after the week-end. I have a ton of reading and editing to do for Horizon; I also have two poetry reviews to write and I am itching to get at my own work - one short story in particular is crying out to be finished.

I'm on Arena this week with Seán Rocks talking about my novel You; Wednesday night RTÉ Radio 1, at some point between 7.30pm and 8.30pm. They livestream.

A funny thing has been happening lately while I am on the promo trail for the novel. I keep being referred to as 'poet'. I do write poetry and I love it as both reader and writer but I don't consider that it defines me or what I do. I prefer 'writer'. Plain and simple. I had a piece in Saturday's Daily Mail for example (The 'My Life' page in, coincidentally, You magazine.) My one line bio read 'Poet Nuala Ní Chonchúir's début novel You is out now from New Island.' Why 'poet'?! I've published a novel. Most of what I write is short fiction. I don't get this 'poet' tag. It's the third time in a matter of weeks a newspaper has referred to me as 'poet'. I find it odd.

Now, don't get me wrong. In the right context I don't mind being called 'a poet' but I don't like it as an all-defining term. It would be like saying 'Mother Nuala Ní Chonchúir blah blah blah...' or 'Vegetarian Nuala Ní Chonchúir blah blah blah...' I am not just a mammy or a veggie! Neither am I just a poet.

Oh, I found out why that radio station never rang on Thursday. They got Emma Donoghue instead!!! And somewhere along the line someone forgot to tell me. I guess when it's a toss up between a Booker Longlistee and A.N. Other, there's no contest...but, I will be on this Thursday.

I checked their website and they don't appear to have a livestream but this is the site anyway Louth Meath Radio and they are at 95.8FM if you happen to be in that part of the country. 11.20am Thursday morning next.

Righto, must go and do some actual work. Maybe I'll write a poem ☺!

MOVING YOUR DESK HAS BENEFITS

So I moved my desk into the dining room to make way for magnificent red bookshelves in the sitting room and in preparation for Babykins heading off to creche and me having time to write (real, actual time!) come August 31st. I bought a fabulous desklamp in Arnott's (before that beautiful shop disappears into some bank-induced black hole, weep, gnash).

I've cleared the shelf beside the desk to make way for my thesaurus, dictionary and piles of 'urgent' papers. Urgent as in I am meant to be dealing with them but, because they are in a scruffy pile, I forget, until I get a frantic email about a looming deadline. I'm looking for a nice intray so that they can be a neat, neglected pile but have yet to source the correct, aesthetically pleasing one. I may use an old wooden winebox but it's already full of utterly unnecessary but nonethless jammed scrapbooks. Sigh. I hoard therefore I am.

I have found that because the laptop is away from me, I'm on the net less and writing longhand more. Result! Also while decluttering our books for the new shelves I came across ones I will re-read and ones I can safely get rid off.

This afternoon I sat at my newly located desk waiting for a radio interview about the novel that never happened. I stay awake half the night worrying and hoping I'll be coherent; I get the baby asleep in time for the interview; I warn the other two to be silent; I think about lofty things to say (!?) and they DON'T ring. Harumph.

Anyway next week (Weds 18th)  I'm going to be on Arena, so I can look forward to more sleeplessness until that's over. And I posted a link earlier to an interview I did in Dublin last week for WDA Radio.

Right, Babykins is screeching and putting all my stuff in the bin. Gotta go.

WDAR INTERVIEW TODAY

I'm interviewed today about the novel, by Brendan Nolan, on WDA Radio at 1.30pm - it will live-streamed on the net at their site here. If you care to tune in...
It will be archived at www.askaboutwriting.net next week.

LINK TO RADIO INTERVIEW

Here's a link to yesterday's radio interview with Niamh Bagnell about my novel You and rivers and women writers etc., etc.:

Sunday Scrapbook - Nuala interview

RADIO INTERVIEW ON SUNDAY

 I'm being interviewed on Sunday the 18th April (this Sunday!) at 4pm, on the radio, on a programme called Sunday Scrapbook by Niamh Bagnell, who blogs at Various Cushions.

The station is Liffey Sound and we are going to chat about rivers which feature strongly in all my work and I'll be reading a couple of poems and a wee extract from my novel You.

Niamh blogs about it in a much more interesting way here.

'WIND ACROSS THE GRASS' ON THE RADIO

'RORY' (BILL GOLDING) AND JUDGE - pic from the Wanderly Wagon website


My story 'The Wind Across the Grass' will be repeated on RTÉ Radio 1 on Sunday the 23rd November at 7.45pm. This story won the 2002 Francis MacManus Award for me and it was partly inspired by an anecdote of my Da's. I nicked the title from a line in Nuala Ó Faoláin's novel My Dream of You (about which she was very gracious). I went on to use it as the title story for my first collection, The Wind Across the Grass.

Bill Golding is the actor who read my story. Irish people of my generation will remember Bill as the dashing Rory in Wanderly Wagon. I think every young wan in Ireland fancied Rory - that posh accent! The fringed suede jacket! Swoon! I met him after he had voiced the story and he is a total gentleman and still rather dashing!

Winning was one of the nicest things that's ever happened to me in my literary career. One doesn't enter competitions hoping not to win, so I can't claim it was 'totally unexpected' to win, but it was a huge and welcome surprise. I didn't live off my writing earnings at the time (I worked in the Western Writers' Centre then), so I spent the money (€3000!!!) on: 1) a family holiday to Portugal (it was fab); 2) a red leather Filofax; and 3) a china cabinet to house the great hunk of crystal which was part of the prize. I like awards that give a memento as well as cash, I must say; I also like ones that are named after writers. Ah, happy memories!

For those outside Ireland there is info here about how to listen to RTÉ Radio 1 online. Sunday's schedule is not posted yet so check back in the day before or on Sunday here. I won't hear it myself as I shall be in Paris. Have I mentioned that already?!