Library

Welcome to the RSL Library, where we have collected our archive material in one place for the first time. Browse by genre, search for your favourite writer or look through by theme. You will find audio recordings and images of our events over the past ten years, as well as selected RSL Review articles. Audio recordings copyright the British Library Board.

New to the library

Adam Foulds on biographical fiction
Ruth Rendell on crime writing

Biography

Tom Staley discusses his life studying James Joyce
Victoria Glendinning on her biography of Leonard Woolf
Hermione Lee discusses her biography of Edith Wharton
Jenny Uglow on Sarah Losh of Wreay
Jane Ridley and William Shawcross on writing about royalty
Margaret Drabble leads a discussion of Proust's work
Damian Barr and Tracey Thorn on their memoirs
William Hague on the relationship between Pitt the Younger and Wilberforce: contrasting friends
Daphne Park speaks about British Intelligence, with readings from Lucy Fleming
A.S. Byatt, Bidisha and Philip Hensher discuss Irish Murdoch's work
Michael Holroyd discusses 'A Book of Secrets' with Sara Wheeler
Anne Chisholm, Michael Holroyd and Alison Light discuss Bloomsbury's relevance to the 21st century
Michael Holroyd talking to Eleanor Bron about his biography 'A Strange and Eventful History'
John Carey on his biography of William Golding
Dmitry Bykov leads a discussion of Russian writer and translator Boris Pasternak
John Carey on meeting someone from William Golding's past - RSL Review 2010
Bidisha, Caryl Phillips and Susannah Clapp discuss Angela Carter's legacy
Simon Sebag Montefiore on Stalin's relationship with writers
Ali Smith and translator Jull Costa celebrate the life and work of Jose Saramago
Colin Thubron considers past versions of himself, and the future of literature - RSL Review 2010
Ronald Harwood, Victoria Glendinning, Jackie Kay and Hanif Kureishi on their struggles and successes
Anne Chisholm on her biography of Frances Partridge - RSL Review 2009
Vikram Seth describes the experience of living in George Herbert's house - RSL Review 2008
Philip Mansel remembers Lesley Blanch - RSL Review 2008
Peter Parker considers the vision and career of Edward Upward - RSL Review 2006
Tom Stoppard and Michael Holroyd interview themselves - RSL Review 2005

Drama

Eileen Atkins in conversation with Ronald Harwood

Fiction

Penelope Lively leads a conversation about biographical fiction
V.S. Naipaul in conversation with John Carey about his life and career
Rose Tremain on writing about subjects removed from her own life
A.S. Byatt reflects on the experience of having her portrait painted
Penelope Lively and Helen Simpson on literary brevity
Hilary Mantel on the darkness in her writing
Neil Gaiman and The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Ruth Rendell on crime writing
Adam Foulds on biographical fiction
Norman Manea in conversation with Paul Bailey
Marilynne Robinson interviewed by Maya Jaggi
Romesh Gunesekera talks to Michael Morpurgo about our need for stories
Susan Hill and Sarah Waters on ghost stories
Elaine Showalter on the Brontës and American women writers
Beryl Bainbridge and Hilary Mantel on the art of historical fiction
Adam Foulds Pankaj Mishra, Chris Petit and Kamila Shamsie on literature and politics
Ian McEwan on originality in science and the arts
Lucasta Miller looks at the appeal of the gothic - RSL Review 2010
Michael Ondaatje on his life and work
Philip Hensher and Tahmima Anam discuss the Bangladeshi novel
Sebastian Faulks interviewed by Jane Thynne
Caroline Moorehead leads a conversation about suffering and human depravity
Michael Cunningham in conversation with Christopher Potter
Amitav Ghosh in conversation with Linda Grant
Anita Desai and Maggie Gee discuss the creative process - RSL Review 2004
Linda Kelly on detective fiction - RSL Review 2009
Philippa Pearce reflects on the changes in children's fiction - RSL Review 2006
P.D. James and Ruth Rendell on crime writing after Agatha Christie - RSL Review 2006
Paul Gravett on the graphic novel - RSL Review 2006
Alan Judd on the fiction of the Second World War - RSL Review 2005
Hilary Spurling on the relationship between M.M. Kaye's friendship with Paul Scott - RSL Review 2005

