Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

19th-century British short story writers

A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest types of literature and has existed in the form of legends, mythic tales, folk tales, fairy tales, tall tales, fables and anecdotes in various ancient communities around the world.

4 episodes

Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:

CultureEnglish male poetsWriters about activism and social changeCritics of the Catholic ChurchEnglish male non-fiction writersBurials at Westminster AbbeyPantheistsBritish male essayistsEnglish AnglicansEnglish male dramatists and playwrightsEnglish male novelists19th-century English poetsEnglish male short story writersLiteracy and society theoristsVictorian novelists19th-century English novelists19th-century pseudonymous writers20th-century English male writersEnglish atheistsEnglish satiristsEnglish travel writersEpic poetsVictorian poets19th-century English non-fiction writers19th-century male writersAlumni of the University of EdinburghAnglican writersBritish critics of religionsEnglish short story writersEnglish socialistsMembers of the Order of MeritTrope theoristsWriters of Gothic fiction19th-century British philanthropistsArtist authorsEnglish fantasy writersEnglish libertariansEnglish philanthropistsFellows of the Royal Society of LiteratureLibertarian socialists19th-century English architects19th-century English dramatists and playwrights19th-century English essayists19th-century travel writersArtists' Rifles soldiersBritish social reformersBritish socialistsBurials at St Pancras Old ChurchEnglish historical novelistsLecturersMythopoeic writersTranslators of HomerWriters from the London Borough of Camden19th-century British journalists19th-century English historiansAlumni of King's College LondonArts and Crafts movement artistsBritish botanical illustratorsBritish male poetsBritish people of Italian descent, English people of Italian descent, Polidori-Rossetti familyEnglish printers, Translators of VirgilEnglish prisoners and detaineesEnglish reformersPeople educated at Marlborough CollegePeople from Somers Town, LondonSocial Democratic Federation membersSuicides by cyanide poisoning
  1. Dickens

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the achievements of Charles Dickens What is his political and literary legacy to our age?

    12 July 2001

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Rosemary Ashton, Michael Slater, John Bowen

     
  2. Polidori's The Vampyre

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the myths that gave rise to this novella from 1819 by Byron's physician, John Polidori, and the works such as Bram Stoker's Dracula it inspired.

    07 April 2022

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Nick Groom, Samantha George, Martyn Rady

     
  3. Thomas Hardy's Poetry

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Hardy's poems, which he prized far above the novels which made him famous and rich, and his ambition to be ranked alongside Shelley and Byron.

    13 January 2022

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Mark Ford, Jane Thomas, Tim Armstrong

     
  4. William Morris

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss some of the many aspects of William Morris: his activism, poetry and prose and his ideas on arts, crafts and work in an industrial world.

    5 July 2018

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Ingrid Hanson, Marcus Waithe, Jane Thomas