Jack Foster's anthology Titanic, published by Penguin Books in 1999, is an unrivalled collection of more than eight decades of literature about the great ship, combining journalism, essays, fiction, poems, letters, songs and transcripts of hearings. It relives the ship's sinking through the accounts of survivors,witnesses and commentators,with contributions from major writers of the time such as as Joseph Conrad, H.G. Wells, Tomas Hardy, George Bernard Shaw and Sir Arhur Conan Doyle.
Beyond that this remarkable book shows how the sinking of the Titanic was a cultural phenomenon which fulfilled the anxieties of its time-the frictions of class, race and gender, the hunger for progress and machine efficiency, and the arrogant assumptions of the mechanical age.
QFT's season devoted to the history of British shipbuilding commenced with a programme of local material – a unique tribute to Belfast's industrial heritage. Rare and breathtaking film made in 1910 of the SS Olympic, the sister ship of the Titanic (no equivalent footage of the Titanic exists) was followed by the newly restored A Great Ship (1932) showing the construction of the liner Canberra, and conveying an awe-inspiring sense of the worldwide community of workers contributing to the ship's birth.
Finally we saw The Steel Chest, Nail in the Boot and the Barking Dog, directed by David Hammond, a friend of Jack's. This is an award-winning documentary (1986) largely told in story and song by the families who made their livings in the shipyard. I first met David and his family years ago when he invited me to dinner at his home. I used to see him often walking his dog down the Castlereagh Road.
Altogether a wonderful presentation.
To be continued