'We're all creatures of the earth... mine is a very earthy story' says Christine Dwyer Hickey on Near Adelaide, her new story for RTÉ's Spoken Stories - listen above.
Spoken Stories 2: Creatures of the Earth is a brand-new collection of 12 themed radio half-hour stories on RTÉ Radio 1, commissioned by RTÉ Arts and Culture from eminent Irish and Irish-based writers.
In Near Adelaide by Christine Dwyer Hickey, a young girl is confronted with thoughts and feelings around family, absence and belonging, with her move from being home schooled in remote Australia to boarding school near Adelaide.
"I wrote about something I knew and something about which I knew relatively little," says the author. "The ten-year old girl going off to boarding school, the father, the nuns, the dormitory, being surrounded by workmen as a child are all familiar to me, are elements of my own experience. Whereas Australia, I've never even been there. But I am fascinated with the terrain, the culture, the literature and of course, the Irish people who left home to settle there. When I began the story, I had no location in mind. A few lines into the first draft it occurred to me, my god, is this Australia? Then I found out whatever I needed. We're all creatures of the earth... this is a very earthy story."
Near Adelaide is read by Emma Dargan-Reid, Australian-born and Lir Academy graduate. That her own parents emigrated from Ireland to Australia brings a further authentic layer to the voice reading this story.
Spoken Stories 2: Creatures of the Earth, RTÉ Radio 1, Sundays at 7.30pm from Sunday 16th October - listen to more from Spoken Stories here.
