Springs of Affection by Maeve Brennan - rerun
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi, it's John here. Hello, it's Andy. And welcome to one of the archive episodes of Backlisted from the far distant... Well, it's not that distant past this one, is it, Johnny?
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.
Who was Maeve Brennan and why is she significant?
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.
Well, there. These aren't spoilers. These are incentives to keep listening. I don't remember anything about most of what John said. And that's good because if I did have, as we know, if we could all remember anything, we wouldn't do anything. We'd be too mortified to continue.
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. But when she died in 1997, she was so unknown in Ireland that she didn't even get an obituary. So she's a writer of the highest quality Stretches from New York to Ireland. In this collection of stories, it's all set in the suburbs of Dufflin.
She died in obscurity. And is good. And she loved a drink. And therefore fulfills all the criteria of a backlisted subject. They're poor agents, everyone. They're poor agents. Right, quickly, let me talk about what we've got coming up on the Patreon. If you come over to our Patreon at patreon.com forward slash backlisted, you will find all manner of treats, written treats, listening treats, and a couple in particular we want to flag up with you now. you can sign up for Posh Bingo, which is our appropriation of Julian Barnes's name for the Booker Prize. We will be discussing Profit Song by Paul Lynch, which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 2023. You can contribute to that show via the Patreon and we'll read out your messages and you get to hear the three of us chewing the fat about that particular novel.
And we've also got coming up in our already hit series, Backlisted Readers, where we ask our regular listeners to bring a book to the table and we talk about it. We've just posted one about three men in a boat, which was great fun. And coming up soon to continue the Irish Dublin connection from Maeve Brennan, we have a discussion of... Flan O'Brien's at Swim2Birds. And that's available only behind the Patreon. One of the things that John and I are really enjoying about this season of Batlisted is that Nicky is now having to do much more reading than either of us. In a dramatic reversal of the previous few years. So anyway, we hope you enjoy this episode that's coming up now about Maeve Brennan, Springs of Affection.
And please join us on the Patreon for all the things just described and much more. And we'll see you in a couple of weeks.
MUSIC PLAYS
Sinead, where are you calling from today?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–1:28
2
Who was Maeve Brennan and why is she significant?
1:28–6:05
3
What themes are explored in 'The Springs of Affection'?
6:05–13:08
4
How did Maeve Brennan's work gain international recognition?
13:08–23:49
5
What influences shaped Maeve Brennan's writing style?
23:49–27:00
6
How do the guests relate to Maeve Brennan's stories?
27:00–35:56
7
What insights do the guests share about Brennan's character development?
35:56–38:56
8
What is the lasting impact of Maeve Brennan's work on literature?
38:56–1:14:29