Distinguished Irish writer Frank O'Connor talks of his life and work.
In this excerpt from the programme 'Self Portrait Interior Voices' O'Connor describes his favourite short story from his own collection of works 'The Luceys'.
Every writer has his own favourite work and very often it's something that nobody else in the world is interested in except himself.
Frank describes how he worked on 'The Luceys' for about twenty years, and how he will continue to work on it in his head until his dying day.
The Luceys is the story of a man who sins against his family, the greatest sin an Irish man can commit.
Set in a small Irish country town, O'Connor says the challenge in writing the story was to keep the issues small enough to fit in the framework of an Irish country town, and to keep the characters big enough.
'Self Portrait : Interior Voices - Frank O Connor' was broadcast in two parts on the 2 and 9 January 1962.
The ‘Self Portrait’ series profiled writers, poets, actors and dramatists. Portraits in the series included Sylvia Beach, John B. Keane, Kate O’Brien, Louise Gavan Duffy, Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Harry O’Donovan Patrick Kavanagh and Sam Thompson.
RTÉ made a series of studio programmes for the new television station in the first year of Irish television 1962-1963. ‘Self-Portrait’ was a series of intimate studio monologues with distinguished Irish men and women. It provided a unique opportunity to hear and see significant individuals presenting themselves in their own words and voices enriching their presentations with personal stories and examples of their work.
This edition of 'Self Portrait' was first shown on RTÉ Television on 9 January 1962.
