Culture | Books, Music, Theatre, Film & The Arts

The man living the Beatles legend - RTÉ Arena on Mal Evans

Anyone who saw Peter Jackson's film Get Back a couple of years ago, about the famous Beatles songwriting sessions in 1969, may remember Mal Evans...

RTÉ Arena • 21 Dec 23

The Letters of Séamus Heaney - RTÉ Arena on an epistolary event

When Seamus Heaney left us ten years ago, he left behind poetry, plays, essays, and as near as we'll get to an autobiography in Stepping Stones, a beautiful book of conversations with Dennis O'Driscoll.

RTÉ Arena • 25 Oct 23

Rory O'Connor's lockdown lookback - an extract from his new book

Book • 25 Oct 22

Author and art critic CristÍn Leach (Pic: Conor Horgan)

Book Of The Week: Negative Space by Cristín Leach

Book • 11 Jun 22

John Boorman: an air of calm acceptance about the stage he is at in life

Review:John Boorman's Nature Diary: One Eye, One Finger

'The pandemic has brought so much death, but also a soothing silence', writes John Boorman in his alluring new Nature Diary,One Eye, One Finger, with illustrations by Susan Morley.

John Boorman • 15 Dec 20

A large crowd outside the door of Mountjoy prison on the day of Kevin Barry's execution. November 1, 1920

Reviewed: The Darkness Echoing by Gillian O'Brien

Gillian O'Brien investigates the dark, often macabre side of Irish history through famine, martyrdom, maritime disaster and the strictures of incarceration in her fascinating new study.

Books • 09 Nov 20

From page to screen - 5 of the best children's book adaptations

Over the years countless children's films have dominated the box office, with their lesser known beginnings stemming from literature.

Film • 02 Nov 20

Yeats Now: Echoing Into Life - read an extract

RTÉ Culture are delighted to present an extract from Yeats Now: Echoing Into Life by Jospeh M. Hassett, published by Lilliput Press.

Arts and Culture • 02 Nov 20

Samuel Beckett: Sonnenberg once told him a joke which he heard years later the Irishman was still trying to translate into French, not long before his death in 1989

Reviewed: Lost Property by Ben Sonnenberg

Son of a wealthy NY art collector, Ben Sonnenberg (1936-2010) spent much time in Europe - Spain, England, France and Greece - while meeting people like Jean Genet and Samuel Beckett. His reissued memoir is a zestfully engaging work.

Books • 20 Aug 20

Friedrich Nietzsche: with friends like these . .

Reviewed: I am Dynamite! A Life of Friedrich Nietzsche

I am Dynamite!, Sue Prideaux's compelling biography of the philosopher and poet Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) which won the Hawthornden Prize this year, has just appeared in paperback.

Books • 29 Aug 19

Words Lightly Spoken - hear a new poem from Michael Longley

Words Lightly Spoken, a new Irish poetry podcast, has just been launched with a brand new poem from Michael Longley.

Poetry • 24 Jan 19

Tara Flynn on falling back in love with Ireland

We sat down with author and comedian Tara Flynn to discuss her book, Rage In, her new podcast, Taranoia, and her relationship with Ireland following the repeal of the eighth amendment.

Podcasts • 24 Oct 18

Roddy Doyle: 'Even a death threat, somehow, was a good review'

Author Roddy Doyle speaks to Marian Finucane about his new film, Rosie.

RTÉ Radio 1 • 04 Oct 18

Colm Tóibín and Brooklyn star Saoirse Ronan

Four novels that would make great movies

Colm Tóibín's A Long Winter, Georges Simenon's The Blue Room, Katie Kitamura's A Separation and Italo Svevo's As A Man Grows Older (Senilità) would make great movies and one of them, it seems - A Separation - will in fact be realised in due course.

Books • 14 Aug 18

Watch: Mike McCormack's Dublin Literary Award Acceptance Speech

Galway based author Mike McCormack was today announced as the winner of the 2018 International Dublin Literary Award.

Literature • 13 Jun 18

Word on the street from Laureate na nÓg, PJ Lynch: free books tomorrow in Dublin. .

Free books, kids! Word on the (Dublin) Street

Laureate na nÓg PJ Lynch has chosen his 'Ten Books to Read Before You Are Twelve' list and 50 copies of these were distributed in public places around Dublin today, Wednesday, November 1, after 12 noon.

Culture • 01 Nov 17

This Finglas nest helped spawn a generation of new writers

Raven Arts Press gave a voice to the first generation of Irish citizens to have access to higher education as a consequence of the introduction of free secondary schools in the 1960s.

Dublin Book Festival • 02 Nov 17

Monica McInerney on The Trip of a Lifetime: "If there were tricky moments writing it, they became part of the plot."

Author Monica McInerney – from Clare to Here

Monica McInerney hails from South Australia's Clare Valley but has lived in Ireland for 26 years now where she has written her eleven novels. "Everything I do as a writer is because I'm a reader," she tells Paddy Kehoe.

Books • 15 Aug 17

Reviewed: Sally Rooney's Conversations With Friends

It's one of the most eagerly anticipated Irish literary debuts of 2017... But can Sally Rooney's novel live up to the advance hype? Grace Keane dives in...

Books • 01 Jun 17

Reviewed: The Girl In Between by Sarah Carroll

Sarah Carroll makes her first mark the literary scene with her beautiful and moving debut novel The Girl in Between, a story which is sure to quickly gain recognition amongst peers and readers alike

Books • 01 Jun 17

Reviewed: Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

Avril Hoare reviews the new novel from the Pullitzer Prize-winning author of Olive Kitteridge and My Name Is Lucy Barton.

Books • 01 Jun 17

Children's Literature Laureate PJ Lynch gives a workshop in Belfast.

PJ Lynch: Meet the Children's Laureate

We asked PJ Lynch to tell us more about his role as Laureate na nÓg, which takes him all around the country, sharing a love of books with children.

Book • 15 Feb 17

Mike McCormack: "Tramp Press were so lucid, clear, courageous and enthusiastic about the book."

Author Mike McCormack castigates UK literary culture

Mike McCormack, who won the Novel of the Year prize at the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards on Wednesday night for his groundbreaking book Solar Bones, has castigated Britain as `having one of the most conservative literary cultures in the world.'

Culture • 17 Nov 16

McBride in running for her second Goldsmiths Prize

Irish author Eimear McBride is in the running for her second Goldsmiths Prize for The Lesser Bohemians after she won the £10,000 literary award for her debut novel, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, in 2013.

Books • 07 Nov 16

Something For The Weekend: Kevin Barry's Cultural Picks

A Something For The Weekend extra, for the Bank Holiday weekend - choice cultural recommendations from the editor of Winter Papers (and greatest living Irish short story writer)

Culture • 01 Nov 16