Tales of the François Vase

A Poem and Radio Play
Julia Older

Julia Older’s obsession with the famous Francois Vase led to both the radio play and the book-length poem. The dramatic 25-century journey of the vase winds through a subterranean inferno of greed, passion, and terror. Twice it was smashed into 600-plus pieces, came unglued, and was puzzled together, each time with a piece missing. A third time — during the 1966 Florence Flood — a scientist intentionally broke the vase. He restored it with the missing piece, and at last it was whole. Older’s book offers readers the entire fascinating story. The poem is illustrated with the vase figures from the Iliad and the book includes a “backstory” with Older’s original translations of her research.

The CD included with this book is a 33-minute radio drama introduced by a 10-minute director-author interview. The production was chosen by Radio Works’ Best Independent Programs for syndication and broadcast to more than sixty public radio stations coast to coast.

Tales of the François Vase is Volume III of the Hobblebush Granite State Poetry Series. Other volumes: From the Box Marked Some Are Missing by Charles W. Pratt and Earth Listening by Becky Sakellariou