Writers and Company CBC Arts & Entertainment
-
- Arts
-
CBC Radio's Writers and Company offers an opportunity to explore in depth the lives, thoughts and works of remarkable writers from around the world. Hosted by Eleanor Wachtel.
-
Looking back on American sculptor Richard Serra and how he became the Man of Steel
From his childhood in San Francisco's sand dunes to sitting in French cafes with Philip Glass and Samuel Beckett, Richard Serra reflects on his life and work during a 2011 conversation with Eleanor Wachtel. Best known for his evocative and monumental steel structures, you can find Serra's sculptural works all over the world, including his piece Titled Spheres in Toronto Pearson Airport. Serra died in March. He was 85.
-
Poet Raymond Antrobus on hearing, seeing and grieving through verse
This week on Writers and Company, British poet Raymond Antrobus. Antrobus spoke with Eleanor Wachtel in 2019 about his collection, The Perseverance, which explores his complicated relationship with his late father and growing up deaf.
-
Colm Toibin on the unspoken and powerful dynamics between mothers and sons
This week, Irish novelist Colm Toibin discusses his short story collection, Mothers and Sons, which explores the unspoken and shifting dynamics in these relationships. Toibin is the author of Brooklyn, which was made into an Oscar-nominated feature film starring Saoirse Ronan, as well as Nora Webster, The Magician and more. His latest novel, Long Island, is the sequel to Brooklyn.
-
Alice Oswald on poetry, nature and the shedding of identity
To celebrate poetry month, a conversation with one of England’s greatest living poets, Alice Oswald. Winner of the 2017 international Griffin Poetry Prize for her book Falling Awake, Oswald's work explores the relationship between human life and the natural world. Her latest title, Nobody, is a book-length poem inspired by Homer’s Odyssey.
-
The beautiful, melancholy world of Anita Desai
This week on Writers and Company, Anita Desai — one of India's most celebrated and successful writers. Over the course of her career, which spans five decades, Desai has written several novels and has been nominated for the Booker Prize three times. Eleanor Wachtel spoke to her on stage at Montreal's Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival in 2017, where she received the Grand Prix for lifetime achievement. Desai's latest book, Rosarita, is forthcoming from Picador Press.
This interview originally aired May 7, 2017. -
James Runcie on the beauty, sorrow and genius of Johann Sebastian Bach
James Runcie's novel, The Great Passion, imagines a year in the life of Johann Sebastian Bach, culminating with the first performance of his St. Matthew Passion in Leipzig, Germany during Easter 1727. Told through the eyes of a fictional, 13-year-old student, it explores the man behind the legendary composer: an ambitious working musician and father of eight, coping with grief and loss, through faith and music.
This interview originally aired June 12, 2022.
Customer Reviews
BEST PODCAST EVER
Dear Ms. Wachtel,
It was upsetting to hear you are ending your podcast—-selfishly I wish you would continue doing it forever. There is no podcast I look forward to more—-I know it will be the most interesting, intelligent and enlightening hour of the week, without equal. As I am not a writer I do not have the words to adequately and appropriately thank you—-for an hour of bliss each week, for introducing me to authors I would otherwise never have known of—-many many thanks. You will be greatly missed. I can hope you write several volumes of memoirs !
No equal among author interviewers
An incredibly prepared and thoughtful interviewer of authors . Superior to all other book podcasts
The best
Eleanor Wachtel is one of the best interviewers in the world.