The Invisible College

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Cathy FitzGerald presents creative writing lessons, aided by the ghosts of writers past.

Dr Cathy FitzGerald presents a series of lessons in creative writing with help from a ghostly array of great novelists, poets and playwrights.

BBC Radio 4

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The Invisible College: Series 2: 2. Place & Character

2. Place & Character

Series 2

BBC Radio 4 Extra - The Invisible College, Series 2, 2. Place & Character

Short lessons in creative writing from great novelists, poets and playwrights.

Dr Cathy FitzGerald’s lessons in creative writing with help from a ghostly array of great writers: place & character. From 2017.

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.

The Invisible College: Series 2

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

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The Invisible College

Series 2

2. Place & Character

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