The Invisible College BBC Radio 4
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- Arts
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Lessons in creative writing from a ghostly array of great novelists, poets and playwrights such as Ted Hughes, W.B. Yeats and Allen Ginsberg. Presented and produced by Cathy FitzGerald.
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Lesson Eighteen: Writer’s Block
“You’re in the middle of writing something and your mind goes blank… ok, you’re being warned, aren’t you?” Discover Ray Bradbury’s simple trick for overcoming writer’s block.
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Lesson Seventeen: What I Learned from James Baldwin
Contemporary novelist Caryl Phillips close reads a dramatic passage from ‘Another Country’ by James Baldwin to see what we can learn from the great American writer.
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Lesson Sixteen: Dealing with Critics
If you’re going to put your work out in the world, then sooner or later, someone’s going to take a pop at it. This lesson features tips on handling critics from novelists John Fowles and Graham Greene, plus some unexpected behaviour from Henry James.
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Lesson Fifteen: Write and Repeat
“Easy reading is damned hard writing,” says Maya Angelou. Hear the many pains she takes to ‘sharpen her language’ in this lesson about revising your work.
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Lesson Fourteen: In Search of a Character with Graham Greene
Hear how Graham Greene gradually evolves a character – and a novel - on a research trip to a leper colony in the Congo.
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Lesson Thirteen: Place
Sometimes the world gives writers a location so atmospheric it’s just waiting for a back story. But how do we do it justice? Poet Ted Hughes, diarist Christopher Isherwood and Vladimir Nabokov on capturing the soul of a place in words.
Customer Reviews
I love these
Thank you for broadcasting these talks. I use them with my writing students. Essential listening. They give me a boost every time I listen.
They stay on my iPad
Have all 18 on my iPad and think I’m probably going through for the fifth time. Cannot delete them they are too precious. More please.
Im a song writer and have found some gems in here!
Love how they are all approx 10 mins long. Little bites of knowledge in your ear. Perfect snack listen. Although I’ve just played them all in a couple of days 😂👍👍