Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Ali Smith | 20180205 | 20190930 (R3) | Ali Smith presents the first in a series of essays from five Scottish women writers on Muriel Spark. Muriel Spark, was a Scot, an exile, a poet, a codebreaker, a convert to a particularly Calvinist form of Catholicism from a particularly low-key Judaism and the cosmopolitan author of slender, sophisticated novels whose bestselling book mined her own schooldays in the Edinburgh of the 1930s. She may be most famous for 'The Prime of Jean Brodie' but she wrote more than 20 novels, plus poems and plays. She is a writer of many facets, all of them glittering, and is now recognised as the most important Scottish writer of the 20th century. In this series, five Scottish women writers give five very different takes on the novels and life of Mrs Spark. Ali Smith presents the first in a series of essays celebrating the work of Muriel Spark. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |
| 02 | Kate Clanchy | 20180206 | 20191001 (R3) | Muriel Spark is best known for her witty novels but she began as a poet, and her gravestone describes her as 'poeta.' Poet Kate Clanchy discusses Muriel Spark - poet. Muriel Spark was a Scot, an exile, a poet, a codebreaker, a convert to a particularly Calvinist form of Catholicism from a particularly low-key Judaism and the cosmopolitan author of slender, sophisticated novels whose bestselling book mined her own schooldays in the Edinburgh of the 1930s. She may be most famous for 'The Prime of Jean Brodie' but she wrote more than 20 novels, plus poems and plays. She is a writer of many facets, all of them glittering, and is now recognised as the most important Scottish writer of the 20th century. In this series, five Scottish women writers give five very different takes on the novels and life of Mrs Spark. Kate Clanchy discusses the work of Muriel Spark - poet. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |
| 03 | Janice Galloway | 20180207 | 20191002 (R3) | Muriel Spark worked as a black propagandist during the war. Janice Galloway discusses two novels influenced by that work, The Comforters, and The Hothouse by the East River. Muriel Spark was a Scot, an exile, a poet, a codebreaker, a convert to a particularly Calvinist form of Catholicism from a particularly low-key Judaism and the cosmopolitan author of slender, sophisticated novels whose bestselling book mined her own schooldays in the Edinburgh of the 1930s. She may be most famous for 'The Prime of Jean Brodie' but she wrote more than 20 novels, plus poems and plays. She is a writer of many facets, all of them glittering, and is now recognised as the most important Scottish writer of the 20th century. In this series, five Scottish women writers give five very different takes on the novels and life of Mrs Spark. Janice Galloway discusses Muriel Spark- code maker and code breaker. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |
| 04 | Val Mcdermid | 20180208 | 20191003 (R3) | In 'Dial M for Muriel' crime writer Val McDermid discusses Muriel Spark - crime novelist. Muriel Spark was a Scot, an exile, a poet, a codebreaker, a convert to a particularly Calvinist form of Catholicism from a particularly low-key Judaism and the cosmopolitan author of slender, sophisticated novels whose bestselling book mined her own schooldays in the Edinburgh of the 1930s. She may be most famous for 'The Prime of Jean Brodie' but she wrote more than 20 novels, plus poems and plays. She is a writer of many facets, all of them glittering, and is now recognised as the most important Scottish writer of the 20th century. In this series, five Scottish women writers give five very different takes on the novels and life of Mrs Spark. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |
| 05 | Louise Welsh | 20180209 | 20191004 (R3) | Writer Louise Welsh reflects on the theme of the Uncanny in the writing of Muriel Spark through her story 'The House of the Famous Poet. Muriel Spark was a Scot, an exile, a poet, a codebreaker, a convert to a particularly Calvinist form of Catholicism from a particularly low-key Judaism and the cosmopolitan author of slender, sophisticated novels whose bestselling book mined her own schooldays in the Edinburgh of the 1930s. She may be most famous for 'The Prime of Jean Brodie' but she wrote more than 20 novels, plus poems and plays. She is a writer of many facets, all of them glittering, and is now recognised as the most important Scottish writer of the 20th century. In this series, five Scottish women writers give five very different takes on the novels and life of Mrs Spark. Louise Welsh reflects on the uncanny in the novels of Muriel Spark. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |