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Sam Hanna Bell Centenary Celebrations Launched
16 Oct 2009 :
The centenary anniversary of the birth of BBC NI broadcaster, Sam Hanna Bell, has been marked with the unveiling of a plaque at the broadcaster and novelist’s home and the launch several events celebrating his life.

On Thursday, October 15th Northern Ireland Culture Minister, Nelson McCausland, unveiled a commemorative plaque at Crescent Gardens in Belfast where Sam Hanna Bell lived and the Linen Hall Library in Belfast will play host to several events to commemorate the life and works of Hanna Bell.

Sam Hanna Bell moved to Northern Ireland from Glasgow in 1921. His long association with local broadcasting began with his scripts for the BBC Children’s Hour. With encouragement from Louis MacNeice he became a Features Assistant with the BBC in Belfast in 1945. His appointment coincided with a new emphasis on regional programming and he worked to develop the reach and appeal of BBC radio in Northern Ireland.

He promoted local writers, storytellers and folk musicians and brought everyday life to the microphone through an inventive use of new recording equipment. His programmes captured the stories and voices of ordinary people and created an archive of a now vanished world. His 1951 novel, ‘December Bride’, was banned in parts of Ireland but was later made into a successful feature film by Thaddeus O’Sullivan in 1991. Hanna Bell also played a key role in the early development of a newly established BBC Schools Department in 1961.

Commemorative events started in the Linen Hall Library on Wednesday, the 14th of October with a talk hosted by Prof. Norman Vance entitled ‘Sam Hanna Bell and the Anthropology of Ulster’

Friday, October 16th will see the launch of BBC Northern Ireland’s exhibition ‘A Man Flourishing’ – the life and work of writer and broadcaster, Sam Hanna Bell, 1909-1990’ which takes place at 6pm which will coincide with the launch of new publication ‘A Salute from the Banderol: The Selected Writings of Sam Hanna Bell’. Speakers at the exhibition launch will include the former director of BBC’s ‘Nations and Regions’ Pat Loughrey, Paul Muldoon, Michael Longley and Sophie Hillen with music being provided by Kate Fletcher. The free exhibition will be opened to the public from Saturday, October 17th until Saturday, November 14th in the Linen Hall Library in Belfast and will then tour various locations around Northern Ireland.

Saturday, October 17th will play host to a forum and presentations which will ask the question ‘How Should we Interpret Sam Hanna Bell’s Legacy in Northern Ireland Today?’ and will feature speakers such as Carlo Gébler who will present ‘Sam Hanna Bell and the Irish Literary Tradition’, Roma Tomelty discussing ‘ Sam Hanna Bell, Joe Tomelty and the Theatre in Ulster’ and director Thaddeus O’Sullivan who will discuss the making of the 1991 film version of ‘December Bride’ Finally there will be a reading group event on Thursday, October 29th where Sam Hanna Bell’s novel ‘December Bride’ will be read aloud in the Linen Hall Library’s Governor’s Room at 1.10pm.

Pat Loughrey, former Controller of BBC Northern Ireland and former director of ‘Nations and Regions’ says “The sense of localness in which Sam Hanna Bell believed remains central to the BBC’s role in an ever-changing Northern Ireland. It’s good to celebrate his important, and lasting, contribution to broadcasting and the arts and to remember the debt that we owe to Sam Hanna Bell and his pioneering BBC colleagues.”

For more information, ticket prices (for certain events) and events timetable see the Linen Hall Library website at www.linenhall.com



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