Writing on Air: Radio and Northern Irish Writers, 1966–1986

Project Information

RadNIW

Grant agreement ID: 101028894

DOI

10.3030/101028894

Project closed

EC signature date 27 October 2021

Start date 1 June 2022

End date 31 May 2024

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 189 099,84

EU contribution

€ 189 099,84

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - RadNIW (Writing on Air: Radio and Northern Irish Writers, 1966–1986)

Reporting period: 2023-06-01 to 2024-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

This interdisciplinary project seeks to combine studies of media broadcasting, cultural history, collaboration, and literary analysis to consider the lives and works of recent Irish writers whose careers were closely tied to the BBC and RTE. In short, it seeks to address the significant – and significantly underappreciated – role radio broadcasting has played in the popular rise of Irish poetry over the last 60 years.

The social importance of this project is multifaceted. The first factor is cultural heritage: it helps preserve an interest in archival broadcasting materials that many people are unaware exist. It also helps satisfy a public interest in the history of the BBC and RTE as broadcasting institutions. The second factor has to do with literary scholarship: there is great interest in the lives and works of writers such as Heaney, Longley, Boland, and Muldoon, and this research project shines new light on both their literary writing and the wider cultural and biographical context in which they were working. The third factor is intersectional: to explore the gender imbalances that seem to have existed within the these broadcasting institutions, and to shine light on exactly why it seems so many women writers were overlooked for radio broadcasting work during this period.

The project has four overall objectives and associated research questions:
O1) To show that radio has shaped Irish literary production since the 1960s. Why were Irish writers so attracted to the BBC and RTÉ, particularly in the early stages of their careers? Is there a cross-fertilization of forms between radio writing and poetry writing?
O2) To bridge the gap between literary studies and radio scholarship. Why have scholars been so slow to account for radio in the development of modern Irish literature? What barriers to further study are presented by the radio archives themselves? How does writing for radio differ from print publication? When can we say one medium is shaping the other?
O3) To document the interpersonal networks and collaborations between writers and producers affiliated with the BBC and RTÉ in the period. Did the very public collaboration of Irish writers on the radio lead to collaborations in other cultural projects? Did producers’ relationships and affiliations with certain writers directly affect their radio commissions? Was this a boy’s club?
O4) To contribute towards media work that explores the historical relation between Anglophone writers and the radio. How does the BBC look on its own role in Irish cultural history? How can we promote public awareness of radio’s symbiotic relationship with modern Irish poetry?

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Work performed across the project can be separated into work packages WP 1-6. Work began with the creation of a research framework (WP1), followed by various archive visits to the BBC, Stuart Rose Library, and RTE to gather primary material (WP3). This material and framework enabled me to prepare written research (WP 5) throughout the fellowship and has resulted in various outputs, listed below. From 2023-24 I gained mentorship in teaching, working closely with Huddersfield colleagues on module development, lecture-writing, and teaching new areas (WP 2). In digital terms, I gained hands-on experience editing a podcast for publication in 2024 (WP 2). From March-Dec 2023 I co-organized an international workshop that included secondary school students, undergraduates, and professional writers (WP 4). In terms of written and public dissemination (WP 6), I produced and contributed towards outcomes in a range of formats, including a podcast (EFACIS), radio programmes (BBC and HORADS), book chapter (de Gruyter handbook), peer-reviewed articles (Eire-Ireland and Irish University Review), book proposal (OUP), international workshop (U of Stuttgart), public talk (Heaney HomePlace), and keynote address at a major international conference (Boston College). These and any other significant outputs for project dissemination have been covered in the overview below.

A summary of the main results and overview of their dissemination:
- Amassed primary research material through visits to BBC Written Archive, BBC Sound Archive, BBC Northern Ireland Archive, Stuart Rose Library, and RTE Archive.
- Acted as academic consultant on BBC Radio 3 feature, Most Contrary Region, Nov 2022.
- Published an article entitled ‘Seamus Heaney’s Audio Archive’ in the journal Eire-Ireland in April 2023.
- Delivered a public talk entitled ‘Writing on Air: Broadcasting Poetry’ at the Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy, Northern Ireland, in April 2023.
- Delivered a keynote lecture at the Seamus Heaney Afterlives conference at Boston College in Nov 2023.
- Organized and participated in a two-day workshop on Sensing Sound at the University of Stuttgart, Germany in Dec 2023.
- Published an EFACIS podcast on poetry and sound with Scott McKendry and Jessica Bundschuh in Mar 2024.
- Submitted ‘“Resistance to the medium”: Derek Mahon’s Adaptive Media’ to Irish University Review in 2024.
- Submitted proposal Writing on Air: Poetry and Broadcasting to Oxford UP in 2024.
- Completed two semesters of UG teaching in various modules at the U of Huddersfield from 2023-24.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Progress beyond the state of the art:
In 2022 I acted as an academic consultant on a BBC Radio 3 Sunday Feature programme, "Most Contrary Region," about Northern Irish writers broadcasting during the Troubles.

In 2023 I led a public event with RTÉ presenter Olivia O’Leary at the Heaney HomePlace heritage centre in Bellaghy. I presented my research to a public audience before joining O’Leary for an open interview about radio broadcasting and poetry. This led to further community outreach with the Heaney HomePlace archivists and local scholar Pat Brennan.

In Nov 2023 I co-organized and participated in Ecologies of Sound, a workshop at the University of Stuttgart. The event facilitated a collaboration between the guest writers, 30 school students, 14 undergraduates, and the university radio station HORADS 88.6. Together, we produced a radio broadcast of the students’ original creative work. Subsequently, Jessica and I recorded a podcast with the poet Scott McKendry, which I edited for publication in Mar 2024.

I am talking to the BBC Rewind team about potential future programmes and web materials on the Seamus Heaney’s archive, Paul Muldoon at the BBC, and Michael Longley in 2025 (marking 60 years from his first pamphlet). This will be a collaborative work with the BBC that should reach a considerable audience of radio listeners and online users.


Potential impacts:
The wider social impact of these activities relates to collaborations with industry (broadcasting), education (secondary school students), and cultural conservation/heritage (relating to media archives). There is intersectional impact potential in exploring the underrepresentation of women writers on BBC radio. The project’s interdisciplinary approach fosters innovation in how we study and understand literature in a media-driven world, advancing new ways of thinking about literary culture in relation to technology, communication, and mass media.

In short, the project shores up cultural heritage in various forms, fostering public engagement, encouraging interdisciplinary approaches to poetry and media, and forming a bridge between academic and cultural institutions like the BBC.