Sam Hanna Bell is one of Northern Ireland’s finest writers and broadcasters. The author of a string of novels, including December Bride, Bell was also a pioneering radio broadcaster, an incisive cultural commentator, and a committed regionalist whose work celebrated the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the North.
Working alongside fellow writers Louis MacNeice, W.R. Rodgers and Paul Muldoon at Broadcasting House in Belfast, Bell pioneered the production of grassroots features programmes throughout the 1940s, 50s and 60s, collecting and broadcasting fast-vanishing folklore and folk music from remote country areas.
His radio work was complemented by a significant body of journalism in which he captured the rhythms and patterns of life in Northern Ireland, from regional customs and traditions to literature, theatre, politics and religion.
A Salute from the Banderol is a selection of Bell’s most important and personal writings, and includes radio play scripts, essays and articles, as well as photographs and extracts from his unpublished diaries. Published to mark the centenary of his birth, this book celebrates Bell’s remarkable contribution to regional culture and provides a fascinating portrait of a man whose vision and work have created a lasting legacy.