The Book of Fifty Irish Writers
They were rogues, adventurers, idealists, romantics, shrinking violets, ego maniacs and all the other wonders and failures of human nature besides. The men and women of established Irish Literature were once living, breathing people – ‘The Book of Irish Writers' releases them from their dust jackets and brings them to life!
Through this chronological series of easily digestible short programmes, the listener will be led in a clear and entertaining way through what might be considered by some as a stuffy and academic subject – Irish Literature!
By illuminating the lives of our famous and forgotten writers – with all their foibles, weaknesses, triumphs and tragedies unveiled – the series will be a gripping listen for all those who enjoy social history, great characters and a good story!
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Chapter 26 - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1814 - 1873
Beneath the outward respectability of middle-class Protestant Ireland in the nineteeth century, gothic secrets lurked.
A number of writers from conventional backgrounds created what the novelist Elizabeth Bowen would call 'romances of terror!' Foremost among these was Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu - whose reclusive tendencies in later life earned him the name 'The Invisible Prince'.
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Chapter 27 - Dion Boucicault, 1820 - 1890
Everything about the Dublin born Dionysius Lardner Boucicault was excessive. He wrote more than 150 plays - frequently borrowing, translating, or simply stealing the works of others. He made and lost several fortunes: according to one estimate his plays earned $25 million over a 35 year period.
Boucicault is best remembered for his two smash hits - The Colleen Bawn and The Shaughraun.
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Chapter 28 - Bram Stoker, 1847 - 1912
Abraham Stoker was born in Clontarf in North Dublin. He would have a successful career as a theatre manager.
He would also try his hand at writing, but with only one real success - the reptillian, mesmerising Transylvanian count known as Dracula!
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Chapter 29 - Augusta Gregory, 1852 - 1932
Lady Gregory was born Isabella Augusta Persse at Roxburgh House in Co. Galway. She would go on to establish, along with W.B. Yates, 'The Irish Literary Theatre' - this became the 'The Abbey' in 1904.
While she encouraged many writers, not least Sean O'Casey, Lady Gregory herself was the most performed and most successful of the the Abbey's early playwrights.
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Chapter 30 - George Moore, 1852 - 1933
George Moore was a novelist, short-story writer, poet, art critic and dramatist. Largely overlooked today, Moore mixed the serious and the absurd in an equally fascinating and infuriating manner.
His saving grace was his awareness of the ridiculous figure that he often cut, "In my novels I can write only tragedy, and in my life play nothing but light comedy".
