The Exploding Library

Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

Comedy

A trio of comedians explode and unravel their most cherished cult books.

A trio of comedians explode and unravel their most cherished cult books, paying homage to the tone and style of the original text, but blurring the lines between fact and fiction.

In this series, a trio of comedians explode and unravel their most cherished cult books, paying homage to the tone and style of the original text - and blurring and warping the lines between fact and fiction.

As our hosts shine the spotlight on strange, funny and sometimes disturbing novels, listeners are invited to inhabit their eccentric worlds - gaining a deeper understanding of their workings and the unique literary minds that created them.

BBC Radio 4 FM

The Exploding Library: The Bloater by Rosemary Tonks

The Bloater by Rosemary Tonks

BBC Radio 4 - The Exploding Library, The Bloater by Rosemary Tonks

Athena Kugblenu searches for Rosemary Tonks, a writer who 'vanished like the Cheshire Cat'

Athena Kugblenu searches for Rosemary Tonks, a poet and writer who 'vanished like the Cheshire Cat', shortly after the height of her fame in the late 1960s.

Comedian and writer Athena Kugblenu searches for Rosemary Tonks, a poet and writer who "vanished like the Cheshire Cat" shortly after the height of her fame in the late 1960s. Changing her name and embracing a very specific form of Christianity, Tonks disavowed her previous literary life - to the point that she would visit libraries and bookshops and attempt to destroy her work.

How does Tonks' surreal, brittle, jet-black social satire The Bloater capture her world - and give us a hint of what might have precipitated her strange disappearance? More than that - can anyone ever really retract the tendrils of their creative life - even if they want to?

Featuring contributions from poet Brian Patten, editor and champion of Tonks's work Neil Astley, writer and Tonks fan Jennifer Hodgson, and New York Times religion correspondent Ruth Graham.

Reader: Beth Eyre
"Studio Producer": Tom Crowley

Written and presented by: Athena Kugblenu
Producer / Series Producer: Steven Rajam
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4
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Warped literature series The Exploding Library returns for a new run, as another trio of comedians explode and unravel their most cherished cult books, paying homage to the tone and style of the original text - and blurring and warping the lines between fact and fiction.

As our hosts shine the spotlight on strange, funny and sometimes disturbing novels by Kazuo Ishiguro, Rosemary Tonks and David Foster Wallace, listeners are invited to inhabit their eccentric worlds - gaining a deeper understanding of their workings and the unique literary minds that created them.

Featuring the comedic voices of Natasha Hodgson, Athena Kugblenu and John-Luke Roberts, and created by award-winning producers Steven Rajam (Tim Key and Gogol’s Overcoat) and Benjamin Partridge (Beef and Dairy Network), this is an arts documentary series like no other.

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4

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