Sunday 16:00-16:30, repeated Thursday 16:00-16:30, except first Sunday in the month when it is replaced by Book Club.
Open Book spotlights new fiction and non-fiction, picks out the best of the paperbacks, talks to authors and publishers, and unearths lost masterpieces.
This week
Sunday 13 August 2006
Novelist William McIlvanney talks to Mariella about his new book Weekend.
William McIlvanney
William McIlvanney won the Whitbread Award in 1975 for his novel Docherty. Now, after a ten year break he's written a new book - Weekend - about a group of students and lecturers on a literary break. He talks to Mariella about overcoming his 'publishers block' and how encouragement from his readers keeps him writing.
Weekend - William McIlvanney Publisher: Sceptre ISBN: 0340657375
Docherty - William McIlvanney Publisher: Sceptre ISBN: 0340407573
The Kiln - William McIlvanney Publisher: Sceptre ISBN: 0340657367
Scottish Literature
As William McIlvanney returns to the literary world, Catherine Lockerbie, director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, joins Mariella to discuss the current state of Scottish literature.
Book reviewing
Max Hastings has written an article in the Spectator calling on book critics to be more opinionated. Literary editor Suzi Feay and novelist and critic Amanda Craig discuss the art of writing a book review.
Mary Renault
Fifty years ago, historical novelist Mary Renault published the first of her books set in ancient Greece - the works for which she's now best remembered. As her version of the Theseus myth, The Bull From The Sea, is read on Radio 4, novelist Angela Lambert celebrates Renault's work.
The Bull From The Sea - Mary Renault Publisher: Arrow ISBN: 0099463539
The King Must Die - Mary Renault Publisher: Penguin ISBN: 0141005394
Fire From heaven - Mary Renault Publisher: Arrow ISBN: 0099463474
The Mask Of Apollo - Mary Renault Publisher: Arrow ISBN: 0099469413
The Persian Boy - Mary Renault Publisher: Arrow ISBN: 0099463482
Funeral Games - Mary Renault Publisher: Arrow ISBN: 0099463490
Invitation to a recording of Open Book
On 22 August 2006 at 11:00am, we're recording a special edition of Open Book all about the Books industry. If you'd like to come along to the recording, at a central London Bookshop, please email us here
