Isaac Rosenberg
Thursday 27 March 2008 21:45-22:30 (Radio 3)
Matthew Sweet and guests explore the life and work of the First World War poet Isaac Rosenberg, as a new exhibition and biography attempt to reassess his contribution to the poetry and painting of his age.
And as part of Radio 3's Rites of Spring series, Calcutta-born novelist Sunetra Gupta reports from the colourful spring festival Holi, celebrated by Indian communities around the world.
Muqtada al-Sadr
Muqtada al-Sadr
Playlist
Muqtada al-Sadr
The rise of the Shia political leader Maqtada al-Sadr has been one of the great surprises in post invasion Iraq. Matthew Sweet talks to the journalist Patrick Cockburn about his new book on the "firebrand cleric" that reveals a more astute and experienced politician than the invading American forces anticipated.
Muqtada Al-Sadr and the Fall of Iraq by Patrick Cockburn is published by Faber and Faber
Isaac Rosenberg
TS Eliot called him the "most extraordinary" of the Great War poets. Yet for most of us the name of Isaac Rosenberg remains an obscure one compared to the likes of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. Matthew Sweet talks to Jean Moorcroft Wilson, author of a new biography on Rosenberg, and the poet Michael Rosen to consider his life and work.
Isaac Rosenberg: The Making Of A Great War Poet: A New Life: The Making of a Great War Poet by Jean Moorcroft Wilson is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Ensoulment
Matthew Sweet and guests Martin Palmer and David Jones discuss the Catholic idea of "animation" - the transformation of an object into a living being as the soul enters an unborn child. As parliament prepares to vote on the new human fertilisation and embryo bill, Night Waves explores and history and detail of this fascinating theological belief.
Rites of Spring - Calcutta
Throughout this week Radio 3 celebrates "the Rites of Spring" with a spread of programmes across the schedule marking the beginning of spring and celebrating some of the music, literature and ideas connected with rebirth, growth and ritual. The Bengali born poet Sunetra Gupta describes the festival of Holi as celebrated in Calcutta.
