Open Book

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BBC Radio 4 LW

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Programme looking at new fiction and non-fiction books

Programme looking at new fiction and non-fiction books, talking to authors and publishers and unearthing lost classics

BBC Radio 4 FM

Diana Jarvis

Open Book: About A Son; Book Banning; The Water Statues

08/05/2022

About A Son; Book Banning; The Water Statues

BBC Radio 4 - Open Book, About A Son; Book Banning; The Water Statues

David Whitehouse on his creative non-fiction work About a Son.

David Whitehouse talks to Elizabeth Day about his creative nonfiction account of the killing of 20-year-old Morgan Hehir, inspired by the diaries of his bereaved father.

Elizabeth Day talks to the writer David Whitehouse about his book, About a Son, the real story of a family dealing with the aftermath of a brutal crime. In October 2015 20-year-old Morgan Hehir was walking home with friends when he was viciously attacked by a group of strangers. Morgan was stabbed and later died in hospital. His father Colin started keeping a diary of his grief and his search for justice which has now been turned into About a Son, a powerful piece of creative non-fiction. Elizabeth talks to David Whitehouse about that process and the profound impact Morgan's story has had on his life.

In response to the increasing amount of book bans in schools and libraries across the United States, Brooklyn Public Library announced they’ll be giving free access to more than half a million e- and audiobooks for young adults from around the country. The year-long Books Unbanned program offers 13 to 21-year-olds a digital library card and access to over 100 databases. Last week in Georgia, a new bill was passed to give more power to school boards and parents in what books are available in schools. Elizabeth is joined by the bestselling crime writer Karin Slaughter who lives in Atlanta Georgia, and Linda Johnson, President of the Brooklyn Library, to discuss their concerns. 

And we have our monthly recommendation from inside the book industry with Jacques Testard from Fitzcaraldo Editions,, who chooses Fleur Jaeggy’s The Water Statues translated by Gini Alhadeff from New Directions Publishing.

Book list – Sunday May 8 and Thursday May 12
About a Son by David Whitehouse 
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Beloved by Toni Morrison
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Works by Flannery O’Connor 
Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger
Girl, Forgotten by Karin Slaughter (out in June)
The Water Statues by Fleur Jaeggy, translated by Gini Alhadeff

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