A series of special readings from T.S. Eliot’s ‘Four Quartets’ set of four poems will be broadcast by Premier Christian Radio to celebrate National Poetry Day.
The station has the licence from Faber to broadcast the whole of Four Quartets that celebrates 70 years since publication.
Premier has linked with the society to present four daily readings, including ‘Little Gidding’ which will be read by Dr Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury and Patron of the T S Eliot Society.
Other readings will be by Society chairman Hugh Black-Hawkins, who will read ‘East Coker’, broadcaster, author and poet Mike Read, reading ‘Burnt Norton’, and rising music star Frank Turner, reading ‘The Dry Salvages’.
Premier has also organised a panel discussion, scheduled for October 3rd, which will examine the man, his life, and work and question whether his Christian faith was a help or hindrance to the creation of his masterpieces.
Author Lyndall Gordon, well known for her biographies of T. S. Eliot, Charlotte Bronte and Virginia Woolf, will be joined on the panel by the Rev John Valentine, of St George’s Church, Holborn, who has written about Eliot for the Cambridge Papers, and Eliot fan Lord Harries, former Bishop of Oxford.
“Eliot’s spiritual life is clearly reflected in his work, making him a natural subject for a near week-long series of broadcasts which we have produced with the blessing of Faber & Faber, the T. S. Eliot Society, and Eliot’s Estate,” says Premier producer Chris Byland.
The ‘Four Quartets’ set of poems were published individually over a six year period but were not collected until Eliot’s publisher printed them together in 1943. The works are meditations with a common theme of man’s relationship with time, the universe, and God.
Premier Christian Radio broadcasts nationally on DAB and Freeview 725.
Posted on Thursday, September 26th, 2013 at 4:47 pm by RadioToday UK