Every Life is Many Days: Frank McGuinness

Every Life is Many Days is a podcast about James Joyce and his family in the contemporary novel. Presented by Professor Anne Fogarty of the School of English, Drama and Film at UCD and Director of the UCD James Joyce Research Centre, the podcast looks at how the many gaps between Joyce the man and Joyce the writer have in recent years been movingly explored in a number of novels that think about his life in very different ways.

In this episode, writer Frank McGuinness gives an electric reading from his book The Woodcutter and His Family, discusses James Joyce as Ireland’s long-lost playwright, and reveals his reverence for the “utterly heroic” Nora Barnacle.

Frank McGuinness is a writer from Co Donegal. He has written extensively for the Irish theatre, both original scripts and translations. He has won various awards including the London Evening Standard Award in 1985, and a Tony Award for his 1997 adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. He has published several volumes of poetry and wrote the screenplay for Pat O’Connor’s 1998 film version of Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa. McGuinness is currently Professor of English and Writer-in-Residence at UCD School of English, Drama and Film.