Novelist John Irving to Appear on THEATER TALK This Week

An all-new THEATER TALK presents a revealing interview with writer John Irving in celebration of the publication of his latest novel, AVENUE OF MYSTERIES. He discusses his roots in drama and the "theatrical sensibilities" that have infused his work. Irving, however, has never tried to write a play. Fascinated by 19th century classic fiction, he was instead drawn into writing novels (at present 14), including his 1978 bestseller THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, which he is now turning into a mini-series for HBO.

Irving grew up around a small-town playhouse in New Hampshire, where his mother was a prompter and his grandfather an occasional actor. He enjoyed the "architecture" of plays by Shakespeare and the Greeks and then became inspired by the works of Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy, which pegged his writing as "old-fashioned or out-of-date before I began." While he admits his prose has always been visual - and with liberal helpings of dialogue - he is also comfortable with writing screenplays or teleplays, but not with the demand that plays must "make everything happen" through words.

Working on THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP miniseries, Irving says he thought sexual violence would be a non-issue in society in the years after the novel's publication in 1978. He is giving more prominence to the transgender character, Roberta (played by John Lithgow in the 1982 movie written by Steve Tesich), in the teleplay; "She is the one most in control of her sexual anger."

Co-hosted by Michael Riedel of the New York Post and Susan Haskins, this latest edition of THEATER TALK premieres in the New York metropolitan area Friday, January 15 (2016) at 1:30 AM (early Saturday morning) and Sunday 1/17 at 11:30 AM on Thirteen/PBS; on CUNY TV* Saturday 1/16 at 8:30 PM, Sunday 1/17 at 12:30 PM, and Monday 1/18 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM; and on WLIW/21 on Monday 1/18 at 5:30 PM - a total of 8 showings this week.

THEATER TALK is jointly produced by the not-for-profits Theater Talk Productions and CUNY TV. The program is taped in the Himan Brown TV and Radio Studios at The City University of New York (CUNY) TV in Manhattan, and is distributed to 100+ participating public television stations nationwide. THEATER TALK is made possible in part by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The CUNY TV Foundation, and The Friends of THEATER TALK.

Pictured: THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP" book jacket (1978; courtesy E.P. Dutton, publisher); John Irving (Image courtesy Theater Talk/CUNY TV); "AVENUE OF MYSTERIES" book jacket (2015; courtesy Simon & Schuster, publisher)