Book Talk — Dialogues with Peter Porter

Introduction (Clive James, 2007)

My first radio dialogues with the distinguished Australian poet Peter Porter were the foundation events for this Audio section of the website. Recorded year by year since the turn of the millennium, there are six series of six dialogues so far: a total of eighteen hours of programming. All of the dialogues were recorded down the line in London for broadcast by the ABC in Australia. But with the visionary cooperation of the ABC’s Book Talk producer Jill Kitson, I was able to count from the beginning on giving the material a permanent home on the web. My gratitude to her, and of course to Peter Porter, is beyond expression.

In addition to the links [below] that lead to the separate series, there is an extra link which leads to the text transcript of a piece I wrote for my book The Meaning of Recognition about how this broadcasting collaboration began. Once again the role of chance in human affairs is plain to see.

Introduction (Archive Ed., May 2020)

As explained in the Audio Section Gateway page, the Internet has not thus far been kind to Clive's ambitions of permanence, especially where sound recordings are concerned. I'm hopeful that we will be able to recover the lost material and ensure it outlasts us, and, dare I say, you. And as if to demonstrate that hope, I have reserved a place in the following playlists for each and every episode of the ABC Radio James/Porter Book Talk conversations. Perhaps when you next visit this page you will find the names bright and the gaps filled, and this note consigned to history...

Update, June 2020

I have obtained copies of the missing episodes. The following players are now fully populated.

ON NOT HAVING A CLASSICAL EDUCATION  [ APRIL – AUGUST 2000 ] previous play pause next stop mute unmute max volume shuffle shuffle off repeat repeat off   THE LITERATURE OF THE 20th CENTURY   [ MARCH – MAY 2001 ] previous play pause next stop mute unmute max volume shuffle shuffle off repeat repeat off   HUMOUR IN ENGLISH LITERATURE   [ MAY – AUGUST 2002 ] previous play pause next stop mute unmute max volume shuffle shuffle off repeat repeat off SEX AND LOVE IN LITERATURE AND THE ARTS [ APRIL – JULY 2003 ] previous play pause next stop mute unmute max volume shuffle shuffle off repeat repeat off   THE ARTIST AND POLITICS   [ AUGUST – OCTOBER 2004 ] previous play pause next stop mute unmute max volume shuffle shuffle off repeat repeat off ON BECOMING A POET [ OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2005 ] previous play pause next stop mute unmute max volume shuffle shuffle off repeat repeat off

STOP ALL

Background to the Broadcasts

Transcripts

Transcripts have also come to light of some of the Book Talk dialogues — follow the links below — Archive Ed., June 2020

S05E01 (14.08.04) - The Artist and Politics: Classical Greece and Rome
S05E02 (21.08.04) - The Renaissance artist and the Enlightened despot
S05E03 (28.09.04) - The poet takes sides: revolutions English and French
S05E04 (02.10.04) - Writers and Revolution: French Revolution to Dickens
S06E01 (01.10.05) - On becoming a poet: on discovering poetry
S06E02 (08.10.05) - On becoming a poet: newspaper days
S06E03 (15.10.05) - On becoming a poet: down and out in London
S06E04 (22.10.05) - On becoming a poet: in praise of poetry editors
S06E05 (19.11.05) - On the art of being seriously entertaining
S06E06 (26.11.05) - On being overseas Australians