In the Attic Sessions this month, we talk about the Irish crime writing genre known as Emerald Noir. Louise Phillips talks about her approach to writing crime fiction and gives us an exclusive sneak preview of the opening chapter from her current novel in progress and Paul Perry talks about being one half of the crime writing duo Karen Perry and reads from their latest thriller ‘Girl Unknown’.

The Attic Sessions  #2. ‘Music & Poetry’, with Tony Curtis & Dermot McLaughlin

This month on The Attic Sessions we talk about becoming part of the tradition of music playing and poetry writing and what those two art forms have in common. We also talk about the role memory plays in passing on tradition.

Dermot McLaughlin plays some traditional airs and Tony Curtis reads ‘The Mole and the Cosmos’, ‘A Blessing of Things Well Made’ and ‘Tunes Carried on the Night Air’ from his latest poetry collection Approximately in the Key of C (ARC Publications, 2015).

This is the first in a series of live recordings, made on location in an attic somewhere in Dublin.

We were joined in the attic by the wonderful Lia Mills, author of Fallen, this year’s Dublin: One City One Book selection.

We talked about the inspiration for Fallen, the commemoration of 1916, the importance of the role women played during the period and this year’s inaugural Two Cities One Book festival, which twins book clubs in Dublin and Belfast.