Non-fiction

Colin Thubron in conversation with Tash Aw about 'Shadow of the Silk Road'
Orlando Figes on a Gulag love story
Kate Pullinger on digital fiction - RSL Review 2013
James Lasdun and Susie Orbach on cyber-stalking
Lara Feigel and Juliet Gardiner discuss writing of the Blitz
War correspondence as literature
Diana Athill, Carmen Callil and Jeremy Lewis on editing
Peter Kemp on reviewing literary fiction
David Gilmour debating the British Empire
Colin Thubron in conversation with Victoria Glendinning
Margaret Atwood and Sir Brian Hoskins on climate change and the future
Ferdinand Mount on literature and politics
David Hare on journalism and art
David Dabydeen and Charles Nicholl on Francis Barber's friendship with Dr. Johnson
Rory MacLean interviews Georg Salzmann on books that escaped Nazi bonfires - RSL Review 2009
Philip Pullman, Frances Wilson and Jenny Uglow on the e-book - RSL Review 2010
Fiona Sampson on writers and music or art - RSL Review 2011
Richard Eyre on cuts to the arts - RSL Review 2011
Iain Sinclair on Hackney
Sarah Edworthy on Lynne Truss and her 'journalistic addiction' to sport - RSL Review 2010
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Frances Wilson and Richard Davenport-Hines talk about RMS Titanic
Karen Armstrong on religion
Adam Phillips on creativity and mental health
A panel discussion chaired by Polly Toynbee on studying English
Edmund de Waal in coversation with Penelope Lively
Hilary Spurling in conversation with Xinran
Jonathan Ketes reviews the rewards and difficulties of teaching - RSL Review 2004
James Fergusson reveals a high profile dispute over the RSL Benson Medal - RSL Review 2004
Ysenda Maxtone Graham on being a nominee-turned-judge - RSL Review 2004
The house of fame - RSL Review 2009
Katie Waldegrave on her charity, First Story - RSL Review 2009
Caroline Moorehead on her work with refugees in Cairo - RSL Review 2004
How to preserve a writer's work by James Fergusson - RSL Review 2009
Michael Holroyd on the inability of banks to deal with writers - RSL Review 2004
Michael Frayn and A.C. Grayling on philosophy and writing - RSL Review 2008
Anthony Gardner on the emotion behind Thomas Hardy's Christmas cards - RSL Review 2008
Michael Morpurgo on literacy among children - RSL Review 2008
Rory Stewart on writing about place - RSL Review 2007
Romesh Gunesekera on the lure of the capital - RSL Review 2007
Michael Holroyd on Stephen Potter - RSL Review 2007
Colin Thubron and Tash Aw on an ancient travelling route - RSL Review 2007

Poetry

David Harsent and Jo Shapcott read from and discuss their work
Dannie Abse and Alan Jenkins discuss loss
Amit Chaudhuri and Sunetra Gupta on Tagore
Peter Porter in conversation with Fiona Sampson
Seamus Heaney in conversation with Bernard O'Donoghue
Seamus Heaney discussing his life and work
David Harsent discusses Seamus Heaney's life and work
Alice Oswald and Robin Robertson read from their work
A poetry discussion between Mimi Khalvati and Fiona Sampson
Poets Wendy Cope, Jackie Kay and Hugo Williams discuss their favourite poetry
Andrew Motion on his life and work
A celebration of Peter Porter, led by Sean O'Brien
Claire Tomalin and Philip Pullman on John Milton
Rowan Williams in conversation with Fiona Sampson
Christopher Ricks on his book 'True Friendship'
RSL Director Maggie Fergusson on prose-writing Fellows who began as poets - RSL Review 2008
Jonathan Keates on poetry and song - RSL Review 2007
Poets David Harsent and Lavinia Greenlaw speak to young poets Emma Jones and Ahren Warner
Linda Anderson on Elizabeth Bishop

Short story

Helen Simpson, Bernard MacLaverty and E.A. Markham read from their 2006 collections of short stories
Jackie Kay at the V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize evening 2012
Jane Gardam and Adam Mars-Jones at the V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize evening 2010
V.S. Pritchett Prize winner 2011 - The Redemption of Galen Pike - RSL Review 2012
Adam Foulds and Rose Tremain at the V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize evening 2011