The Parlour Review is a concept radio show The idea is that each week a different artist joins Marian Kelly to discuss their recent work, their influences and the arts in general in their area. To date she has been joined by John Moriarty, Judith Mok, Tom Mathews, Michael O Loughlin, Declan Meade, Robert Shaw, Dolores Lyne and Jesse Jones.
She is joined tomorrow, December 5, by Robert Downes, the well-known journalist and former RTÉ foreign correspondent in Iraq. When I had a TV, he always impressed me by his apparent actual knowledge of Iraq, and it appears his new book bears that out.
In Search of Iraq, published by New Island Books was launched by Vincent Browne on the 14th of November.
In his interview with Marian Kelly on Parlour Review he will discuss his near-death experience on his way out of Iraq after the coalition forces attacked in 2003, his opinion on the issue of the representation of Iraqi people in the media, and the changes he has witnessed in Iraq over the last few years. I’m particularly interested in hearing about Mohammed Darwish, Sunni Muslim academic and Joyce scholar, with whom Downes struck up a close friendship in which Downes was at least once asked to read from Ulysses in a Dublin accent!
It’s not often I plug a radio show (disclaimer: I may be on the series myself soon) but I think this one is worth a listen.
It’s only available in Dublin, I’m afraid, on FM 103.2 Anna Livia, but you may be able to listen to a streaming version live on the web by following these instructions at the bottom of the page. The Parlour Review goes out at 1pm each Tuesday.
