A S Byatt
Wednesday 16 January 2008 21:45-22:30 (Radio 3)
Gabriel Gbadamosi talks to the Booker Prize-winning author AS Byatt about a new anthology of writing on memory she has co-edited.
Writers as diverse as Shakespeare, Carl Jung and Terry Pratchett have all delved into our obsession with revisiting our past, so why has the subject proved so beguiling to such a vast range of writers across the ages?
There is a special commission from the writer, Glenn Patterson, the last in the series where writers choose what the year 2008 should be dedicated to. Patterson says 2008 should be the year of 'of'...
The programme also features a discussion on the architecture of theatre as the newly completed Rose Theatre, based on a model of a Shakespearean original, opens in South London, plus a review of the new French film Back to Normandy.
Return to Normandy
Joseph Leportier in Return to Normandy.
Joseph Leportier holding film shots from the 1976 Rene Allio film Pierre Rivierre, in which he starred and on which Nichoas Philibert's Return to Normandy is based.
Playlist
A.S.Byatt - Memory
Memory is the glue that keeps our lives together and without it we lose most of what we are. The fear of losing one's memory has become ever stronger in recent decades as people continue to live longer and endure a longer old age where memory is often the greatest solace. "Every man's memory is his private literature", said Aldous Huxley.
A new anthology, edited by the novelists A.S.Byatt and Harriet Harvey Wood, explores writings on memory over the years, from St Augustine and Shakespeare to Virginia Woolf and Toni Morrisson. Especially commissioned essays explore aspects of memory, from evolution to neurobiology and the chemistry of the brain.
In tonight's Night Waves, Gabriel Gbadamosi talks to A.S.Byatt about memory.
Anthology on Memory is published by Chatto & Windus.
Rose Theatre
Also on the programme a discussion on the architecture of theatre as the newly completed Rose Theatre in South London opens based on a model of a Shakespearean original.
Gabriel meets the Director of the Rose, Peter Hall and talks to Rab Bennetts, designer of the Hampstead Theatre and theatre director Tom Morris, Associate Director at the National Theatre.
The Rose Theatre's first production, Uncle Vanya, previews from January 16th.
Back to Normandy
A review of the new film from France, Back to Normandy, the long awaited new work from the French documentary film maker Nichoas Philibert. Chris Dark and A.S. Byatt discuss with Gabriel.
Back to Normandy is at the BFI, London from January 18th.
What to celebrate in 2008
There is a special commission from the writer, Glenn Patterson, the last in the series where writers choose what the year 2008 should be dedicated to. Patterson says 2008 should be the year of "of"...
