Journeys To The Grave

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

Lauren Elkin On Oscar Wilde

20220613

20240422 (R3)

Five writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Today Lauren Elkin finds Oscar Wilde in Pere Lachaise, Paris - where the outsider in life overshadows in death the greats of French literature who jostle for space in the famous cemetery.

Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Lauren Elkin finds Oscar Wilde in Pere Lachaise, Paris, where the outsider in life overshadows in death the greats of French literature jostling for space in the famous cemetery.

Paul Muldoon On W B Yeats

20220614

20240423 (R3)

Five writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Today Paul Muldoon recalls numerous pilgrimages to the rugged west coast of Ireland, where the remains of WB Yeats may or may not be buried, as per his poetical final request.

Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Diana Souhami On Radclyffe Hall

20220615

20240424 (R3)

Five writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Today, Diana Souhami steps into the tomb of Radclyffe Hall in London's Highgate Cemetery, where The Well of Loneliness author resides with her lover, her lover's husband and their dog Tulip – an aptly unconventional set-up in death as in life.

Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Diana Souhami steps into the tomb of Radclyffe Hall in Highgate Cemetery, where The Well of Loneliness author is buried with her lover, her lover's husband and their dog Tulip.

Anita Sethi On Anne Bront\u00eb

20220616

20240425 (R3)

Five writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Today, Anita Sethi journeys to the grave of her heroine Anne Bront뀀, overlooking the sea she so loved, and considers why she was buried high on a hill in Scarborough, away from her better known sisters. Her grave has over the years been neglected and ravaged by the elements, but more recently - like her reputation - restored.

Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Anita Sethi journeys to the grave of Anne Brontë, overlooking the sea she so loved, and considers why she was buried high on a Scarborough hill away from her better-known sisters.

Paterson Joseph On Ignatius Sancho

20220617

20240426 (R3)

Five writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Concluding the series, Paterson Joseph retraces the footsteps of pioneering writer, composer and abolitionist Ignatius Sancho through Westminster to a lost grave beneath the still-pulsing streets.

Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Naomi Alderman On Mary Wollstonecraft

20230605

Five more writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Today in the first essay of a new series, Naomi Alderman goes in search of Mary Wollstonecraft's tomb in Old St Pancras churchyard - reputedly the spot where, among other things, Wollstonecraft's daughter Mary Shelley learnt to write. She sheds light on the life of this important feminist pioneer, offering a moving personal reflection on mother-daughter relationships.

Alderman is an award-winning author whose books include Disobedience and The Power, recently adapted into a nine-part TV series.

Five more writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Tracy Chevalier On Thomas Hardy

20230606

20241202 (R3)

Five more writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Today Tracy Chevalier strolls to Stinsford, the Dorset village where Thomas Hardy's heart is poetically buried separately from his body at Poets' Corner, Westminster – echoing the writer's divided self.

Chevalier was born in America but now lives in Hardy's beloved home county, Dorset. She has written 12novels, including Girl with a Pearl Earring which was adapted into a film of the same name, and most recently The Glassmaker.

Series 2. Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

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

Chevalier was born in America but now lives in Hardy's beloved home county, Dorset. She has written 11 novels, including Girl with a Pearl Earring, which was adapted into a film of the same name.

Five more writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

[LISTEN NOW]

Helen Mort On Sylvia Plath

20230607

20241204 (R3)

Five more writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Today Helen Mort ventures up a Yorkshire hill to find Sylvia Plath's much-vandalised gravestone, a battleground for those claiming the American poet's contested legacy.

Born in Sheffield, Mort is an award-winning poet and novelist.

Five more writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

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

[LISTEN NOW]

Brandon Taylor On Langston Hughes

20230608

20241205 (R3)

Five writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

Today, Brandon Taylor travels uptown through a racially-charged Manhattan to Harlem, where Langston Hughes is buried in a library - literally underneath his prophetic words.

Taylor is a New York-based novelist, essayist and short story writer originally from Alabama. His novel Real Life was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and his latest The Late Americans was published in June 2023.

Five more writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

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

Booker Prize-shortlisted Brandon Taylor travels uptown through a racially charged Manhattan to Harlem, where Langston Hughes is buried in a library literally underneath his words.

Taylor is a New York-based fiction writer and essayist originally from Alabama. His novels include the Booker-shortlisted Real Life and The Late Americans, and he has also published a widely-praised short story collection, Filthy Animals.

Series 2. Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

[LISTEN NOW]

Geoff Dyer On D H Lawrence

20230609

20241206 (R3)

Five writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

In this final essay of the series, Geoff Dyer retraces a pilgrimage to New Mexico, where DH Lawrence's ashes were supposedly built into a concrete shrine near Taos at the request of his estranged wife Frieda. But were they actually his ashes?

Dyer is a multi-award winning novelist and non-fiction writer. His many books include Out of Sheer Rage: In the Shadow of D.H. Lawrence, and his latest The Last Days of Roger Federer: And Other Endings, which was published in 2022.

Five more writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.

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

Geoff Dyer retraces a pilgrimage to New Mexico, where DH Lawrence's ashes may or may not have been built into a shrine near Taos, as requested by his estranged wife Frieda.

