Stranger Than...
A day of events to celebrate non-fiction writing.
5th Estate · Stranger Than...
Show overview
Stranger Than... has published 9 episodes during 2007. That works out to roughly 4 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a monthly cadence.
Episodes typically run under ten minutes — most land between 5 min and 53 min — with run-times ranging widely across the catalogue. It is catalogued as a EN-GB-language Art show.
The catalogue appears to be on hiatus or wound down — the most recent episode landed 18.7 years ago, with no new episodes in over a year.
From the publisher
Stranger Than... a series of 15 non-fiction classics, coming to a bookseller near you. To mark the collections launch, Perennial, Foyles and 5th Estate organised a collaborative day-long celebration, where a host of published writers and book industry folk discussed how non-fiction works, how to write non-fiction and why the format is so successful.
Latest Episodes
Nigel Slater Autumn Podcast 1
Part one of two Autumn podcasts from Nigel Slater.
Nigel Slater Autumn Podcast 2
Second Autumn podcast from Nigel Slater.
Nigel Slater Spring Podcast 2
Second Spring podcast from Nigel Slater.
Nigel Slater Spring Podcast 1
Part one of two Spring podcasts from Nigel Slater.
The Personal and the Political
What are the differences in approaching the personal memoir and the political biography? Jung Chang was catapulted to international fame with her autobiography Wild Swans, first published in 1991. Since then, she has gone on to write a bestselling political biography Mao. Jung Chang will talk about her path to becoming a writer, and how Wild Swans allowed her to write about one of the world’s most mysterious leaders.
A Life Writing Masterclass
How do you teach someone to write non-fiction? Join us for a unique chance to hear Kathryn Hughes and Richard Holmes, both Professors at of the Life Writing Course at UEA, discuss the process of writing creative biography. Both Kathryn and Richard are successful biographers and renowned experts in their field. They are joined by two UEA graduates, Leonora Klein whose first book, a biography of Albert Pierrepoint was published in October 2006 and Druin Burch whose biography of surgeon Astley Cooper has just been published.
From the Page to the Screen
Many of the great narrative non-fiction books have been translated from the book to the screen. What makes a good film adaptation and how does a producer identify and adapt a book for the screen? Alexander Masters and Kathryn Hughes have been heavily involved in adapting their biographies, respectively Stuart and The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton for television. Simon Singh won a BAFTA for his documentary on Fermat’s Last Theorem, which he followed up with his book on the same subject. They are joined by Pippa Harris of Neal Street Productions, producer of Stuart.
Writing Fiction and Non-Fiction
What are the differences between writing fiction and non-fiction? Two authors who write in both genres will explore the different approaches to writing fiction and non-fiction. Hilary Mantel is one of our finest novelists and also the author of a critically acclaimed memoir Giving Up the Ghost. Bella Bathurst has written brilliant historical non-fiction as well as a fascinating and chilling novel. The event is chaired by Danuta Kean, freelance arts journalist and publishing commentator.
The Art of Autobiography
Xandra Bingley, Antonia Quirke & Salena Godden. What drives a writer to write an autobiography? What makes a memoir unique? And what is it about them that so appeals to publishers and readers? Three outstanding memoirists talk about their very different experiences of writing about their own lives. They are joined by Arabella Pike, Publishing Director of Harper Press and the event is chaired by Observer interviewer and writer Rachel Cooke.