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Off the Page: Foreign

Foreign

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Where does it begin and where does it end? Dominic Arkwright talks foreignness.

Dominic Arkwright talks foreignness with satirist Joe Queenan, poet Elvis MacGonagall and writer Amanda Mitchison. From 2011.

When did you first notice that not everyone was like you? 

For American satirist Joe Queenan, growing up in an Irish American neighbourhood of Philadelphia, it was the moment he walked into an Italian cheese shop. 

Poet Elvis MacGonagall, sole resident of the Graceland caravan park outside Dundee, dodges the question by writing a brilliant poem that rhymes foreign with sporran. 

And Amanda Mitchison recounts an episode in a Cairo market where she was continually short-changed in her efforts to buy chicken breast. In short, she says, to be foreign is always to be the fool, unsure how to dress, to speak, and to buy a decent piece of chicken.

New writing and discussion on the subject of Foreign, what it means and why it matters.

Chaired by Dominic Arkwright.  

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2011.

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