Christmas Show 2016 - LOOKING BACK: Writers Read their Own Work

The NEWS AGENTS CHRISTMAS SHOW

Experiments in news and arts with Jude Cowan Montague.

A selection of literature read by writers on the show during 2016. With contributions from Paul Burston, Emma Roper-Evans, Deborah Lawrenson, George Szirtes and Duncan Campbell.

Sat 17 Dec - The Pre-history of Ealing Studios and the Topical Newsfilm: W G BARKER

John Leman Riley talks to Jude Cowan Montague about her work on W G Barker who set up the first film studios at Ealing. Will Barker was also one of the foremost pioneers of topical and news pictures in early cinema in Britain. 

LISTEN AGAIN - Jude Cowan Montague talks to John Leman Riley - W G Barker and Ealing Studios

Sat 3 DEC - EXPLORING THE BLACK PATH: Paul Burston on domestic noir and the world of the army family

Award-winning writer Paul Burston talks about thriller writing and his latest novel, 'The Black Path', looking at the psychological secrets of the war hero and the inner world of an military spouse. Thoughts on official reportage, deployment, childhood trauma and separation discussed with the acclaimed writer also known for hosting the LGBT literary salon Polari at the Southbank Centre.

LISTEN AGAIN - Paul Burston - Domestic noir 

Sat 26 Nov - I AM A CAT: The Feline Consciousness of Natsume Sosecki

Kazumi Taguchi discusses Natsume Sosecki whose satirical novel 'I Am a Cat' in 1905 looks at the conflict between group mentality and individuality in ways relevant to social issues in Japan and London today. Kazumi performs the music of Okinawa.

LISTEN AGAIN - Kazumi Taguchi and Natsume Sosecki 

Sat 19 Nov - Genealogy and the Media: A FAMILY STORY

Megan Cherie Owens, researcher and writer, TV genealogist, goes behind the scenes of the current love-affair with ancestry, DNA and identity to uncover skeletons in the media's closet and discusses why we research our personal past anyway.

Jude CM brings in research from her own family history and works by her poet-ancestor, John Cowan.

LISTEN AGAIN - Megan Cherie Owens - Genealogy and the Media 

Sat 12 Nov - TV News and the Detective Novel: INSPECTOR MONTALBANO AND ANDREA CAMILLERI

Andrea Camilleri, writer of the Montalbano novels has a background in TV and their popularity means he has become a media icon himself. Jude Cowan Montague investigates the complex relations between journalism, television and public life in the fictitious adventures of Salvo Montalbano.

LISTEN AGAIN - Inspector Montalbano, TV News and the Detective Novel, Sicilian culture 

Sat 25 Nov - HUNGARY AND MIGRATION: Stories with Emma Roper-Evans

Writer Emma Roper-Evans talks about her lifelong intimate relationship with Hungary and reflects on the country and tales and migration through her stories. Looking at the recent rise of the far right within a personal tour of the culture and streets of Budapest.

LISTEN AGAIN - Hungary and migration - Emma Roper-Evans