Loving The Raven
To tie in with the bicentenary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe in January 2009, five essays by five enthusiasts explore the enduring legacy and cult status of this enigmatic and controversial American writer. Across the week, a provocative blend of biography, accessible criticism and personal anecdote comes together to provide fascinating insights into the man and his work.
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
128kbps, 44Khz, runtime 5 x 13:45
1 - The Regency Parrot
Award-winning crime writer Andrew Taylor investigates Poe's childhood in England and the inspiration behind his own bestselling novel about Poe, The American Boy. He discovers, along the way, that Poe's famous poem, The Raven, could very nearly have been a French-speaking parrot.
Andrew Taylor is best known for his Lydmouth series of mysteries and the novels featuring morally ambiguous detective, William Dougal. The American Boy won the Crime Writers' Association's Historical Dagger Award for Fiction in 2003.
2 - The Raven in Love
Author Joanne Harris looks at the women in Edgar Allan Poe's life and the influence they had on his stories. She presents a compelling argument that the enigmatic and controversial American writer was a feminist at heart - in gothic fiction, "murder is, after all, the highest form of flattery."
Joanne Harris gained international recognition following the publication of her 1999 novel, Chocolat. Her books are now published in more than 40 countries and have won a number of British and international awards. She cites Poe as one of her favourite writers.
3 - Through the Door, Beyond the Mirror
Louise Welsh takes a fascinating journey through the many rooms and grounds of "the melancholy House of Usher", exposing and dissecting Poe's gothic heart in the process.
Louise's debut novel, The Cutting Room, was published to critical acclaim in 2002, winning several awards, including the John Creasey Dagger and The Saltire First Book Award. William Wilson, the protagonist in her third novel, The Bullet Trick, is named after a character penned by Poe. In a recent interview, she said: "I was trying to achieve an unconscious build-up of the same Gothic elements that Poe had."
1-3 of 5Loving The Raven - 1 - The Regency Parrot (Andrew Taylor).mp3
Loving The Raven - 2 - The Raven in Love (Joanne Harris).mp3
Loving The Raven - 3 - Through the Door, Beyond the Mirror (Louise Welsh).mp3
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4 - An Inquiry Will Amuse Us: Poe and the Invention of Crime Fiction
Mark Lawson takes The Murders In The Rue Morgue and celebrates Edgar Allen Poe's pioneering spirit, as The Essay continues to explore the enduring legacy and cult status of Poe in the bi-centenary of his birth in January 2009. He reveals how many of the defining characteristics of contemporary crime fiction can be traced back to this classic tale.
Journalist, broadcaster and author Lawson has also written a number of radio plays, including The Man Who Had 10,000 Women, about Belgian crime writer Georges Simenon. His fiction and drama is largely concerned with politics and popular culture in Britain and America. He has twice been voted TV Critic of The Year and has won numerous awards for his arts journalism.
5 - Thou Hast Murdered Thyself
Kim Newman looks at Poe the man and his alter-ego, explored through one of his lesser-known stories, William Wilson. By analysing the piece, we perhaps come closest to understanding the terrors that fired Poe's imagination.
Author, journalist and critic Newman is best known for his Anno Dracula series of vampire novels. A recurring feature of his fiction is his fondness for re-interpreting historical figures. Edgar Allan Poe appears in the cult vampire series as an un-dead scriptwriter.
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Loving The Raven - 4 - An Inquiry Will Amuse Us (Mark Lawson).mp3
Loving The Raven - 5 - Thou Hast Murdered Thyself.mp3