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Heroes and Villains: Ana Sampson and Chris Riddell
Season 6 · Episode 8

Heroes and Villains: Ana Sampson and Chris Riddell

Where in all the fantasy worlds is the best place to be a villain?

Mythmakers · Brian Boyd

October 24, 202455m 18s

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Show Notes

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif;">Hero or Villain? These archetypal characters are the stock-in-trade of the fantasy genre, and so you&rsquo;ll definitely enjoy this newest poetry anthology compiled by Ana Sampson, an experienced curator of poetry collections, and illustrated by the instantly recognizable pencil of Chris Riddell, multi-award-winning illustrator and former UK Children's Laureate. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif;">Today on Mythmakers, in conversation with Julia Golding, Ana and Chris journey through history and genres, unearthing the gems. They reflect on the poems that inspired them as children, the role of compendiums in nurturing the artistic imagination, and why different approaches are often used to tell the same tale. They also explore the influence of politics on the anthology&mdash;and vice versa, and so much more. And if that wasn&rsquo;t enough, Chris treats us to a live dragon sketch while several poems are read aloud&mdash;making this a truly unmissable episode! </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif;">Their book, Heroes and Villains: Poems about Legends (Macmillan), is available for purchase now. Credits for the poems read in full are: 'Nan Hardwicke Turns into a Hare' by Wendy Pratt, 'St Margaret of Antioch Speaks' by Jan Dean, 'If...' by James Carter, and 'The Dragons are Hiding' by Brian Moses.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;"><!-- [if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;"><!--[endif]--></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; background: white;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">For more information on the Oxford Centre for Fantasy, our writing courses, and to check out our awesome social media content visit:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">Website: </span><a href="https://centre4fantasy.com/website"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; background: white;">https://centre4fantasy.com/website</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">Instagram: </span><a href="https://centre4fantasy.com/Instagram"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; background: white;">https://centre4fantasy.com/Instagram</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">Facebook: </span><a href="https://centre4fantasy.com/Facebook"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; background: white;">https://centre4fantasy.com/Facebook</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">TikTok: </span><a href="https://centre4fantasy.com/tiktok"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; background: white;">https://centre4fantasy.com/tiktok</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">0:10 Welcome to Mythmakers</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">1:32 Childhood Poems That Shaped Us</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">5:27 The Lady of Shalott and Lockdown</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">10:15 The Role of Poetry Anthologies</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">12:05 Creating the Heroes and Villains Anthology</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">16:40 Exploring Heroes and Villains Through Poetry</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">20:2Research Gems in Poetry</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">36:19 Creative Tips for Aspiring Writers</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">39:04 Contemporary Issues in Fantasy</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">43:01 Collaborating with Publishers</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">46:56 The Intersection of Politics and Fantasy</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white;">52:46 Closing Thoughts and Inspiration</span></p>