Andy Miller

It's 2022 and it is the episode dedicated to the springs of affection by Maeve Brennan.

an Irish writer who spent most of her working life in America.

She was a staff writer for the New Yorker and wrote a very lauded column on the New Yorker called The Long-Winded Lady.

Although it wasn't signed Maeve Brennan, it was a column that people loved and

In this podcast that you're about to hear, we're joined by two guests, the novelist and memoirist Sinead Gleeson, author of Constellations and Hagstone, and David Hayden, who is fated as a brilliant contemporary short story writer.

Both of them huge Mae Perrin fans.

We talk about the springs of affection, but we also do talk about the columns as well, the nonfiction columns as well.

And you get to hear Andy talking about a very influential essay by Linda Nochlin from the 1970s, I think.

I believe so, yes.

Called Why Are There No Women Artists?

And I do my best Dorset accent to extol the virtues of the little regarded at the time novel by P.J.

Harvey, the great Polly Harvey, called Orlam.

novel that I had completely forgotten until I re-listened to the episode.

It's narrated by a lamb's eyeball.

Also, let's just be honest.

Maeve Brennan, if you were going to construct a backlisted artist, Maeve Brennan...

I mean, brilliant short story writer compared not just to other Irish short story writers, although, you know, given that that's Frank O'Connor and James Joyce and John McGahan, that wouldn't be a bad thing.

But she's compared by, you know, Mavis Gallant and other... Edna O'Brien.

She's compared to...

Chekhov and Colette, the very greatest short story writers in the genre.