Modernist writers
Literary modernism has its origins in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly in Europe and North America. Modernism is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional styles of poetry and verse.
6 episodes
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
Camus
Melvyn Bragg discusses the Nobel Prize winning Algerian-French writer and existentialist philosopher Albert Camus.
3 January 2008
Featuring: Peter Dunwoodie, David Walker, Christina Howells
CultureAtheist philosophers20th-century atheistsNobel laureates in LiteratureFrench atheistsExistentialists20th-century French philosophersModernist writersLegion of Honour refusals20th-century French novelistsPhilosophers of deathFrench socialistsFrench Nobel laureatesPhilosophers of pessimismLibertarian socialistsAbsurdist writers20th-century French male writersFrench male essayistsAnti-Stalinist leftFrench anarchists, French anti-fascists, French anti-capitalistsFrench humanists, 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights20th-century French essayists, 20th-century French short story writersDylan Thomas
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the works and ideas of this celebrated Welsh poet, from his teenage success to his tours of America via Under Milk Wood.
16 June 2022
Featuring: Nerys Williams, John Goodby, Leo Mellor
Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce's groundbreaking 1916 novel about growing up in Catholic Ireland.
26 November 2009
Featuring: Roy Foster, Katherine Mullin, Jeri Johnson
CultureLiterary theoristsModernist writersModernismIrony theoristsTrope theoristsIrish male poetsMetaphor theoristsSurrealist writersHumor researchersIrish male novelistsEyepatch wearersDeaths from ulcers20th-century letter writersIrish satiristsIrish male dramatists and playwrights, Irish expatriates in France20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights, 20th-century Irish male writers, 20th-century Irish poetsIrish male short story writers, 20th-century Irish short story writers, 20th-century Irish novelistsKafka's The Trial
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Franz Kafka's novel The Trial.
27 November 2014
Featuring: Elizabeth Boa, Steve Connor, Ritchie Robertson
Proust
Melvyn Bragg discusses the life and achievements of the 19th century French novelist Marcel Proust whose 3000 page work À La Recherche du Temps Perdu has been called the definitive modern novel.
17 April 2003
Featuring: Jacqueline Rose, Malcolm Bowie, Robert Fraser
CulturePhilosophers of literatureAphorists20th-century atheistsWriters from ParisFrench atheists19th-century atheists20th-century French philosophersModernist writers20th-century French novelistsConversationalistsFormer Roman CatholicsFrench male non-fiction writersFrench LGBTQ novelistsBurials at Père Lachaise CemeteryLGBTQ Roman Catholics19th-century French philosophersFrench literary critics19th-century mysticsPeople with hypochondriasisLycée Condorcet alumniFrench philosophers of artFrench Roman Catholic writers20th-century mysticsFrench short story writersFrench essayists20th-century French LGBTQ people, 19th-century French LGBTQ peoplePrix Goncourt winners, Deaths from pneumonia in France20th-century French essayists, 20th-century French short story writersSamuel Beckett
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of the author of Waiting for Godot, who lived in Paris and wrote in French as he found that more difficult than writing in English
17 January 2019
Featuring: Steven Connor, Laura Salisbury, Mark Nixon
CultureFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesNobel laureates in LiteratureExistentialistsModernist writers20th-century essayistsAlumni of Trinity College DublinPhilosophers of pessimismScholars of Trinity College DublinWriters from Dublin (city)Absurdist writersIrish male novelistsFrench Resistance membersBurials at Montparnasse CemeteryPrix Italia winnersAcademics of Trinity College DublinAnti-natalistsFormer AnglicansPeople with Parkinson's diseaseIrish male dramatists and playwrights, Irish expatriates in France20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights, 20th-century Irish male writers, 20th-century Irish poetsIrish Nobel laureates, Irish modernist poetsPeople educated at Portora Royal School, Irish writers in FrenchIrish male short story writers, 20th-century Irish short story writers, 20th-century Irish novelists