Prose and Poetry
Boris Vian, Arne Næss, Karl Ove Knausgård, Javier Marías, Nawal El Saadawi, Tale of Genji. All of these programmes are available as Arts and Ideas podcasts via the Downloads tab.
Ursula Le Guin and The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
Naomi Alderman, Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson and others discuss the politics of this 1973 fable.
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Sam Selvon and The Lonely Londoners
Selvon's evocative 1956 novel discussed at the British Library by Shahidha Bari & guests.
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Lorca
As the National Theatre stages The House of Bernarda Alba, Rana Mitter discusses Lorca
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Libraries
From Alexandria to mid-Wales, Laurence Scott and guests look at library history.
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Kadare, Gospodinov, Kafka and Dickens
Lea Ypi and Roger Luckhurst join Matthew Sweet to look at novels, dreams and bureaucracy.
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Korea and Japan
Chris Harding reads from Yu Miri's new novel, The End of August.
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JG Ballard's Crash
Iain Sinclair, Mark Blacklock, Muriel Zagha and Jo Stanley join Matthew Sweet.
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Narnia and CS Lewis
Exploring the literary and theological terrain of C.S. Lewis's Narnia
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Margaret Cavendish
Nandini Das and guests discuss the Duchess of Newcastle - philosopher, poet and scientist.
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Prize Winners 2023
Nandini Das, Tania Branigan, Halik Kochanski, Ed Yong, John Vallaint talk to Rana Mitter
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Postwar Germany
Forging the modern German nation from the moral and material ruins of World War II.
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Dickens, Disney and copyright
Matthew Sweet looks at copyright rules for Mickey Mouse and Dickens in C19th America.
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Robert Aickman
On Halloween, Matthew Sweet & guests discuss supernatural fiction, conservation and canals
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Betty Miller and Marghanita Laski
Howard Jacobson, Lara Feigel and Lisa Mullen with Matthew Sweet.
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The Wolfson Prize 2023
Rana Mitter talks to the six authors shortlisted for the UK's main history writing prize.
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Queer history, new narrative in San Fransisco
Diarmuid Hester & Dodie Bellamy tell Naomi Paxton about a 70s experimental writing group.
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Notebooks and new technology
Authors Jonathan Coe, Roland Allen, Lesley Smith and art book maker Gill Partington.
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Slavic culture and myth
Matthew Sweet looks at the origins of creatures like Baba Yaga, Banniks and Rusalkas.
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Refuge and National Poetry Day
Poets Momtaza Mehri, Julianknxx and historian Jesús Sanjurjo join Matthew Sweet.
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Valis and Philip K Dick
A weirdly autobiographical science fiction novel from 1981, inspired by hallucinations.
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Dystopian thinking
As Kay Dick's They opens at MIF, Matthew Sweet and guests trace the history of dystopias.
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Zimbabwean writing
NoViolet Bulawayo's We Need New Names on stage plus 'enfant terrible' Dambudzo Marechera.
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Linda Grant and Jewish history
John Gallagher looks at the Manchester Jewish Museum and talks to novelist Linda Grant.
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The Sorrows of Young Werther
The book of the Sturm und Drang generation. Anne McElvoy explores the ideas behind it.
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