The Verb

30 September 2006

Saturday 30 September 2006 21:30-22:15 (Radio 3)

Ian McMillan hosts, as writer Vanora Bennett talks about the Bible's very first translation into English, and public art poet Ira Lightman gives a beguiling new performance.

Duration:

45 minutes

Programme Details

This week on The Verb Ian McMillan explores the allure of the literary pseudonym, with the help of last year's Booker prize winner, John Banville. Banville's latest book - Christine Falls - is a radical departure for him: it's a noirish crime novel written in the guise of a 'Benjamin Black'. Why do writers feel the urge to take on new monikers, and what's the point when most readers work out who the author is in any case? Can one author write as two or more 'names' at the same time? Ian McMillan and guests grapple with these questions and more on The Verb.

Also on the programme, there's a chance to hear a haunting and mesmerising short story by Ukraine 's greatest living novelist, Andrei Kurkov, written especially for The Verb.

The journalist and novelist Vanora Bennett reveals the fascinating history behind the Bible's first ever translation into English, a subject which forms the spine of her new novel Portrait of an Unknown Woman.

There's arresting performance from the public art poet, Ira Lightman, plus the writer Tahmima Anam continues her series exploring great Bengali writing. This week she discusses Rokeya Sahkhawat Hossain who wrote at the turn of the twentieth century and conjured up visions of a feminist utopia.

That's The Verb, with Ian McMillan, at 9.30pm here on BBC Radio 3.



Producer: Aasiya Lodhi


Additional Information
Christine Falls by Benjamin Black is published by Picador.
A Matter of Death and Life by Andrei Kurkov is published by Vintage.
Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Vanora Bennett is published by Harper Collins.
Trancelated by Ira Lightman can be found at: http://www.ubu.com/ubu
Sultana's Dream by Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain can be found at: http://home.earthlink.net/%7Etwoeyesmagazine/issue2/sultana.htm

The Verb

Episode and Playlist Information

• 11 November 2006
• 4 Nov 06 Free Thinking fest.
• 28 Oct 06 Insomnia
• 21 Oct 06
• 14 October 2006
• 7 Oct 06 The proverb
• 30 September 2006
• 23 Sep 06 Andrew Motion
• 8 Jul 06 John Betjeman
• 1 July 2006