[LISTEN NOW]

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
01	Lauren Elkin On Oscar Wilde	20220613	20240422 (R3)	Five writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Today Lauren Elkin finds Oscar Wilde in Pere Lachaise, Paris - where the outsider in life overshadows in death the greats of French literature who jostle for space in the famous cemetery. Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Lauren Elkin finds Oscar Wilde in Pere Lachaise, Paris, where the outsider in life overshadows in death the greats of French literature jostling for space in the famous cemetery.
02	Paul Muldoon On W B Yeats	20220614	20240423 (R3)	Five writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Today Paul Muldoon recalls numerous pilgrimages to the rugged west coast of Ireland, where the remains of WB Yeats may or may not be buried, as per his poetical final request. Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.
03	Diana Souhami On Radclyffe Hall	20220615	20240424 (R3)	Five writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Today, Diana Souhami steps into the tomb of Radclyffe Hall in London's Highgate Cemetery, where The Well of Loneliness author resides with her lover, her lover's husband and their dog Tulip – an aptly unconventional set-up in death as in life. Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Diana Souhami steps into the tomb of Radclyffe Hall in Highgate Cemetery, where The Well of Loneliness author is buried with her lover, her lover's husband and their dog Tulip.
04	Anita Sethi On Anne Bront\u00eb	20220616	20240425 (R3)	Five writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Today, Anita Sethi journeys to the grave of her heroine Anne Bront뀀, overlooking the sea she so loved, and considers why she was buried high on a hill in Scarborough, away from her better known sisters. Her grave has over the years been neglected and ravaged by the elements, but more recently - like her reputation - restored. Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Anita Sethi journeys to the grave of Anne Brontë, overlooking the sea she so loved, and considers why she was buried high on a Scarborough hill away from her better-known sisters.
05	Paterson Joseph On Ignatius Sancho	20220617	20240426 (R3)	Five writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Concluding the series, Paterson Joseph retraces the footsteps of pioneering writer, composer and abolitionist Ignatius Sancho through Westminster to a lost grave beneath the still-pulsing streets. Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.
06	Naomi Alderman On Mary Wollstonecraft	20230605		Five more writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Today in the first essay of a new series, Naomi Alderman goes in search of Mary Wollstonecraft's tomb in Old St Pancras churchyard - reputedly the spot where, among other things, Wollstonecraft's daughter Mary Shelley learnt to write. She sheds light on the life of this important feminist pioneer, offering a moving personal reflection on mother-daughter relationships. Alderman is an award-winning author whose books include Disobedience and The Power, recently adapted into a nine-part TV series. Five more writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.
07	Tracy Chevalier On Thomas Hardy	20230606	20241202 (R3)	Five more writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Today Tracy Chevalier strolls to Stinsford, the Dorset village where Thomas Hardy's heart is poetically buried separately from his body at Poets' Corner, Westminster – echoing the writer's divided self. Chevalier was born in America but now lives in Hardy's beloved home county, Dorset. She has written 12novels, including Girl with a Pearl Earring which was adapted into a film of the same name, and most recently The Glassmaker. Series 2. Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. Chevalier was born in America but now lives in Hardy's beloved home county, Dorset. She has written 11 novels, including Girl with a Pearl Earring, which was adapted into a film of the same name. Five more writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. [LISTEN NOW]
08	Helen Mort On Sylvia Plath	20230607	20241204 (R3)	Five more writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Today Helen Mort ventures up a Yorkshire hill to find Sylvia Plath's much-vandalised gravestone, a battleground for those claiming the American poet's contested legacy. Born in Sheffield, Mort is an award-winning poet and novelist. Five more writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. [LISTEN NOW]
09	Brandon Taylor On Langston Hughes	20230608	20241205 (R3)	Five writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Today, Brandon Taylor travels uptown through a racially-charged Manhattan to Harlem, where Langston Hughes is buried in a library - literally underneath his prophetic words. Taylor is a New York-based novelist, essayist and short story writer originally from Alabama. His novel Real Life was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and his latest The Late Americans was published in June 2023. Five more writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. Booker Prize-shortlisted Brandon Taylor travels uptown through a racially charged Manhattan to Harlem, where Langston Hughes is buried in a library literally underneath his words. Taylor is a New York-based fiction writer and essayist originally from Alabama. His novels include the Booker-shortlisted Real Life and The Late Americans, and he has also published a widely-praised short story collection, Filthy Animals. Series 2. Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Taylor is a New York-based novelist, essayist and short story writer originally from Alabama. His novel Real Life was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and his latest The Late Americans will be published in June 2023. [LISTEN NOW]
10	Geoff Dyer On D H Lawrence	20230609	20241206 (R3)	Five writers go on five reflective, restorative and often playful journeys in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. In this final essay of the series, Geoff Dyer retraces a pilgrimage to New Mexico, where DH Lawrence's ashes were supposedly built into a concrete shrine near Taos at the request of his estranged wife Frieda. But were they actually his ashes? Dyer is a multi-award winning novelist and non-fiction writer. His many books include Out of Sheer Rage: In the Shadow of D.H. Lawrence, and his latest The Last Days of Roger Federer: And Other Endings, which was published in 2022. Five more writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. Geoff Dyer retraces a pilgrimage to New Mexico, where DH Lawrence's ashes may or may not have been built into a shrine near Taos, as requested by his estranged wife Frieda. [LISTEN NOW]