I Am A Storyteller: William Trevor at 80

Gillian Reynolds CBE presents a celebratory showcase featuring a collection of the stories and plays of much-loved Irish novelist and playwright, William Trevor.

Originally broadcast to mark his 80th birthday.

As a radio critic, Gillian lists Trevor’s work as some of her all-time favourites. Her following selection features Prunella Scales, Penelope Wilton, Dorothy Tutin, Denys Hawthorne, Bryan Pringle and Niamh Cusack:

* Beyond The Pale (1980)

* The Forty-Seventh Saturday (1980)

* The Dancing Master's Music (1997)

* The Penthouse Apartment (1998)

* Solitude (2004).

Gillian also features excerpts from John Tusa’s 2005 Interview with William Trevor, where he reveals that a writer must “be open to instincts as to where the story is taking you”. He also explains that he does an “enormous amount of re-writing" using a manual typewriter as "Computers frighten me...".

William Trevor died aged 88 in 2016.

Producer: Nick St George

Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast to mark William Trevor’s 80th birthday in May 2008.