Posts tagged BBC Radio 4
Episode one of Whose Truth Is It Anyway?

In this new three part series, I grapple with the slippery idea of truth in literature - from memoir to fiction to writing that occupies all the areas in between. What does it mean for a story to be true - and is the idea of truth changing? Who gets to decide whose truths make it into onto the page and into our bookshelves?

With contributions from Sathnam Sanghera, Olivia Laing, Ellah Wakatama, Taymour Soomro, Alexandra Heminsley and Suede singer and co-creator of the new album Autofiction, Brett Anderson.

In this first episode, I explore one of the most popular and personal genres of writing - memoir. Revisiting my own complex experience of writing a memoir, and dealing with the aftermath, I unpick what it is that authors and readers expect from type of writing. What makes a memoir more or less true? And do readers understand something different by that truth from authors? Do modern audiences expect a different kind of truth?

I also reveal some of my own discoveries about the process of writing a true memoir - including discovering that even the most candid memoir is also be shaped by legal and personal considerations. Not all truths are published equally.

Listen on BBC Radio 4, Sunday 21st May at 4.30pm for episode one of Whose Truth Is It Anyway?.

Read More
Damian Barr talks She Ra on BBC Radio 4!

Host Anita Anand joins Damian and podcaster Meff to hear about how the 80’s icon She Ra - sister of He Ra - has become a main character. We hear about how in her newest iteration, the Princess of Power isn’t just openly gay but saved the world with a queer kiss.

Click here to listen now on BBC Sounds and you can hear it again on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, 8th June at 4pm.

Read More
Catch the final episode of 'Guide Books' on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

You can catch the third and final episode of Guide Books on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds tomorrow, Tuesday 29th June, 11.30am. Damian is joined by Helen Macdonald and Melissa Harrison to discuss books to deepen our engagement with nature.

Guide Books has been chosen as Pick of the Week in the Radio Times, New Statesman, The Guardian, The Tablet, Observer and The Telegraph!

Click here to listen to all three episodes of Guide Books.

Read More
Guide Books chosen as Pick of the Week in the Radio Times

We're delighted that Guide Books is a Pick of the Week in the Radio Times. Thank you all for your excitement about the show. It starts today at 11.30am on BBC Radio 4 and you can catch it any time after on BBC iPlayer or BBC Sounds. My guests today are Sinéad Gleeson and Sarah Perry and we're discussing the Body.

Click here for more info about Guide Books.

Read More
New BBC Radio 4 series presented by Damian Barr

I’m really looking forward to hosting my own series for Radio 4. It’s called Guide Books. The producer is Mair Bosworth and she’s doing great work bringing this idea to life.

Guide Books is a new series about how books might help us navigate everyday life, presented by writer and broadcaster Damian Barr.

Each episode takes a life experience - such as grief - and talks to writers about they handle it through their own reading, writing and lived experience. We explore the fiction, non-fiction, memoir and poetry that might help us better understand our own stories.

The first episode will be aired on BBC Radio 4, Tuesday 15th June at 11.30am. I’ll be joined by Sarah Perry and Sinead Gleeson to talk about fiction, poetry and memoir that might help us better understand our relationship with our bodies.

CLICK HERE for more info and how to listen to the series.

Read More
From Our Home Correspondent

Mishal Husain presents pieces by writers and journalists across the UK presenting portraits of life today. This episode will feature pieces by Andrew Green, Garry Owen, Andy Kershaw, Ian McMillan and Damian Barr.

Damian takes us to north Lanarkshire and the South Downs in his quest for glow worms. His search is part journey of discovery and part self-revelation. Along the way, he explains the enduring appeal of these elusive insects at this - or, indeed - any time.

Listen from 1.30pm on Sunday 22nd March 2020.

CLICK HERE to listen.

Read More
You Will Be Safe Here to be Book at Bedtime 27th May - 6th June

You Will Be Safe Here has been chosen as the Book at Bedtime on BBC Radio 4 from Monday 27th May to Friday 7th June. You can listen to the first episode now at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005f3b.

Tracy Ann Oberman reads Damian Barr's debut novel. Tracey is an acclaimed stage and TV actor, known for her roles in EastEnders, Toast of London and Friday Night Dinner. The producer is Justine Willett and the script has been abridged by Richard Hamilton.

We hope you enjoy listening!

Read More
You Will Be Safe Here picked to be Book at Bedtime on BBC Radio 4!

Book at Bedtime has been a key feature of my listening landscape for as long as I can remember. Over the years it has lulled me to sleep (and sometimes kept me awake, usually for the right reasons). So I am thrilled that You Will Be Safe Here will be a Book at Bedtime FOR TWO WEEKS! The abridgment, by Richard Hamilton, manages to tell the story without giving everything away. Justine Willett has given the production everything. Tracy-Ann Oberman brings her characteristic power to the reading and her own South African story.

Listen in: BBC Radio 4, 2245 nightly May 27 - June 7th

Read More