Early Radio

Brings together important texts on early radio for the first time, including a large number of translations previously unavailable in English Who were the first writers who wanted radio to be recognised as an art form? Who were the pioneers who defined how to write and perform for radio, conceptualised the new radio aesthetic and debated radio's social and political importance? Spanning the period from 1924 to 1938, this anthology brings together long-forgotten texts on sound, listening and writing by radio enthusiasts, journalists, actors, radio producers and literary authors - men and women from different walks of life who reflected on radio as a medium requiring the invention of a new literature, new modes of performance and new ways of listening. The texts included here, drawn from British, French, German and Italian radio cultures, are representative of important pan-European debates about radio's potential at a critical moment in its history and shed light on ideas that shaped not only the birth of radio drama, sound art and reportage, but radio as we know it today. Emilie Morin is Professor of Modern Literature at the University of York, UK. Nicoletta Asciuto is Senior Lecturer in Modern Literature at the University of York, UK. Marielle Sutherland is a freelance translator (German to English).