Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss a major force in French culture in the 20th century

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the outstanding French writers of the twentieth century. The novels of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (1873 - 1954) always had women at their centre, from youth to mid-life to old age, and they were phenomenally popular, at first for their freshness and frankness about women’s lives, as in the Claudine stories, and soon for their sheer quality as she developed as a writer. Throughout her career she intrigued readers by inserting herself, or a character with her name, into her works, fictionalising her life as a way to share her insight into the human experience.WithDiana Holmes
Professor of French at the University of LeedsMichèle Roberts
Writer, novelist, poet and Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East AngliaAndBelinda Jack
Fellow and Tutor in French Literature and Language at Christ Church, University of OxfordProducer: Simon Tillotson

Colette (Summer Repeat)