This Cultural Life Folgen

Penelope Lively, now 89 years old, is the author of more than 30 books for children, six short story collections and 17 novels. Shortlisted three times for the Booker prize, she won it in 1987 for her time-shifting novel Moon Tiger, in which a terminally ill woman looks back at wartime adventures, love affairs and fraught family life. Dame Penelope Lively has won the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Award for her children’s books. She is also the author of three volumes of memoirs.Dame Penelope recalls her early childhood in Cairo, and how real-life wartime Egypt inspired the fiction of Moon Tiger. Andrew Lang's Tales of Troy and Greece, a retelling of the Homeric myths, first sparked her creative imagination at the age of ten. Having moved to England in late 1945, she remembers the devastation left by the Blitz, and how seeing for herself the ruins in London, both ancient and modern, prompted a lifelong fascination with archaeology. An extremely wide reader, she discusses the influence of her lifetimes' reading habit on her fiction; in particular The Making Of The English Landscape by W.G. Hoskins, a book about the strata of history that have helped shape England, which inspired some of the recurring themes of memory and loss in her own work.Producer: Edwina Pitman

Inua Ellams, the Nigerian-born, award-winning poet, playwright and performer, talks to John Wilson about the most important influences and experiences that have inspired his own creativity. Inua won huge acclaim for his play the Barbershop Chronicles, which was a sell-out twice at the National Theatre and went on to tour the UK. His adaptation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters reset during the Biafran war - also for the National - is now on the A Level syllabus, and he is the author of several books of poetry including The Half God Of Rainfall. Inua was born in Plateau State, Nigeria, moved to Britain as a child, and also spent time in Dublin during his teens. He recalls growing up in a dual faith household, with his Christian mother and Muslim father. Initially inspired by the tales of heroism he discovered in X-Men comics, he became a fan of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. He reveals that the 2001 album Amethyst Rockstar, by the American hip hop poet Saul Williams, was a huge inspiration on him as a writer and performer. Inua also talks movingly about his recent British citizenship which, despite being at the heart of the British theatrical establishment, took many years of struggle to secure.Producer: Edwina Pitman

Hannah Gadsby, the Emmy-winning stand-up comedian and writer, talks to John Wilson about the most significant influences and experiences that have shaped her comic career. Born and raised in Tasmania, she first came to prominence in Australia after winning a national competition in 2006. But it was her explosive show Nanette which made her an international comedy star when it was filmed by Netflix in 2018. It was candid and confessional, tackling subjects including homophobia, sexual violence and trauma. Hannah talks about how she felt like an ‘odd child’ growing up in Tasmania, and how she used comedy to negotiate social situations. She discusses her fascination with art history, a subject she studies at university, and which she explores to comic effect in many of her shows. Hannah chooses the French-American artist Louise Bourgeois, who died in 2010 aged 98, as a major influence on her performances which candidly draw on personal issues. She cites the French surrealist performance artist Claude Cahun as another inspirational figure. Hannah also talks about her recent autism diagnosis as a major turning point in her life and career, and why her autism became one of the key subjects of her 2019 show Douglas.Producer: Edwina Pitman