Chris Power surveys Orwell’s complex legacy with Anna Funder, Adam Biles and Sandra Newman

Eric Arthur Blair remains best known for his contrary and often contradictory writing persona George Orwell, an enduring and much mythologised figure known for penning searing satires, political commentary and dystopic visions of the future.

Chris Power talks to Anna Funder, Adam Biles and Sandra Newman, the authors of three recent books that reframe Orwell’s life and work in ways that reflect an ever-relevant, and ever-evolving, engagement with his complex literary legacy.

Book List
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Lion and the Unicorn by George Orwell
Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
Coming Up for Air by George Orwell
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder
Julia by Sandra Newman
Beasts of England by Adam Biles

Producer: Ciaran Bermingham

Source: BBC Radio 4 – Open Book, George Orwell Now