Golding Remembered

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Comments

John Gray

20110923

Political philosopher John Gray examines William Golding's highly original views on the nature of man, evil and civilisation. He discusses Golding's second novel The Inheritors - which follows a group of Neanderthals, as their way of life is changed for ever by the appearance of homo sapiens.

John Gray has written several influential books on politics and philosophy including the groundbreaking examination of the nature of humanity: Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals.

In this series, The Essay marks the centenary of William Golding's birth (19th September 1911), with five programmes looking at different aspects of the novelist's work and life.

William Golding is known for novels including Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors and The Spire. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983, the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage in 1980 and was knighted in 1988. He died in 1993.

Producer: Caroline Hughes

GOLDING REMEMBERED is a WHISTLEDOWN Production for BBC Radio 3.

Philosopher John Gray on novelist William Golding's powerful ideas about civilisation.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Judy Golding

20110919

Marking the centenary of the birth of the Nobel-winning novelist William Golding, Judy Golding gives a very personal reflection on the rich and strange ways her father's imagination worked.

From her unique perspective, she talks about how William Golding used childhood memories and everyday observations - making them unsettling details in his novels - and blurred the boundary between memory and imagination.

She says 'He was extremely - perhaps excessively - imaginative.

Judy Golding recently published a memoir about her upbringing, called The Children of Lovers.

This week, The Essay marks the centenary of William Golding's birth (19th September 1911), with five programmes looking at different aspects of the novelist's work and life.

Producer: Caroline Hughes

GOLDING REMEMBERED is a WHISTLEDOWN Production for BBC Radio 3.

The work of William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, discussed by his daughter Judy.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

John Carey

20110920

William Golding's biographer John Carey examines the famous novelists complex and changeable relationship with religion and the way this was reflected in his novels.

Golding was brought up in an atheistic household, but his Second World War experiences made him devoutly religious. His stance on religion fluctuated throughout his life - at one point he believed in Gaia the Earth goddess. It was Golding who suggested the name Gaia to his friend James Lovelock, for Lovelock's hypothesis on the Earth.

In writing the biography, John Carey was granted unique access to letters, journals and unpublished works - material which has never before been made public. Here he sketches a revelatory portrait of a man with many sides: war hero, schoolteacher, family man.

In this series, the Essay marks the centenary of William Golding's birth (19th September 1911), with five programmes looking at different aspects of the novelist's work and life.

Producer: Caroline Hughes

GOLDING REMEMBERED is a WHISTLEDOWN Production for BBC Radio 3.

John Carey marks the centenary of the birth of Nobel-winning novelist William Golding.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Nigel Williams

20110921

Marking the centenary of novelist William Golding's birth, writer and dramatist Nigel Williams talks about Golding's Lord of the Flies and his act of reimagining it for the stage. The invitation to dramatise one of the most important novels of the twentieth century, led to some memorable encounters with the Nobel prize-winning novelist.

Williams' terrifying dramatisation of Lord of the Flies is frequently performed and was recently staged in the Summer 2011 season at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.

In 1953, William Golding was a provincial schoolteacher, writing books in his spare time. His manuscript had been rejected by many publishers until an editor at Faber fished it out of the slush pile. This was to become Lord of the Flies, a book that would sell in its millions and bring Golding worldwide recognition. The message in Lord of the Flies - that inside every child lurks a wild beast, barely contained by society - has made it one of the most chilling and compulsively readable novels of the twentieth century, and an allegory for every lapse in humanity since the Second World War.

This week, The Essay marks the centenary of William Golding's birth (19th September 1911), with five programmes looking at different aspects of the novelist's work and life.

Producer: Caroline Hughes

GOLDING REMEMBERED is a WHISTLEDOWN Production for BBC Radio 3.

Playwright Nigel Williams on William Golding's Lord of the Flies, and it was dramatised.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Craig Raine

20110922

The poet and critic Craig Raine examines the writing style of Nobel Prize-winning novelist William Golding, with a look at his 1964 novel, The Spire. Taking a forensic critical approach, Raine considers Golding's powers of description and absorbing use of symbolism in the book.

The novel is about the erection of a spire on a medieval cathedral - a project that is the vision of the cathedral's Dean, Jocelin. Ignoring warnings that the cathedral has insufficient foundations to support the structure, Jocelin pushes his plan forward - with terrible emotional, financial and spiritual consequences.

In this series, The Essay marks the centenary of William Golding's birth (19th September 1911), with five programmes looking at different aspects of the novelist's work and life.

Producer: Caroline Hughes

GOLDING REMEMBERED is a WHISTLEDOWN Production for BBC Radio 3.

