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Something For The Weekend: Nicole Flattery's Cultural Picks

Updated / Friday, 1 Mar 2019 08:01

Choice cultural picks from the author of Show Them A Good Time...

Nicole Flattery's acclaimed fiction and non-fiction has appeared in The Stinging Fly, The Dublin Review, The Irish Times and Winter Papers, and on BBC Radio 4. Her debut short-story collection, Show Them A Good Time, is out now, and she has a novel set for publication in 2021. 

FILM

I recently watched Chantal Akerman’s News from Home. It’s a 1977 film I’ve had on my list for years. It has no story and is comprised of long shots of a decaying New York. In a dispassionate voice-over, Akerman reads out her mother’s letters from home. I found it incredibly intimate: a touching depiction of a mother/daughter relationship and a snapshot of a city that has changed considerably.

News From Home

MUSIC

I’m terrible with music. I have awful, awful taste. I’m going to save everyone the embarrassment and politely decline to answer this. Let’s pretend that whoever is good, and sort of obscure, that’s who I’m listening to.

BOOK

I just read Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays and, finally, understand what the fuss is about. Her sentences are sharp and scouring. This year, I’m looking forward to Julia Armfield’s Salt Slow and Max Porter’s Lanny. The book I most often give as a gift is Who Will Run the Frog Hospital by Lorrie Moore.

PLAY

I thought Landmark’s Asking For It was one of the most affecting and smart pieces of theatre I’ve seen in many years. Erica Murray’s The Cat’s Pyjamas, which was in the Dublin Fringe, was genuinely hilarious. As for favourite theatre experiences, I felt changed by seeing The Flick by Annie Baker. It made me think about writing, and life, differently.

TV

I recently watched all of You on Netflix, which was terrible and I loved every last second of it. Set in New York, although it doesn’t anything like New York, and starring people, although they don’t behave or act in any way like people, it is absolute, exhilarating trash. I could feel my brain trying to fight against it but, after a few episodes, it gave up.

PODCASTS

I don’t listen to many podcasts. I’m not sure my mind works in that way. I have, however, listened to all of The Royal Court Playwrights Podcast. Presented by Simon Stephens, all of the guests are very charming, knowledgeable and self-deprecating. The Jez Butterworth episode is a highlight. As is the Enda Walsh. Listening to Alice Birch encouraged me to seek out her work.

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GIG

I’m going to see Sharon Van Etten in March. She is single-handedly saving my music taste.

ART

I recently saw the Hilma af Klint exhibition in the Guggenheim in New York. It was an unique opportunity to see the work of such a prolific, and innovative, painter. Cecilia Dannell is a wonderful Galway artist.

THE NEXT BIG THING...

I have been friends with the actress Niamh Algar for many years (we went to school together) and it’s thrilling to see her doing so well. She has recently appeared in the Channel 4 dramas The Bisexual and Pure. She is next appearing in Shane Meadows' new drama. She is the next big thing, in my completely biased opinion.

Show Them A Good Time by Nicole Flattery (published by Stinging Fly) is out now. Read Paddy Kehoe's review here

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