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Episode details

Radio 4,30 Mar 2014,28 mins

Damon Galgut, Kate Colquhoun, Judith Flanders, AL Kennedy, Julian Gough, Stella Duffy

Open Book

Available for over a year

Twice Man Booker-shortlisted South African novelist Damon Galgut talks to Mariella Frostrup about his latest novel 'Arctic Summer', which evokes the life of E M Forster. Damon Galgut is perhaps best known for his Man Booker-listed novels, 'The Good Doctor' and 'In a Strange Room'. His new novel, 'Arctic Summer', takes its title from E M Forster's unfinished novel of the same name and explores the writer's life from his first visit to India as an impressionable 33-year-old in 1912 to the publishing of his masterpiece, 'A Passage to India', over a decade later. It charts Forster's most fruitful period as a writer, but also his years of sexual discovery, his unrequited loves, longings and loneliness. Authors Stella Duffy and Julian Gough discuss whether the new apps for writers can really get the creative juices flowing, while A L Kennedy bravely roadtests a few of the most popular for us. Finally, a look at the enduring popularity of Victorian true crime with Kate Colquhoun and Judith Flanders. Kate's new book, 'Did She Kill Him?' is the tale of the infamous American heiress Florence Maybrick, who was accused of poisoning her wealthy older husband in 1889. Judith Flanders is the author of 'The Invention of Murder', which explores the Victorian fascination with crime. They explain why Victorian true crime is truly the template for all crime writing today. Producer: Justine Willett.

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