The Essay

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of Radio 3, the network invited five writers with whom it shares a birthday, also turning 70 this year, on a birthday outing. Our contributors chose to visit places that have some personal significance for them, where they could look back and reflect on their feelings in this special birthday year.Today, novelist and campaigner Lisa Appignanesi, who is Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, samples the timeless elegance of The Savoy Hotel's Beaufort Bar and reflects on the characters that have passed through its doors during the 'Belle Epoque' and since.Essayist and reader: Lisa Appignanesi Producer: Simon Richardson.

Poet Kenneth Steven writes on the remote islands of St Kilda, where the community is only a distant memory echoed in the sound of seabirds. This is an island far out in the ocean. 'To make the sea crossing to St Kilda a boat is heading into the full fury of the North Atlantic; west of here lies nothing more than Rockall - and then America.'Once a thriving community lived on the island known as Hirta. 'Not only was there life on St Kilda, there was joy in life. The reports written by early visitors make that abundantly clear: the people made music and danced, they were singers of songs and tellers of tales. They faced hardship together and even death on a daily basis, but this little society held together in happiness.'But by 1930 the British Government wanted an end to the expense of supporting this remote colony, and the community were forced to take the decision to evacuate. Now there are only the empty shells of houses and the endless cries of seabirds.'In all the cobbles, concrete years to come Their isla

Poet Kenneth Steven writes on Raasay, an island close to Skye once home to the great Gaelic bard Sorley MacLean. Kenneth describes the history of this 'fiercely traditional island', with its continuing belief in the sanctity of the Sabbath Day - Sunday. 'This was prevalent until recently all across the Highlands and islands; it has faded with increasing secularisation, but on Raasay (as in other Outer Hebridean islands in particular) it remains firm'.Kenneth looks at two famous sons of Raasay, bot born in 1911. Calum MacLeod is famous for building a road across the island when requests for its construction has fallen on deaf ears. 'Over a period of about ten years he constructed one and three quarter miles of road, using little more than a shovel, pick and wheelbarrow.'But his main interest is in the work of Sorley Maclean, Gaelic poet. 'Gaelic was his mother tongue; the language of the heart, and the poetry he wrote was out of the burning fires of the heart. This was no gentle poetry. Sorley Maclean's people

Kenneth Steven looks at Rum, a wild and windswept Hebridean island, and responds to its landscape in poetry. Rum is the largest of a group making up the 'Small Isles', Rum, Muck, Eigg and Canna, lying west of the fishing port of Mallaig in the Scottish Highlands. 'I don't know a Hebridean island more beautiful to approach. Every time I do I think of it again as a treasure island.' Its remote and rugged beauty attracted an eccentric Victorian industrialist, who bought it and attempted to transform it into his own vision of an island home, complete with a castle. 'The castle itself was built of red sandstone and shaped from the Isle of Arran. Greenhouses were brought for the growing of peaches, grapes and nectarines. There were heated pools for turtles and alligators; an aviary was constructed for birds of paradise and humming birds.'It was not to last, and Kenneth looks at what's left of the island fantasy today, leaving him with a profound sense of sadness.Written and read by Kenneth StevenProducer Mark Ricka

Poet Kenneth Steven writes on Hoy, the only place of cliffs and mountains in the archipelago of the Orkney islands Kenneth describes the beauty of the Orkney islands as seen in their greenness and lushness, in contrast to the harsher landscape of the north-east corner of Scotland just to their south. 'These islands seem almost cut out of some richly endowed agricultural shore far to the south and planted in the sea just to the top right of Scotland'. But Hoy is different, the island has a wildness not found elsewhere in the islands. Kenneth reflects on the relationship between writer George Mackay Brown and the composer Peter Maxwell Davies, who died in 2016. They had met and Peter Maxwell Davies made the decision to live on Hoy in its rugged yet peaceful landscape. 'His falling in love with Hoy was not just a passing whim. He had to win his right to the place in almost fairy-tale like terms. But the peace he had so craved was all about him and his was able to compose; the music that flowed through him could

Poet Kenneth Steven has a special relationship with the small Hebridean island of Iona, set in the Atlantic off the west coast of Scotland. It was the place of learning and worship in the 6th century, when St Columba brought Christianity from Ireland and set up a monastery, and today it still has a spiritual quality for many of its visitors. Kenneth has visited since he was a child and collected stones polished by the sea along its beaches. Today he reflects on Iona's place as a 'meeting of the sea roads, which has had such a profound impact on so many, and has done for longer than we can ever know'. '..That is why I keep returning, thirsty, to this place That is older than my understanding, Younger than my broken spirit.'Written and read by Kenneth Steven Producer Mark Rickards

To celebrate the centenary of Roald Dahl's birth his biographer, Donald Sturrock remembers meeting the genius storyteller in the writing hut at the bottom of his garden. Here Dahl revealed how he used both the darkness and lightness of his childhood to fire his writing. Donald Sturrock wrote Storyteller: The Life of Road Dahl and has edited his letters, Love From Boy: Roald Dahl's Letters to His Mother.Written and read by Donald Sturrock Produced by Justine Willett.

