The CBC’s Writers and Company is a weekly radio show that, at first, i refused to listen to! i thought that it sounded pretentious and uninteresting. My pal, Derek, kept insisting that i would like it and would often start conversations about episodes i had never heard thinking that i had actually listened to him. I was all– who cares?? I don’t need to know about an author to like a book! Why do i need to take up an hour of my precious reading time to listen to the RADIO??? How wrong i was!
One Tuesday afternoon i was stuck in traffic. I could take no more of AM800’s amateur “The Afternoon News” and did not want to risk getting another Lady GaGa song stuck in my head so i switched over to the CBC. Host Eleanor Wachtel was interviewing the author of The Solitude of Prime Numbers, Paolo Giordano. This was a book that i really wanted to read (because of the AWESOME cover) and after the interview I wanted to read it even more. As an interviewer Eleanor has a knack for letting the author tell stories of their lives with respect to the books that they have written. She sits back and lets the author suck you in– listening to this show is just like reading a good book!
Writers and Company has introduced me to authors i don’t think i would have heard of otherwise (as if i need another source of book recommendations). Turkish writer Orham Pamuk, Ethiopian writer Dinaw Mengetu, American writer Andre Dubois III and Lebanese writer Hanan al-Shaykh have all written books that sound soooo interesting that i can’t wait to fit them into my busy reading schedule. There is also plenty of Canadian content– being on the CBC and all.
My favourite interview this year was with comedian Stephen Fry. I love his work in movies and on TV but i would not have even considered reading one of his books. Now, after hearing about what an interesting life he has had, I just may pick one up one day (when time allows)!!
anyways, podcasts are available. Check out this show about writers– it IS worth the listen– perhaps on a run or on a long car ride when a book is not an option! Sorry i didn’t listen to you earlier Derek!!!
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