BURNING BOOKS IRELAND PODCAST

If your house was on fire, what books would you save from the flames?

The Burning Books Ireland podcast features authors and well-known cultural figures discussing the titles that have formed the backdrop to their lives—their childhood memories perhaps, or books they fell in love with. Maybe there are authors they return to over and over, or novels which formed their world view—stories that shaped them or books which offered a refuge or a life raft. Editor Ruth McKee asks each guest which books they’d save, which they’d leave behind, and what other non-book treasure they would rescue from the flames.

Episode one is now out! Author Jan Carson talks about growing up in Co. Antrim, religious hardwiring, magic realism and much more as she reveals the books she would pull from the flames—and the ones she’d leave behind.  Jan Carson is the author of Malcom Orange Disappears, Children’s Children, Postcard Stories (The Emma Press) and The Fire Starters (Penguin) which won the European Prize for Literature. Her latest book The Last Resort has just been published with Doubleday Ireland.

Episode two is coming soon, when journalist and author Patrick Freyne chats about comics, the stories people have to tell, and how perhaps you should think twice before lending him a copy of your favourite book…

Join us on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.