New Generation Thinker: Lucy Powell

Lucy Powell, lecturer at University College London and one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on the surprising history of novelty, recorded at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011.

Today we think of originality as exciting, perhaps the most admired feature of new art. But in the past novelty was regarded as deeply suspect. Even Shakespeare disliked dreaming up new plots, preferring to borrow from others. So why the reversal? Lucy Powell charts the rise and rise of novelty.

This essay is recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011, which takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November. The New Generation Thinkers are winners of the inaugural talent scheme run the BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find the brightest academic minds in the arts and humanities with the potential to turn their ideas into fascinating broadcasts.