Bibliofemme Bookclub An Irish Bookclub

For my money, radio is at its most effective when it is telling stories. Stories on radio take many forms: a caller to a chat show, a news item, an interview with a famous person, an observation from the man on the street. A good one has the power to keep you in the car, hand on the dial, listening to hear how it ends, even though you had parked and were ready to get out. We encounter stories everyday over the airwaves, but in the realm of commercial radio it is seldom that space is made for carefully crafted tales written specifically for the medium. Words that are penned to be spoken tell a very particular type of story, one that often elevates radio to its very best.

With a daily broadcast slot of 10.45am, it is likely many people will have missed the pleasure of the time-out that is The Quiet Quarter on RTÉ Lyric FM. The brainchild of producer Eoin Brady, who edited this book, The Quiet Quarter is a radio essay series offering a daily three and a half minute oasis in which to encounter other people’s ideas, thoughts, memories and observations.

The book of the series features ninety-two authors, ranging from well-knowns such as Dermot Bolger, Rita Ann Higgins, Carlo Gebler and Kate Thompson to relative unknowns, including poets, journalists, actors, songwriters and the owner-founder of Dublin’s Winding Stair Bookshop, Kevin Connolly.

All based on real-life events, these are short and, for the most part, very personal tales. One of the qualities of radio is that it gives the speaker intimate access to the listener. Written in the first person, these are tales of woe and tales of joy; they look to the past and to the future, and many ground the reader firmly in the present. That the chosen samples work equally well on the page as they did over the air, is testament to good editing on the part of Brady.

These bite-sized memories and musings range from Conor O’Callaghan’s doting anecdote about his five-year-old-son who stood in the hall in his father’s boots and announced to the family that he was “off out for a pint of Guinness”, to Dónal O’Kelly’s observations on asylum seekers awaiting processing in the former Irish holiday camp Mosney.

Brimming with high quality new Irish writing, this book is a real treat. From the abstract paint marks of the Pat Harris painting on the cover to the carefully laid-out pages, immaculate production is just one reason why this book would make a great present, Christmas or otherwise. Just make sure you buy two copies – you’ll be tempted to dip in at least once yourself before you wrap it up and you might find you don’t want to give it away.