Women Take to the BBC

Four of our fascinating female speakers who are appearing at this year’s Festival are currently featured on BBC Radio Sounds.

Catch novelist Louisa Young in Radio 3’s Private Passions – available until 15 October – where you clan listen to her tracklist of music. Family is at the heart of her work, and her first book was about her grandmother Kathleen, the widow of the Antarctic explorer Captain Scott.  Her latest is The Golden Hours, a sequel to the beloved Cazalet series.

Kate Williams goes time-travelling in Radio 3’s Peter Snow Returns to the Future in which he travels back and forth in time with the historian to the bedchamber of Queen Victoria and to the home of an African billionaire. Kate is at the Festival with her new book Regina: A New History of Women and Power.

Ever wondered where all the squiggles and dots of modern punctuation come from? On The Mark author Florence Hazrat gives a fascinating insight into how punctuation began and evolved through the centuries. This talk can be found on BBC Radio 4’s Word of Mouth.

Travel writer Sara Wheeler asks if travel today is an over-indulgence or if it can still offer us unmissable adventures and insights. In five short episodes on Radio 4 titled To Go or Not to Go, she explores different approaches to travel. The final episode is aired on 9 October and is now available on BBC Sounds. Her own latest book is a biography called Jan Morris: A Life.