The Invisible College

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 this episode:

Lesson One - Find your Story
Inspiration isn't always a divine spark; often an idea has far more prosaic origins. In this lesson, we hear how the speaking clock inspired Beryl Bainbridge, how Roald Dahl's children tricked him into creating James and the Giant Peach, and how Ray Bradbury found a story in a pair of tennis shoes.

Lesson Two - Listen Up!
Tips on developing an ear for dialogue, featuring an archive recording of the New York poet and writer Grace Paley reading her warm and funny story The Loudest Voice.

Lesson Three - A Workshop with Allen Ginsberg
How often do you get to take a creative writing lesson from one of the Beats? In this extraordinary recording of a lecture given in 1982, American poet Allen Ginsberg explains what he learned about writing from novelist Jack Kerouac.

Presenter and Producer: Cathy FitzGerald
A White Stiletto production for BBC Radio 4.

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 this episode:

Lesson One - Find your Story
Inspiration isn't always a divine spark; often an idea has far more prosaic origins. In this lesson, we hear how the speaking clock inspired Beryl Bainbridge, how Roald Dahl's children tricked him into creating James and the Giant Peach, and how Ray Bradbury found a story in a pair of tennis shoes.

Lesson Two - Listen Up!
Tips on developing an ear for dialogue, featuring an archive recording of the New York poet and writer Grace Paley reading her warm and funny story The Loudest Voice.

Lesson Three - A Workshop with Allen Ginsberg
How often do you get to take a creative writing lesson from one of the Beats? In this extraordinary recording of a lecture given in 1982, American poet Allen Ginsberg explains what he learned about writing from novelist Jack Kerouac.

Presenter and Producer: Cathy FitzGerald
A White Stiletto production for BBC Radio 4.

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 this episode:

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.

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 this episode:

Lesson Seven - Dealing with Critics
If you're going to put your work out in the world, sooner or later someone's going to tell you what's wrong with it. In this lesson, we hear tips on dealing with critics from the author of The French Lieutenant's Woman, John Fowles, and poets Edith Sitwell, Philip Larkin and John Betjeman.

Lesson Eight - What I Learned from James Baldwin
Contemporary writer Caryl Phillips analyses a passage written by his friend and literary mentor, the American novelist James Baldwin. How does Jimmy handle back-story and perspective? Featuring rare archive recording of James Baldwin reading from his 1962 novel, Another Country.

Lesson Nine - Block
A lesson on that trickiest of ailments - writer's block. With tips from the author of Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov, and sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury, along with an extraordinary recording of Truman Capote reading from his novel Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Presenter and Producer: Cathy FitzGerald
A White Stiletto production for BBC Radio 4.

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 this episode:

Lesson Seven - Dealing with Critics
If you're going to put your work out in the world, sooner or later someone's going to tell you what's wrong with it. In this lesson, we hear tips on dealing with critics from the author of The French Lieutenant's Woman, John Fowles, and poets Edith Sitwell, Philip Larkin and John Betjeman.

Lesson Eight - What I Learned from James Baldwin
Contemporary writer Caryl Phillips analyses a passage written by his friend and literary mentor, the American novelist James Baldwin. How does Jimmy handle back-story and perspective? Featuring rare archive recording of James Baldwin reading from his 1962 novel, Another Country.

Lesson Nine - Block
A lesson on that trickiest of ailments - writer's block. With tips from the author of Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov, and sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury, along with an extraordinary recording of Truman Capote reading from his novel Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Presenter and Producer: Cathy FitzGerald
A White Stiletto production for BBC Radio 4.