Literature and Poetry
91热爆 Arts continues its celebration of books and the joy of reading, with multiplatform collaborations and festivals, showcasing the best brand-new fiction and series to inspire curiosity and debate.
Published: 8 September 2020
91热爆 Arts continues its celebration of books and the joy of reading, with multiplatform collaborations and festivals, showcasing the best brand new fiction and series to inspire curiosity and debate. With programming to reflect the breath of the art form from classics to contemporary fiction, from celebrated authors to the less well-known.
The Novels That Shaped Our World
The innovative, multiplatform collaboration between the 91热爆, libraries and reading groups will emerge post-lockdown in time for Libraries Week, celebrating the nation’s much loved libraries and their vital role in the UK’s book culture.
Digital book festival featuring panel discussions and intimate chats with a range of fascinating authors. Co-founded by the authors Kit de Waal and Molly Flatt (pictured above).
Molly Flatt says: "We’re delighted that the Big Book Weekend is coming back next year, following such a fantastic response to the event in May.
"Our mission is to bring people from across the UK together around big ideas and incredible authors across a whole range of topics, from mental health to climate change, and the 91热爆 gives us the perfect platform to reach as wide an audience as possible. They’ll be something to fascinate, challenge and inspire."
Contains Strong Language 2020
In the first live poetry festival since lockdown, Contains Strong Language will broadcast to Radio 3 and Radio 4 and stream live to 91热爆 Arts from Cumbria, from Friday 25 September until Sunday 27 September.
Contains Strong Language is the UK’s biggest poetry and performance festival of new writing, and this year features workshops and masterclasses led by spoken word stars Malika Booker, Avelino and Hussain Manawer.
2020 has seen a record number of applications to the festival, with 2020 semi-finalists being asked by 91热爆 1Xtra to write their response to the word ‘protest’ and what it means to them. Responses will be performed at the Words First summer showcase at the Contains Strong Language festival on Saturday 26 September, and the event will be streamed to 91热爆 Arts.
Radio 3
Drama On 3: The Son (1 x 105’)
The latest play written by internationally acclaimed playwright Florian Zeller and directed by the award-winning Michael Longhurst forms the final part of the critically acclaimed trilogy with The Father and The Mother.
The play explores the impact of Nicolas’ struggles with his mental health on his separated parents. Starring Nicola Walker (Spooks, Last Tango In Halifax), Laurie Kynaston (How To Build A Girl) and Joseph Millson (The Last Kingdom, Casino Royale) The Son opened at The Kiln to very positive reviews and sold out shows, before transferring to the Duke of York’s Theatre in London’s West End.
Between The Ears: Rising Sea Symphony (1 x 45’)
Following on from the NHS Symphony and M1 Symphony, a mixture of audio recordings and newly recorded orchestral music telling the story of the rising sea levels.
From Ghana to the Arctic, the dramatic effects of climate change is depicted in words, sounds and specially commissioned music. Documentary producer Laurence Grissell and composer Kieran Brunt have collaborated to create a truly original evocation of the causes and consequences of rising, warming oceans.
In a brand new commission for 91热爆 Radio 3, Kieran Brunt weaves together electronic, vocal and orchestral elements recorded in isolation by players from the 91热爆 Philharmonic. This original music, composed in four movements, is interwoven with testimony from people on the frontline of the crisis: from coastal Ghana - where entire villages are being swept away by the rising sea - to Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, where glaciers and ice sheets are melting with alarming speed.
The dramatic fourth and final movement ponders two contrasting possible outcomes to the crisis. It’s a rich acoustic work with the sounds effects by legendary natural history sound recordist Chris Watson.
The Essay: Thinking Black (5 x 15’)
Writer Colin Grant explores the fascinating stories of five individuals who have attempted in one way or another to transcend and challenge the boundary of race. He interweaves these lives with his own personal experiences of growing up and then working in predominantly ‘white’ institutions, examining such themes as the experience of becoming ‘invisible’ and the history of racial passing. The series is a nuanced take on some of the complex issues underlying the current debate around race and identity.
The Verb (2 x 45’)
Ian McMillan presents two specials from the festival, including a broadcast from Dove Cottage in Grasmere to celebrate the 250th anniversary of William Wordsworth’s birth and discuss his legacy.
Drama On 3: Christabel (1 x 75’)
An adaptation of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s unfinished poem Christabel with poet Kate Clanchy, with a contemporary twist and music composed by Katie Chatburn.
Starring performance poet Luke Wright, Krissi Bohn (Counterpart, Years And Years, Coronation Street) and Phia Saban.
The Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed (8 x 60’)
Radio 4 welcomes back Simon Armitage in the podcast The Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed, once again nestled at the bottom of his garden and surrounded by the Pennine hills. Simon was joined by naturalist Chris Packham, musician Kae Tempest, beat-boxer Testament, and more in the first series. He’ll host a new selection of similarly eclectic guests for series two.
Front Row
Front Row will be live, featuring an exuberant mix of interviews, discussion and performance with poets and writers.
Highlights will also include poet Luke Wright live from Barrow, learning how the town has inspired writers, Jacob Polley reading extracts from his play about climate change, Emergency, and Zosia Wand’s Bones tells the story of a battle between a Polish mother and her British teenage daughter in a play about heritage and identity.
Words First
The Words First showcase will be streamed live from Tullie House in Carlisle, featuring 12 successful young poets from the 91热爆’s talent development scheme, delivering their responses to the theme of protest.
Later on in the year, a film will also be made about each of the six Words First finalists which will run on 91热爆 Arts.
The Booker Prize (w/t) (1 x 30’)
Novelist and activist Kit de Waal follows the most prestigious literary award in the English speaking world: the Booker Prize.
In the build up to the announcement of this year’s winner, we meet the six authors creating some of the most exciting fiction from across the world, and discover the novels in contention for the prize that are flying off the shelves all over the country.
With the 2020 longlist already offering a surprising mixture of debut novelists amongst major literary names, this year’s field looks to encompass a diverse range of global stories. Hotly tipped for the number one spot is literary giant Hilary Mantel, who would make history as the first writer to achieve the Booker hat-trick if chosen for the finale of her Cromwell trilogy.
Kit - a vocal campaigner for inclusivity in publishing - will also be examining the wider landscape of the publishing industry in the wake of the unprecedented global events of 2020.
She meets Bernardine Evaristo (pictured above), joint-winner of last year’s award and the first black woman to win the prize since its inception in 1969, as well as members of this year’s judging panel, to explore not only the life-changing effect of winning the Booker, but also the issue of diversity in publishing highlighted by this year’s Black Lives Matter movement. And with the UK’s publishing houses rocked as much as any other business by Covid-19, she explores how the pandemic has affected both the industry, and the books that we’re reading.
- The Booker Prize is a 91热爆 Studios Production. Commissioned for 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Two by Lamia Dabboussy. The Executive Producer is Tanya Hudson. The Producer Director is Gabriella Meade.
On 91热爆 Radio 4, Front Row will announce the winner of The Booker Prize live, with a programme building up to the announcement plus interviews with Book Groups about the shortlist, in the weeks leading up to the award.
91热爆 Two
Between The Covers (7 x 30’)
A book club designed to bring the nation together through sharing the pleasure of reading, hosted by Sara Cox with four celebrity guests each week.
As well as chatting about their favourite books, together they will discuss the book of the week that has been specially chosen for the series, with the author introducing their book via a recorded clip. The books are:
- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
- Love In Colour by Bolu Babalola
- Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers
- Fifty-Fifty by Steve Cavanagh
- Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud
- This Lovely City by Louise Hare
- The Devil And The Dark Water by Stuart Turton
All will feature a Between The Covers sticker that will appear in stores, libraries and online, so that audiences can read them too and afterwards share their thoughts using #betweenthecovers. Also on the show there is the celebrity book of the week written by one of the guests for an in-studio chat about their latest creation.
The Magical World Of Julia Donaldson (w/t) (1 X 60’)
This warmly personal portrait will celebrate the life and work of one of Britain's best-selling children's authors, with unique access to Julia Donaldson, her family, and her rich catalogue of archive and home-movies.
Specially commissioned animated illustrations from her long-term illustrator Axel Scheffler will bring Julia's biography to life. With contributions from well-known admirers and collaborators, the programme will pay tribute to the woman who has created the characters and stories that have become a fixture of children’s bedtime routines all around the world, and spawned multi-award winning adaptations for stage and screen.
The Gruffalo, Zog, The Highway Rat, Stick Man, The Paper Dolls, Tabby McTat, Tiddler... the film will uncover the surprising stories behind how her iconic characters were created, and what they mean to a generation of readers. Eccentric, warm, funny, the film will explore why Donaldson’s books appeal to both children and adults alike - tackling serious themes of love, loss, fear and tyranny in a poignant but subtle way.
- The Magical World of Julia Donaldson is a 91热爆 Studios Production. It was commissioned by 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Two by Mark Bell. Executive Producer is Tanya Hudson. The Producer Director is Katy Homan.
