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T2 Trainspotting, Bruntwood Prize, Agnes Ravatn

Irvine Welsh and John Hodge on the sequel to Trainspotting; analysing the craft of the playwright; Agnes Ravatn on her thriller The Bird Tribunal, poems mourning the loss of trees.

Twenty-one years since the release of Trainspotting, the film based on Irvine Welsh's novel, the sequel is about to be released. T2 Trainspotting is set in the present day with the main characters now in middle age. Irvine Welsh and screenwriter John Hodge discuss the challenges of making a film to satisfy both fans and newcomers and why, despite the comedy, it's a much bleaker film than the original.

How do you write a successful stage play? As the biggest national prize for playwriting, the Bruntwood Prize, opens for submissions, Sarah Frankcom, the artistic director of the Royal Exchange in Manchester, and writer Tanika Gupta discuss the craft of the playwright.

As part of Radio 4's Reading Europe series, the Norwegian writer Agnes Ravatn discusses her prize-winning novel, The Bird Tribunal, a tense psychological thriller which begins its serialisation on Book at Bedtime tonight.

Locals are mourning the destruction of 200 mature beech trees near Caerphilly which have been destroyed by a mystery feller and it won't be long before someone writes a poem about their loss. The writer and academic Jonathan Bate reflects on how Gerard Manley Hopkins, Charlotte Mew, John Clare and William Cowper all wrote poems lamenting the felling of loved trees.

Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Angie Nehring.

Available now

30 minutes

Chapters

  • Trainspotting 2

    Duration: 08:34

  • Writing plays

    Duration: 07:46

  • Fallen Trees

    Duration: 03:28

  • Agnes Ravatn

    Duration: 07:51

Trainspotting 2

Trainspotting 2

 Jonny Lee Miller, Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremner
Trainspotting 2, cert 18, is in cinemas nationwide from 27 Jan

Main image:
Ewen Bremner, Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle 
Photo credit: Sony 


Reading Europe – Norway: Agnes Ravatn - The Bird Tribunal

Reading Europe –  Norway: Agnes Ravatn -  The Bird Tribunal

Agnes Ravatn
Reading Europe – Norway Agnes Ravatn - The Bird Tribunal


week nights at 2245 hrs

How to write new plays

How to write new plays
Playwright Tanika Gupta

Credits

Role Contributor
Interviewed Guest Irvine Welsh
Interviewed Guest John Hodge
Interviewed Guest Sarah Frankcom
Interviewed Guest Tanika Gupta
Interviewed Guest Agnes Ravatn
Interviewed Guest Jonathan Bate
Presenter Kirsty Lang
Producer Angie Nehring

Broadcast

  • Mon 23 Jan 2017 19:15

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