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IFI Irish Film Archive

Brendan Kennelly - Imprint: Writer in Profile

Year1999 Duration30m 00s
Irish poet and novelist Brendan Kennelly is a prolific author of over 20 poetry collections as well as plays, novels and criticism. In this episode, his work including My Dark Fathers and four plays - Antigone, Medea, The Trojan Women and Blood Wedding is explored. Theo Dorgan and Kennelly then delve into the role of the poet and stimulating themes of adventure and rebellion through the power of the imagination. Kennelly notes the writing of William Blake as an influence on his work and his admiration for the poetry of Patrick Kavanagh. Imprint, a literature review programme, and its sister show Imprint: Writer in Profile screened on RTÉ1 for three seasons. Both were presented by Irish poet, writer and lecturer Theo Dorgan. Over the course of the Writer in Profile series Dorgan conducted extended, in-depth interviews with a wide range of Irish and international writers including Colm Tóibín, Bernard MacLaverty, Jennifer Johnston, Joseph O’Connor, Michael Longley, Doris Lessing, John Montague, Eavan Boland, Gore Vidal, Richard Ford and Margaret Atwood.

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J.G. Ballard - Imprint: Writer in Profile

In this episode, Theo Dorgan meets English novelist, short story writer and essayist J.G. Ballard to delve into his oeuvre of science fiction and post-apocalyptic novels, such as The Drowned World and Crash. Empire of the Sun is explored as an autobiographical account of a young British boy’s experience in Shanghai during Japanese occupation. Dorgan questions Ballard on the difference between personal and media-informed memory; on using his writing to challenge  preconceptions about England and the process of adapting his work to film. Later, Ballard explores themes around law and order in society, the darker side of the human psyche, morality and his own vivid imagination. Imprint, a literature review programme, and its sister show Imprint: Writer in Profile screened on RTÉ1 for three seasons. Both were presented by Irish poet, writer and lecturer Theo Dorgan. Over the course of the Writer in Profile series Dorgan conducted extended, in-depth interviews with a wide range of Irish and international writers including Colm Tóibín, Bernard MacLaverty, Jennifer Johnston, Joseph O’Connor, Michael Longley, Doris Lessing, John Montague, Eavan Boland, Gore Vidal, Richard Ford and Margaret Atwood.

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Gore Vidal - Imprint: Writers in Profile

This episode of Writers in Profile features the novelist, playwright, screenwriter and essayist, Gore Vidal. We gain a glimpse of Vidal’s early childhood, the controversy around his novel The City and the Pillar, and his experience writing scripts for films such as Ben Hur (1959). A desire to dissect the roots of American society has spurred him to coax readers to revise their sense of reality. Vidal believes this work can be divided into two kinds of novel – the first is built from reflections of history and the others are ‘fictive inventions’. The Big Bang theory and reincarnation are explored, and Vidal expresses how ‘very lucky’ he has been in life and work. Imprint, a literature review programme, and its sister show Imprint: Writer in Profile screened on RTÉ1 for three seasons. Both were presented by Irish poet, writer and lecturer Theo Dorgan. Over the course of the Writer in Profile series Dorgan conducted extended, in-depth interviews with a wide range of Irish and international writers including Colm Tóibín, Bernard MacLaverty, Jennifer Johnston, Joseph O’Connor, Michael Longley, Doris Lessing, John Montague, Eavan Boland, Gore Vidal, Richard Ford and Margaret Atwood.

