Thursday 27 June 2013

Jane Gardam

Over at The Dabbler, I wonder why Jane Gardam is not better known, given how good she is. My first introduction to her was via BBC Radio Four's Afternoon Readings, which they are stealthily phasing out. The ABC is following suit with its own excellent afternoon readings.

It seems to me that radio is ideal for readings of short stories and novels and provides an excellent route for the discovery of interesting authors by listeners. For me, the readings on both stations were an island of pleasure amidst the bletherings of You and Yours and Life Matters and all the other programmes stuffed with the nosy and the bossy masquerading as the 'concerned', (not to mention the interminable music fillers on ABC Radio National, a station that is supposed to be a spoken word alternative to all the other stations devoted to music).

The Gardam reading I heard was of a story called Pangbourne. The reader was Judi Dench and you can find the audio here.

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