Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

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English women poets

This is an alphabetical list of female poets who were active in England and Wales, and the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland before approximately 1800. Nota bene: Authors of poetry are the focus of this list, though many of these writers worked in more than one genre.

6 episodes

Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:

CultureScienceAnglican saintsSonneteersEnglish essayistsBurials at Westminster AbbeyEnglish AnglicansEnglish people of Scottish descentPeople of the Elizabethan era17th-century English poets17th-century English writers19th-century English novelistsVictorian poets17th-century English dramatists and playwrights19th-century English women writers19th-century English writers20th-century English poetsConversationalistsEnglish atheistsEnglish feminists, English feminist writersEnglish satiristsEnglish women novelists20th-century English novelists20th-century pseudonymous writersEnglish fantasy writersEnglish people of Welsh descentFeminism and historyPeople excommunicated by the Catholic ChurchPseudonymous women writersWriters from London18th-century English novelists19th-century British inventors19th-century English dramatists and playwrightsBritish women essayistsBurials at Highgate CemeteryEnglish pamphleteersFounders of English schools and collegesPrisoners in the Tower of LondonStreathamitesVictorian women writersWriters from the London Borough of Camden16th-century English translators16th-century queens regnant17th-century English women writers18th-century English diarists18th-century English women writers19th-century British writers19th-century English mathematiciansComputer designersDeaths from cancer in EnglandEnglish humanistsEnglish hymnwritersEnglish spiesEnglish women dramatists and playwrightsGodwin familyHouse of TudorPoets from LondonPolidori-Rossetti family, British people of Italian descent, English people of Italian descentTory poetsWomen of the Victorian eraWriters from King's Lynn

  1. Ada Lovelace

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 19th century mathematician and hard living daughter of Lord Byron, Ada Lovelace.

    6 March 2008

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    Featuring: Patricia Fara, Doron Swade, John Fuegi

    wikipedia article ↗
     
    ScienceEnglish people of Scottish descentEnglish women poets19th-century English writers19th-century English women writers19th-century British inventorsComputer designersDeaths from cancer in England19th-century English mathematiciansWomen of the Victorian eraGodwin family

  2. Aphra Behn

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of Aphra Behn, known for her plays for the Restoration stage such as The Rover and for her novel Oroonoko.

    12 October 2017

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    Featuring: Janet Todd, Ros Ballaster, Claire Bowditch

    wikipedia article ↗
     
    CultureBurials at Westminster AbbeyEnglish women poets17th-century English poets17th-century English writersEnglish women novelists17th-century English dramatists and playwrightsFeminism and history17th-century English women writersEnglish women dramatists and playwrightsEnglish spiesTory poetsEnglish feminists, English feminist writers

  3. Christina Rossetti

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of the Victorian poet Christina Rossetti.

    1 December 2011

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    Featuring: Dinah Birch, Rhian Williams, Nicholas Shrimpton

    wikipedia article ↗
     
    CultureAnglican saintsSonneteersEnglish women poetsVictorian poets19th-century English women writersEnglish fantasy writersWriters from the London Borough of CamdenVictorian women writersBurials at Highgate CemeteryEnglish hymnwriters19th-century British writersPoets from LondonPolidori-Rossetti family, British people of Italian descent, English people of Italian descent

  4. Fanny Burney

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the 18th-century writer Fanny Burney, also known as Frances D'Arblay and Frances Burney, best known for her novel Evelina.

    23 April 2015

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    Featuring: Nicole Pohl, Judith Hawley, John Mullan

    wikipedia article ↗
     
    CultureEnglish essayists19th-century English novelistsEnglish women poetsEnglish women novelistsEnglish satiristsConversationalists19th-century English women writersWriters from London19th-century English dramatists and playwrightsEnglish pamphleteersBritish women essayists18th-century English novelistsStreathamites18th-century English diarists18th-century English women writersEnglish women dramatists and playwrightsWriters from King's Lynn

  5. Stevie Smith

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the writer best known for her poem Not Waving But Drowning, whose success has arguably overshadowed her wider work as a poet and novelist.

    16 Feb 2023

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    Featuring: Jeremy Noel-Tod, Noreen Masud, Will May

    wikipedia article ↗
     
    CultureEnglish women poetsEnglish atheistsEnglish women novelists20th-century English poetsPseudonymous women writers20th-century English novelists20th-century pseudonymous writersEnglish humanists

  6. The Death of Elizabeth I

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the death of Queen Elizabeth I and its immediate impact, as a foreign monarch became King in the face of plots and plague.

    15 October 2009

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    Featuring: John Guy, Clare Jackson, Helen Hackett

    wikipedia article ↗
     
    CultureBurials at Westminster AbbeyEnglish AnglicansPeople of the Elizabethan eraEnglish women poetsPeople excommunicated by the Catholic ChurchEnglish people of Welsh descentPrisoners in the Tower of LondonFounders of English schools and colleges16th-century queens regnant16th-century English translatorsHouse of Tudor