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Margaret Atwood - Imprint: Writer in Profile

Canadian writer Margaret Atwood is perhaps best known for The Handmaid’s Tale, a novel that was recently adapted into a gripping TV series. This episode was filmed in 2001 and delves into, what Atwood describes as, her ‘precocious’ childhood, her early writer’s block and her desire to be a painter. She discusses how she wrote The Handmaid’s Tale quickly but that it required extensive research into totalitarianism and the suppression of women. The role of politics in her writing is analysed and Atwood expresses the responsibility and pressure that result from being known as Canada’s leading writer. Imprint, a literature review programme, and its sister show Imprint: Writer in Profile screened on RTÉ1 for three seasons. Both were presented by Irish poet, writer and lecturer Theo Dorgan. Over the course of the Writer in Profile series Dorgan conducted extended, in-depth interviews with a wide range of Irish and international writers including Colm Tóibín, Bernard MacLaverty, Jennifer Johnston, Joseph O’Connor, Michael Longley, Doris Lessing, John Montague, Eavan Boland, Gore Vidal, Richard Ford and Margaret Atwood.

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Thomas Kilroy - Imprint: Writer in Profile

Irish playwright Thomas Kilroy was born in Limerick and through a career spanning fifty years, he has resisted fixed categories and boundaries in both his stagecraft and themes of his plays. This episode begins with a discussion about what interviewer Theo Dorgan refers to as a ‘double life’ – Kilroy’s role as a playwright and a Professor of English. This leads the conversation on to the theatre scene in Ireland in the 1960s, the start of a new generation of playwrights at the Abbey Theatre, and his experience working with Stephen Rea. Kilroy was involved with the Field Day Theatre Company but later left as he believed it should have been more politically focused. Imprint, a literature review programme, and its sister show Imprint: Writer in Profile screened on RTÉ1 for three seasons. Both were presented by Irish poet, writer and lecturer Theo Dorgan. Over the course of the Writer in Profile series Dorgan conducted extended, in-depth interviews with a wide range of Irish and international writers including Colm Tóibín, Bernard MacLaverty, Jennifer Johnston, Joseph O’Connor, Michael Longley, Doris Lessing, John Montague, Eavan Boland, Gore Vidal, Richard Ford and Margaret Atwood.

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Paul Durcan - Imprint: Writer in Profile

This episode with Paul Durcan begins with his interest in sport in his early childhood. He explains that he started writing poetry at 14 years old in the hope of attracting interest from girls. Durcan outlines his powerful relationship and mentorship with Michael Hartnett and how his influence led him to the work of James Joyce and Ulysses in particular. Theo Dorgan quizzes him on his status as a well-known public and important cultural figure. Durcan skates around the notion of celebrity and speaks about the importance of addressing public matters directly through poetry. He also discusses the writing process – the assembling and re-assembling of phrases in the middle of the night and the way a poem ‘announces itself’. Imprint, a literature review programme, and its sister show Imprint: Writer in Profile screened on RTÉ1 for three seasons. Both were presented by Irish poet, writer and lecturer Theo Dorgan. Over the course of the Writer in Profile series Dorgan conducted extended, in-depth interviews with a wide range of Irish and international writers including Colm Tóibín, Bernard MacLaverty, Jennifer Johnston, Joseph O’Connor, Michael Longley, Doris Lessing, John Montague, Eavan Boland, Gore Vidal, Richard Ford and Margaret Atwood.

30m 00s

Jennifer Johnston - Imprint: Writers in Profile

Irish novelist Jennifer Johnston was born in Dublin, the daughter of actor and director Shelah Richards and writer Denis Johnston. In this episode, she explains how she avoided their influence by delaying the start of her writing career  until  her thirties. Johnston then explores themes in her writing, discusses how her first play and novel were both rejected, her move to Derry and her admiration for Anton Chekhov. Her writing process is examined – how the emotional landscape of her books take over her life, how she hears her characters' voices in her head and how loneliness and self-sufficiency are the unifying themes of her work. Imprint, a literature review programme, and its sister show Imprint: Writer in Profile screened on RTÉ1 for three seasons. Both were presented by Irish poet, writer and lecturer Theo Dorgan. Over the course of the Writer in Profile series Dorgan conducted extended, in-depth interviews with a wide range of Irish and international writers including Colm Tóibín, Bernard MacLaverty, Jennifer Johnston, Joseph O’Connor, Michael Longley, Doris Lessing, John Montague, Eavan Boland, Gore Vidal, Richard Ford and Margaret Atwood.