Foreign Correspondent Marie Woodhams to Reveal Her Life Story at Discussion

21. březen 2018

Tuesday evening of the festival will be devoted to a discussion with Vienna-based foreign correspondent Marie Woodhams, who will be joined by Czech Radio Director General René Zavoral. The main topic of the evening will be 95 years of radio broadcasting. You will also learn a lot about the life of the foreign radio correspondent.

Marie Woodhams’s life story is full of surprises. Here broadcasting career began on the radio station Radiožurnál before the Velvet Revolution. She worked as a correspondent in her home town of Zlín. In former Czechoslovakia, her life seemed idyllic: a husband, two children and a dream job.

Then came a divorce. Not long after, she met her homme fatale, an Englishman. That, however, was not usual in the former regime. Marie Woodhams had to leave the station, and then she and her husband moved to Vienna. It seemed that the door to her beloved airwaves at Radiožurnál was shut for good.

Then came November 1989 and everything flipped by 180 degrees. Right after the Velvet Revolution, she received a job offer from Czechoslovak Radio. Marie became a foreign correspondent based in Vienna. Her life and work in Austria will be one of the topics during Tuesday’s discussion at the Prix Bohemia Radio festival.

 “Of course, nothing’s one way, so we can also talk about why Austrians like visiting our country and the popularity of Czech lessons with our southern neighbours. Thousands of Austrians are voluntarily taking lessons in our native language at language schools throughout Vienna,” says Woodhams as an invitation to the debate.

In addition to the Marie Woodhams’ story, the discussion will revolve around 95 years of radio broadcasting in this country. Czech Radio will commemorate this anniversary with a lot of events, and the 34th annual festival, specifically the discussion, is one of them. During the discussion, the foreign correspondent will be joined by Director General of Czech Radio René Zavoral.

author: Lukáš Blokša
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