We’re thrilled to announce the launch of Trafika Europe Radio’s sixth season, free online, with some great literary guests in September!
Irish poet and novelist Colm Tóibín, Italian crime fiction writer Gaetano Savatteri, Icelandic author Thora Hjörleifsdóttir, Austrian novelist Peter Karoshi, and French author Victor Jestin are just some of the highlights in the coming month – in various series, including Women in Translation, Literary Music, French Forays, Eco-Lit, Bowery Poetry Speaks, The Middle Ground – and we’re also reprising our wonderful series, Spotlighting the EU Prize for Literature, in partnership with several European organizations, to bring you 13 new episodes with EUPL-awarded authors and titles this season! And more!
You can click this banner photo to see our September schedule at a glance.

Please scroll down for detailed show descriptions and times – and please sign up on our Livestream page (https://trafikaeurope.org/go/radio) to stay informed on future shows!
If you miss an episode, of course you can always find it later in its series archive.
We’re launching season six on Sunday 18 September. Here following is the complete TERadio schedule for September, firstly in brief, and then with detailed show descriptions and times below that. Enjoy!
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SEPTEMBER IN BRIEF:
Sunday 18 September 2022, from 11:00am EDT = 4:00pm BST = 5:00pm CEST
Women in Translation ep. 51 – Icelandic author Thora Hjörleifsdóttir with translator Meg Matich: Magma
Spotlighting the EU Prize for Literature ep. 27 – Austrian novelist Peter Karoshi: To the Elephants
French Forays ep. 25 – French author Victor Jestin with translator Sam Taylor: Heatwave
Bowery Poetry Speaks ep. 55 – Irish poet and novelist Colm Tóibín: Vinegar Hill
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Sunday 25 September 2022, from 11:00am EDT = 4:00pm BST = 5:00pm CEST
Eco-Lit ep. 16 – British poet Philip Burton: Gaia Warnings
Spotlighting the EU Prize for Literature ep. 28 – Italian poet and novelist Daniele Mencarelli: Always Return
The Joe Show ep. 05 – A deep dive on Roma (gypsy) “crossover” music
Bowery Poetry Speaks ep. 56 – Italian crime fiction author Gaetano Savatteri with translator Steve Eaton: A Conspiracy of Talkers
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Here now is this same September schedule in more detail:
Sunday 18 September 2022:
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11:00am EDT (in New York) = 4:00pm BST (in the UK) = 5:00pm CEST (in much of Europe) – Women in Translation ep. 51 (35-minute audio) – Icelandic author Thora Hjörleifsdóttir and translator Meg Matich: Magma
Icelandic author Thora Hjörleifsdóttir and translator Meg Matich speak with host Jordan Rouleau about Thora’s debut novel, Magma, available from Black Cat, an imprint of Grove Atlantic. This novel explores the darkest corners of relationships, capturing an ugly, hidden nature of love. This interview features a bilingual reading from the book in original Icelandic and English translation.
“Magma is a luminous and poetic novel unlike any I have ever read. How to describe the slow escalation by which possession becomes control, and power abuse? Thora Hjörleifsdóttir shows how and the effects are shocking and beautiful. She has created a whole new landscape for storytelling.”—John Freeman
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12:00pm EDT = 5:00pm BST = 6:00pm CEST – Spotlighting the EU Prize for Literature ep. 27 – Austrian novelist Peter Karoshi: To the Elephants (42-minute audio)
“Theo’s life has reached a deadlock. In an attempt to hold onto his family, he takes his son Moritz on a journey along the route taken centuries earlier by Emperor Maximilian II, bringing the elephant Suleiman from the Mediterranean to Vienna. They are on a voyage of discovery leading them to the past and its recollections which takes a dramatic turn…
“A novella combining stylistic precision with a dreamlike atmosphere in a way that translates the tone of Austrian modernist Robert Musil’s Three Women into the present day”
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1:00pm EDT = 6:00pm BST = 7:00pm CEST – French Forays ep. 25 – French author Victor Jestin with translator Sam Taylor: Heatwave
“[Heatwave] is a searingly vivid novel that depicts the torments of adolescence in a sensual, carnal way. But it is also a profound meditation on the mystery of evil, our deadly urges, and the savagery that lies deep within each of us. I loved the writing, which is spare but highly evocative, and I admired the way that the author used the enclosed world of the campsite to fuel the claustrophobic tension that mounts throughout.” —Leila Slimani, author
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2:00pm EDT = 7:00pm BST = 8:00pm CEST – Bowery Poetry Speaks ep. 55 – Irish poet and novelist Colm Tóibín: Vinegar Hill (42-minute audio)
In this episode, host Joe Williams speaks with legendary Irish novelist Colm Tóibín about his debut poetry collection, Vinegar Hill, decades in the making. They also discuss Colm’s life in literature, and how his novels The Master and The Magician aim to recreate the psychology of seminal 20th authors. Vinegar Hill is available now from Carcanet Press.
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Sunday 25 September 2022:
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11:00am EDT (in New York) = 4:00pm BST (in the UK) = 5:00pm CEST (in much of Europe) – Eco-Lit ep. 16 – British poet Philip Burton: Gaia Warnings
Host Samuel Jayasi speaks with poet Philip Burton, focusing on his poetry collection, Gaia Warnings – dedicated to the urgency of climate change and the relationship humankind has with nature. This book is available from Palewell Press.
“Philip Burton’s evocations are an important and relevant access point to nature’s plight. Seeding adoration and passion for nature into the day-to-day impact human beings have on it, re-establishing that integral link between people and the environment, is a potent way to rally a disconnected public for the final fight to save the natural world.”
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12:00pm EDT = 5:00pm BST = 6:00pm CEST – Spotlighting the EU Prize for Literature ep. 28 – Italian poet and novelist Daniele Mencarelli: Always Return
This is the third novel in Daniele’s autobiographical trilogy. Host Andrew Singer speaks with him all about this EUPL-recognized novel, the grand trilogy of which it plays a part, and his life in literature generally, and we enjoy an excerpt from this candid, tumultuous work.
Daniele’s answers are presented fully bilingually (in original Italian and in English translation).
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1:00pm EDT = 6:00pm BST = 7:00pm CEST – The Joe Show ep. 05 – A deep dive on Roma (gypsy) “crossover” music
[Details of this exciting audio documentary will follow shortly]
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2:00pm EDT = 7:00pm BST = 8:00pm CEST – Bowery Poetry Speaks ep. 56 – Italian crime fiction author Gaetano Savatteri: A Conspiracy of Talkers
Host Joe Williams interviews Italian journalist and author Gaetano Savatteri and translator Steve Eaton about Gaetano’s novel, A Conspiracy of Talkers, available now from Italica Press. This novella exploits the conventions of the crime thriller genre to offer a cross-section of Sicilian society and shed light on how justice was executed in Allied-occupied Sicily. This episode features a bilingual reading from the book.
Gaetano’s answers are live-interpreted into English by Cinzia Russi.
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Thanks – we hope to see you here!