The Essay Episodes Available now
On Not Boasting—England Ejects
1/5 Novelist Andrew Martin laments why 'not boasting' is fading from our lives.
Luke Johnson on The Magic of Thinking Big—The Book that Changed Me
5/5 Entrepreneur Luke Johnson celebrates the classic self-help book The Magic of Thinking Big.
Malorie Blackman on The Color Purple—The Book that Changed Me
4/5 Children's Laureate Malorie Blackman on Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple.
Simon McBurney on And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos—The Book that Changed Me
3/5 Actor Simon McBurney on John Berger's And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos.
Tracey Thorn on The Female Eunuch—The Book that Changed Me
2/5 Singer Tracey Thorn on how Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch spoke to her as a teenager.
Alan Johnson on David Copperfield—The Book that Changed Me
1/5 Politician Alan Johnson on how Dickens's David Copperfield affected the course of his life
Don Paterson—Letters to a Young Poet
5/5 Inspired by Rilke's classic text, Don Paterson writes a letter to a young poet of today.
Moniza Alvi—Letters to a Young Poet
4/5 A letter by TS Eliot Prize-shortlisted poet Moniza Alvi.
Michael Longley—Letters to a Young Poet
3/5 A letter to a young poet from Belfast writer Michael Longley.
Vicki Feaver—Letters to a Young Poet
2/5 A letter to a young woman poet by 2014 TS Eliot Prize judge Vicki Feaver.
