Dr Cathy FitzGerald presents a second series of lessons in creative writing made from archive recordings of great novelists, poets and playwrights talking about their craft.

In the second of three episodes:

Lesson Four - Place

How do we capture the soul of a place in words? Tips from poet laureate Ted Hughes, diarist and novelist Christopher Isherwood, and author of Lolita and Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov.

Lesson Five - In Search of a Character with Graham Greene

In this wonderful archive recording, novelist Graham Greene describes his research trip to a leper colony in the Congo in 1959. Hear how the resulting novel, A Burnt-Out Case, takes shape.

Lesson Six - Write and Repeat

Poet and novelist Maya Angelou describes the slow, careful and sometimes excruciating process of sharpening her prose - refining her observations and making her words ever more precise. 'Easy reading,' she says, 'is damn hard writing'.

Presenter and Producer: Cathy FitzGerald.

A White Stiletto production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in May 2017. Show less