Poet Craig Raine explores the writing style of William Golding in his novel The Spire.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Comments
	John Gray	20110923	Political philosopher John Gray examines William Golding's highly original views on the nature of man, evil and civilisation. He discusses Golding's second novel The Inheritors - which follows a group of Neanderthals, as their way of life is changed for ever by the appearance of homo sapiens. John Gray has written several influential books on politics and philosophy including the groundbreaking examination of the nature of humanity: Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals. In this series, The Essay marks the centenary of William Golding's birth (19th September 1911), with five programmes looking at different aspects of the novelist's work and life. William Golding is known for novels including Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors and The Spire. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983, the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage in 1980 and was knighted in 1988. He died in 1993. Producer: Caroline Hughes GOLDING REMEMBERED is a WHISTLEDOWN Production for BBC Radio 3. Philosopher John Gray on novelist William Golding's powerful ideas about civilisation. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
01	Judy Golding	20110919	Marking the centenary of the birth of the Nobel-winning novelist William Golding, Judy Golding gives a very personal reflection on the rich and strange ways her father's imagination worked. From her unique perspective, she talks about how William Golding used childhood memories and everyday observations - making them unsettling details in his novels - and blurred the boundary between memory and imagination. She says 'He was extremely - perhaps excessively - imaginative. Judy Golding recently published a memoir about her upbringing, called The Children of Lovers. This week, The Essay marks the centenary of William Golding's birth (19th September 1911), with five programmes looking at different aspects of the novelist's work and life. William Golding is known for novels including Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors and The Spire. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983, the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage in 1980 and was knighted in 1988. He died in 1993. Producer: Caroline Hughes GOLDING REMEMBERED is a WHISTLEDOWN Production for BBC Radio 3. The work of William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, discussed by his daughter Judy. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
02	John Carey	20110920	William Golding's biographer John Carey examines the famous novelists complex and changeable relationship with religion and the way this was reflected in his novels. Golding was brought up in an atheistic household, but his Second World War experiences made him devoutly religious. His stance on religion fluctuated throughout his life - at one point he believed in Gaia the Earth goddess. It was Golding who suggested the name Gaia to his friend James Lovelock, for Lovelock's hypothesis on the Earth. In writing the biography, John Carey was granted unique access to letters, journals and unpublished works - material which has never before been made public. Here he sketches a revelatory portrait of a man with many sides: war hero, schoolteacher, family man. In this series, the Essay marks the centenary of William Golding's birth (19th September 1911), with five programmes looking at different aspects of the novelist's work and life. William Golding is known for novels including Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors and The Spire. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983, the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage in 1980 and was knighted in 1988. He died in 1993. Producer: Caroline Hughes GOLDING REMEMBERED is a WHISTLEDOWN Production for BBC Radio 3. John Carey marks the centenary of the birth of Nobel-winning novelist William Golding. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
03	Nigel Williams	20110921	Marking the centenary of novelist William Golding's birth, writer and dramatist Nigel Williams talks about Golding's Lord of the Flies and his act of reimagining it for the stage. The invitation to dramatise one of the most important novels of the twentieth century, led to some memorable encounters with the Nobel prize-winning novelist. Williams' terrifying dramatisation of Lord of the Flies is frequently performed and was recently staged in the Summer 2011 season at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. In 1953, William Golding was a provincial schoolteacher, writing books in his spare time. His manuscript had been rejected by many publishers until an editor at Faber fished it out of the slush pile. This was to become Lord of the Flies, a book that would sell in its millions and bring Golding worldwide recognition. The message in Lord of the Flies - that inside every child lurks a wild beast, barely contained by society - has made it one of the most chilling and compulsively readable novels of the twentieth century, and an allegory for every lapse in humanity since the Second World War. This week, The Essay marks the centenary of William Golding's birth (19th September 1911), with five programmes looking at different aspects of the novelist's work and life. William Golding is known for novels including Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors and The Spire. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983, the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage in 1980 and was knighted in 1988. He died in 1993. Producer: Caroline Hughes GOLDING REMEMBERED is a WHISTLEDOWN Production for BBC Radio 3. Playwright Nigel Williams on William Golding's Lord of the Flies, and it was dramatised. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
04	Craig Raine	20110922	The poet and critic Craig Raine examines the writing style of Nobel Prize-winning novelist William Golding, with a look at his 1964 novel, The Spire. Taking a forensic critical approach, Raine considers Golding's powers of description and absorbing use of symbolism in the book. The novel is about the erection of a spire on a medieval cathedral - a project that is the vision of the cathedral's Dean, Jocelin. Ignoring warnings that the cathedral has insufficient foundations to support the structure, Jocelin pushes his plan forward - with terrible emotional, financial and spiritual consequences. In this series, The Essay marks the centenary of William Golding's birth (19th September 1911), with five programmes looking at different aspects of the novelist's work and life. William Golding is known for novels including Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors and The Spire. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983, the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage in 1980 and was knighted in 1988. He died in 1993. Producer: Caroline Hughes GOLDING REMEMBERED is a WHISTLEDOWN Production for BBC Radio 3. Poet Craig Raine explores the writing style of William Golding in his novel The Spire. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.