WRITER PROFILE

Theo Dorgan interviews respected poet and novelist Leland Bardwell. Her novels include the influential 'Girl on a Bicycle', 'The House and There We Have Been' and her poetry collections include 'The Mad Cyclist' and 'Dostoevsky's Grave.' An unusual and strong-willed individual, she has long been an independent voice on the literary scene in Ireland and this is a rare opportunity to get a glimpse of what drives her in her work and life.

Born in India in 1926 she returned to Ireland as a young child and began publishing her work in the 1970s. With an eclectic approach to the business of writing and living, she recalls for Theo how she began to eke out a living as a writer.

Her first published book was her collection ' The Mad Cyclist' and then she set about writing her first novel 'Girl On A Bicycle'. Jokingly, she says "I started trying to write prose and thought that it would make me a millionaire; that of course was not the case - I always cycled in Dublin, bicycles got you somewhere and of course it was free".

Leland's family were Protestant Irish and when she returned to Ireland from India she says that she found a certain hostility, particularly in publishing, as if the experience of the Protestant Irish was not a fit subject for Irish writers and did not represent a valid theme. "I felt I was a maverick and tended to write about people like myself, I was very conscious of how outsiders have to live".

Leland has written and campaigned about social injustice in Ireland and feels particularly strong about how young Irish women are treated. Asked by Theo what motivates her writing she says, "They were stories I had to write. I look at myself as a storyteller in my novels and poetry".

Long considered a unique character on the literary landscape with strong opinions and an unusual take on life, Leland is entertaining throughout the interview none more so than when she tells Theo about the actual process of writing and what it means to her. "Its something like having a bird on my shoulder, talking into my ear... once he stops you know you are sunk".


Biographical Details

Born in India in 1928, of Irish parents Leland Bardwell, Née Hone. Grew up in Co. Kildare, and was educated in Dublin and London. She worked for a time as teacher in Scotland, before returning to Ireland.

She has written stage plays, as well as drama for RTÉ radio and BBC radio, including 'No Regrets', a work based on the life and songs of Edith Piaf. Poetry: 'The Mad Cyclist' (1970), 'The Fly and the Bedbug' (1984), 'Borderlines', children's poems (1989), 'Dostoevsky's Grave: New and Selected Poems' (1991).

Stage productions include 'Thursday' (1975) and 'The Edith Piaf Story' (1983), a musical. Novels: 'Girl on a Bicycle' (1977), 'That London Winter' (1981), 'The House' (1984) and 'There We Have Been' (1989). Short stories: 'Different Kinds of Love' (1987).

She is a member of Aosdána.


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Running Time: 30mins
Year Made: 1999
Price: €20 - PAL (European), €30 - NTSC (US) plus P&P