Becoming Bridget (w/t) (1 x 60’)
In 2020, it will be 25 years since Bridget Jones made her first appearance in a newspaper column detailing her rocky relationships with men, booze, fags... and knicker elastic. One of the defining figures of the 1990s, Helen Fielding’s comic creation was an instant cultural phenomenon.
Now, a quarter of a century later, 91热爆 Two celebrates Bridget Jones and the legacy of Helen Fielding’s character. In the age of Fleabag and #MeToo, the film explores how Bridget’s story reflects changing attitudes to women - and the way their stories are told. Being Bridget will feature interviews with Helen Fielding and the friends who inspired the original characters, along with rarely seen archive and celebrity fans playing tribute.
- Being Bridget is a 91热爆 Studios Production. It was commissioned for 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Two by Mark Bell. The Executive Producer is Tanya Hudson. The Producer Director is Alex Harding.
The Secret History Of Writing (3 x 60’)
Three dynamic and highly visual films that tell the story of writing, from cave paintings to the digital age. Writing is the greatest invention of all time, one which has shaped the course of human history, and changed the architecture of the human mind. In this series, new science and archaeology will be married to stunning locations and dazzling graphics to give viewers a fresh view of something they do every day: write.
- The Secret History Of Writing is a DOX Production in association with Films à Cinq for 91热爆/Arte France/NOVA. It was commissioned by 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Two by Mark Bell. The series was written and directed by David Sington. Series Producer is Hugh Sington. Exec Producers are David Sington and Martin de la Fouchardière
Africa Turns The Page: The Novels That Shaped A Continent (1 x 60’)
Presenter and historian David Olusoga explores how Africa has become a superpower in the world of the novel and looks back to when African nations fought for independence. He meets Bernadine Evaristo, the first black woman to win the Booker Prize, as well as leading figures whose lives were touched by the African novel.
- Africa Turns The Page: The Novels That Shaped A Continent is an Uplands Television Production. It was commissioned for 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Four by Mark Bell. Mike Smith is the Executive Producer
Richard E. Grant Write Around The World (3 x 60)
A visually stunning series in which book and travel lover Richard E Grant makes three journeys to France, Italy and Spain, visiting places that have inspired writers across the centuries.
Taking an essential reading list of five or six books from different periods and genres per programme, Richard’s understanding of the culture, history and landscape of the places he’s visiting and how they’ve changed, will be informed by the writers’ experiences.
Retracing individual journeys, exploring landscapes, views and monuments Richard will learn about key moments in writers’ lives and the impact particular destinations had on them.
- Richard E Grant Write Around the World is a Storyvault Films Production. It was commissioned for 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Four by Emma Cahusac. Stuart Prebble is the Executive Producer.
Plague Fiction (1 x 60’)
Plague Fiction is hosted by Laura Ashe (pictured below), professor of medieval literature at the University of Oxford, who has spent much of her career studying the impact of plague on societies and cultures.
Recognising the similarities between the Covid-19 pandemic and the devastating plagues of the 14th and 17th centuries, Ashe delves into historical records and literature, as well as nearly seven decades of 91热爆 archive material, to see what lessons can be learned from our medieval forebears - and how we can use this experience to help build a better future.
The result is an enthralling mix of practical advice, inspiring stories of human heroism, eye-watering descriptions of medieval medicine and accounts of life under plague from the likes of Samuel Pepys and Geoffrey Chaucer.
- Plague Fiction is an Alleycats Production. It was commissioned for 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Four by Lamia Dabboussy. Executive Producers are Emma Parkins and Ed Stobart and was made under lockdown.
Art On The 91热爆 (4 x 60’)
The series will focus on four of art’s most celebrated but controversial names: Dali, Van Gogh, Monet and Turner. In each episode, an up-and-coming British art historian will mine the 91热爆 vaults to discover how six decades of TV has influenced our understanding of these masters.
With the help of rare archive material, the presenters will explain how Dali became the world’s first celebrity artist, how Vincent Van Gogh’s mental health influenced his work, how commercial success has blinded us to the revolutionary talent of Claude Monet, and how JMW Turner rose from the back streets of London to become Britain’s greatest maritime painter and the ‘father of modern art’.
Hosting the second series are Kate Bryan (pictured above), art historian and curator (Van Gogh); David Dibosa (pictured top), Chelsea College Of Arts’ Dr , co-investigator of the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Black Artists and Modernism project (Dali); art historian Katy Hessel, founder of The Great Women Artists Podcast (Monet); and art historian Leslie Primo, lecturer for the National Portrait Gallery (Turner).
- Art on the 91热爆 is an Alleycats Production. It was commissioned for 91热爆 Arts and 91热爆 Four by Emma Cahusac. Executive Producers are Emma Parkins and Ed Stobart.
