RadioMoLI’s Writer Presents series invites writers to produce a radio programme focussing on and exploring a chosen subject that is close to their heart. This edition of Writer Presents, ‘Dublin We Were’, was written and is read by David Hayden.

David Hayden was born in Ireland and lives in England. His writing has appeared in A Public Space, Zoetrope All-Story, The Dublin Review, AGNI, New York Tyrant and The Georgia Review. He is the author of three collections of short stories Darker With the Lights On (Carcanet/Transit), Unstories and Six Cities, and a novel titled All Our Love.

Producers Benedict Schlepper-Connolly & Ian Dunphy
Recording Engineer Justin Brand at NRSIX Studio, Norwich
Additional Field Recordings Ian Dunphy
Edit and Mix Ian Dunphy
Series Music Benedict Schlepper-Connolly

This programme was created with the support of the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon, and the Display Europe Project of the European Cultural Foundation, funded by the European Union. MoLI’s digital programme is supported by ebow, the digital agency.​​

Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

RadioMoLI’s Writer Presents series invites writers to produce a radio programme focussing on and exploring a chosen subject that is close to their heart. In the final episode within this three-part edition of Writer Presents, author Jan Carson speaks with poet and editor Sarah Hesketh, discussing the specificities of writing about dementia. They explore the process of finding balance between creative freedom and the responsibility of respect authors and artists carry in their endeavour to show the truth of the illness.

Jan Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator based in East Belfast. Her books include Malcolm Orange Disappears, Postcard Stories, The Fire Starters (EU Prize for Literature, 2019), The Raptures and Quickly, While They Still Have Horses. Carson has been shortlisted for the Sean O’Faolain Short Story Prize, the BBC National Short Story Prize and the An Post Irish Short Story of the Year Award, and in 2016 she won the Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Prize. Her work has appeared in journals such as Banshee, The Tangerine, Winter Papers and Harper’s Bazaar and on BBC Radio 3 and 4. Carson specialises in arts engagement with older and people living with dementia and was part of an AHRC-funded research project at Queen’s University Belfast exploring the representation of Dementia in literature. jancarson.co.uk

Writer Presents is produced with the support of the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon. MoLI’s digital programme is supported by Ebow, the digital agency.

Written and presented by Jan Carson.
Produced by Benedict Schlepper-Connolly and Ian Dunphy
Recorded and mixed by Ian Dunphy
Series music composed by Benedict Schlepper-Connolly
Series music performed by Benedict Schlepper-Connolly & Nathan Sherman

RadioMoLI’s Writer Presents series invites writers to produce a radio programme focussing on and exploring a chosen subject that is close to their heart. In this continuation of a three-part edition of Writer Presents, author Jan Carson speaks with theatre maker and playwright Caoileann Curry-Thompson, discussing their own familial experiences with dementia and the effect the illness has had on their creative works. Carson and Curry-Thompson explore the stigma that surrounds dementia as well as the nuances of literary possibility with the illness.

Jan Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator based in East Belfast. Her books include Malcolm Orange Disappears, Postcard Stories, The Fire Starters (EU Prize for Literature, 2019), The Raptures and Quickly, While They Still Have Horses. Carson has been shortlisted for the Sean O’Faolain Short Story Prize, the BBC National Short Story Prize and the An Post Irish Short Story of the Year Award, and in 2016 she won the Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Prize. Her work has appeared in journals such as Banshee, The Tangerine, Winter Papers and Harper’s Bazaar and on BBC Radio 3 and 4. Carson specialises in arts engagement with older and people living with dementia and was part of an AHRC-funded research project at Queen’s University Belfast exploring the representation of Dementia in literature. jancarson.co.uk

Writer Presents is produced with the support of the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon. MoLI’s digital programme is supported by Ebow, the digital agency.

Written and presented by Jan Carson.
Produced by Benedict Schlepper-Connolly and Ian Dunphy
Recorded and mixed by Ian Dunphy
Series music composed by Benedict Schlepper-Connolly
Series music performed by Benedict Schlepper-Connolly & Nathan Sherman