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Front Row: Documentary Witches of the Orient, Antonia Fraser's verse and who should be writing book reviews?

14/07/2021

Documentary Witches of the Orient, Antonia Fraser's verse and who should be writing book reviews?

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Documentary Witches of the Orient, Antonia Fraser's verse and who should be writing book reviews?

Julien Faraut on his documentary on a TV hit, the 1964 Japanese women's volleyball team.

Julien Faraut on his film about Japan's women's volley ball team in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Their success was one of the most watched television events ever.

A new documentary Witches Of The Orient' looks back at the last time that Tokyo acted as host. Volleyball made its debut in The 1964 Summer Olympics. And the success of the home team in women’s volleyball became one of the most watched domestic TV events ever. French film director Julien Faraut discovered this now-largely-forgotten event and was captivated by it.      

The historical biographer Lady Antonia Fraser reveals an unknown aspect of her writing life as four of her poems are set to music by Stephen Hough. Two were written in and about lock-down, one wittily recalls a whirlwind American book tour book and the last is a tender memory of Harold Pinter. Just after their premiere today she told Elle Osili-Wood about them and her lifelong habit of writing verse.

We continue this week’s series around debates in the book world. Tonight: reviews. Is the traditional media giving readers what they want? Does getting your book reviewed in the broadsheets matter any more? And how might the way books are reviewed be done differently, from broadening the pool of reviewers to shifting the aesthetic hurdles required to assess writing of quality? Elle is joined by Professor Sandeep Parmar, founder of the Ledbury Poetry Critics Scheme, a national programme to encourage diversity in poetry reviewing culture aimed at new critical voices along with Michael Caines, Assistant Editor at the Times Literary Supplement and founder of the Brixton Review of Books. 

Presenter: Elle Osili-Wood
Producer: Simon Richardson
Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald

Main image: a still from the Witches of the Orient documentary film.
Image credit: Courtesy of Modern Films

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