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Utopia: Mr More's Wondrous Islands

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A celebration of Thomas More’s Utopia published 500 years ago.

A celebration of Thomas More’s Utopia, published 500 years ago.

A celebration of Thomas More’s Utopia, published 500 years ago, which provided inspiration to generations of people trying to find new ways to organise society.

Utopia: Mr More's Wondrous Islands: Utopian inspirations: 971 by Lea Sauer

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Guadeloupe: Credit BBC

21/12/2016 GMT

Utopian inspirations: 971 by Lea Sauer

BBC World Service - Utopia: Mr More's Wondrous Islands, Utopian inspirations: 971 by Lea Sauer

A new short story inspired by Thomas More’s Utopia and commissioned by BBC World Service

A new short story inspired by Thomas More’s Utopia and commissioned by BBC World Service. Martina Laird reads '971' by Lea Sauer.

It is five centuries since a book full of novel, playful, perhaps futuristic ideas was first published in what is now Belgium: Utopia by Thomas More. To mark the anniversary, BBC World Service has asked three young authors to take More's mythical island as a starting point for a new short story. This is one of them, 971 by Lea Sauer, translated from the German by Daniel Stächelin. The story is set in Guadeloupe and the reader is Martina Laird.

After having lived in Guadeloupe, Paris and Finland, Lea Sauer began her studies in Creative Writing at the Deutsche Literaturinstitut in Leipzig, Germany, in 2015. Her story 'Nothing right before the Rue Saint-Blaise' ('Nichts kurz vor der Rue Saint-Blaise') was shortlisted for the PEN International/New Voices Award 2015. Her book Métro was published by SuKultur in 2016. She currently lectures at the University of Siegen on French literature and is working toward her PhD, studying the flâneur.

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