The Essay Episodes Available now
The Cruel Sea—British War Films of the 50s
Simon Heffer on the film The Cruel Sea, about the price of victory in World War Two.
Justin Cartwright - Christmas—The Writer's Dickens
5/5 Justin Cartwright reflects on the place that Christmas occupies in Charles Dickens's work.
Alexander McCall Smith - Episodic Writing—The Writer's Dickens
4/5 Writer Alexander McCall Smith salutes Charles Dickens's mastery of the episodic form.
AL Kennedy - No Hope of Return—The Writer's Dickens
3/5 AL Kennedy explores Dickens' literary response to the themes of poverty, misery and death.
Romesh Gunesekera - The Orphan Eye—The Writer's Dickens
2/5 Romesh Gunesekera on how Dickens addresses the move from childhood into the world beyond.
Tessa Hadley - Rooms and Reality—The Writer's Dickens
1/5 Tessa Hadley on how Dickens paints the reality of his world through characters' houses.
A History of Memory or a Memory of History?—Looking and Looking Away
5/5 Amanda Hopkinson lifts the lid on German writer WG Sebald's photographic archive.
Sebald the Poet—Looking and Looking Away
4/5 Poet George Szirtes reflects on German writer WG Sebald's poetry.
A Translator's View—Looking and Looking Away
3/5 Anthea Bell offers a translator's view on the life and work of WG Sebald.
Teaching by Example—Looking and Looking Away
2/5 Uwe Schutte reflects on the life and work of writer WG Sebald, who was once his teacher.
