Start here: Listen to our podcast episode Anthony Burgess for Beginners
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Burgess Foundation
- 13th August 2021
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category
- Blog Posts
Here at the Burgess Foundation, we are immersed in the world of Anthony Burgess. We revel in finding out small details about his life and career, we scour the archive for previously unknown facts and we have dedicated ourselves to bringing previously unpublished writing into print.
We sometimes forget that, because of the sheer number of books he published, Burgess can be quite a daunting figure, so with this episode of the podcast we have gone back to basics.
Our intention is to provide a roadmap to Burgess’s writing, to demystify some of the themes and preoccupations of his novels. We are aware that the first experience of Burgess that many people have is through A Clockwork Orange. This episode of the podcast begins with his most famous novel exploring its contexts and influences and, ultimately, giving some ideas about what to read next.
In this episode, we explore Burgess’s career from start to finish, focusing on elements such as his love of Shakespeare, the influence of James Joyce on his work, and how his travels around the world inspired his writing. Though it is designed for beginners, even the hardiest Burgess fan may find some new information, or discover books that they have yet to read.
This episode also presents recordings from the Burgess Foundation’s audio collection, and features Burgess reading from novels such as A Clockwork Orange, Nothing Like the Sun and Napoleon Symphony. There is also the opportunity to hear Burgess reflecting on his career and talking about his experiences of living in Colonial Malaya.
The Burgess Foundation Podcast explores Anthony Burgess’s life and work through thematic discussions and interviews with writers, literature experts, and other people who have encountered Burgess and his work in different contexts.
You can subscribe to the Burgess Foundation Podcast wherever you usually get your podcasts. Listen to this podcast below or on your audio platform of choice (Apple Podcasts / Soundcloud / Spotify / YouTube), or use the streaming links below.