In the centenary year of Roald Dahl's birth the dazzling language, clever observation and rude humour that infuses Dahl's poetry is celebrated by the acclaimed children's writer and former children's laureate, Michael Rosen.Written and read by Michael Rosen Produced by Justine Willett.

In the centenary year of Roald Dahl's birth Laura Dockrill remembers growing up with Matilda and discovering through Dahl's heroine that it was OK to be different. Laura Dockrill is a writer, illustrator and performance poet. She is the creator of Darcy Burdock, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2014. Written and read by Laura Dockrill Produced by Justine Willett.

To celebrate the centenary of Roald Dahl's birth Jeremy Dyson remembers his ten-year-old self and the day he discovered Dahl's short stories for adults. The deliciously dark lure of that first encounter has never left him. In his essay he reflects on Dahl's storytelling genius and its influence on his own writing. Jeremy Dyson is a screenwriter and with Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reese Shearsmith created The League of Gentlemen.Written and read by Jeremy Dyson. Produced by Justine Willett.

To mark the centenary of Roald Dahl's birth Frank Cottrell Boyce writes about the myth that the celebrated storyteller Dahl constructed out of his near fatal plane crash during the Second World War, and how he so perceptively captured a child's-eye view in his writing. Cottrell Boyce also recalls his very first encounter with Dahl's writing, which ended in outrage. The award-winning Frank Cottrell Boyce's first novel, Millions, was made into a feature film. He is a successful screenwriter and helped devise the Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games.Roald Dahl at 100 is a celebration of the storyteller's work and legacy ahead of the centenary of his birth in September 2016. Five acclaimed writers, the screenwriter and children's novelist, Frank Cottrell Boyce; the screenwriter and co-creator of The League of Gentleman, Jeremy Dyson; the author and performance poet, Laura Dockrill; the writer and former children's laureate, Michael Rosen, and the biographer Donald Sturrock, explore their passion for

In a week of broadcasts tracking the 100th anniversary of the first week of the Battle of the Somme, Radio 3's Essay series is featuring five new poems written in response to the battle. The poems have been commissioned by 14-18Now and these programmes will broadcast the poems for the first time and also hear from the poets about their inspiration and writing. 4th July: Paul Muldoon: July 1st 1916, With the Ulster Division 5th July: Yrsa Daley-Ward: When your mother calls you, come. 6th July: Bill Manhire: Known Unto God 7th July: Jackie Kay: Private Joseph Kay 8th July: Daljit Nagra: On your 'A 1940 Memory'Daljit Nagra's poem was commissioned by 14-18 NOW:WW1 Centenary Art Commissions, Norfolk & Norwich Festival and Writers' Centre Norwich. It was published by Gatehouse Press.Producer: Tim Dee.

In a week of broadcasts tracking the 100th anniversary of the first week of the Battle of the Somme, Radio 3's Essay series is featuring five new poems written in response to the battle. The poems have been commissioned by 14-18Now and these programmes will broadcast the poems for the first time and also hear from the poets about their inspiration and writing. 4th July: Paul Muldoon: July 1st 1916, With the Ulster Division 5th July: Yrsa Daley-Ward: When your mother calls you, come. 6th July: Bill Manhire: Known Unto God 7th July: Jackie Kay: Private Joseph Kay 8th July: Daljit Nagra: On your 'A 1940 Memory'Jackie Kay's poem was commissioned by 14-18 NOW:WW1 Centenary Art Commissions, Norfolk & Norwich Festival and Writers' Centre Norwich. It was published by Gatehouse Press.Producer: Tim Dee.

In a week of broadcasts tracking the 100th anniversary of the first week of the Battle of the Somme, Radio 3's Essay series is featuring five new poems written in response to the battle. The poems have been commissioned by 14-18Now and these programmes will broadcast the poems for the first time and also hear from the poets about their inspiration and writing. 4th July: Paul Muldoon: July 1st 1916, With the Ulster Division 5th July: Yrsa Daley-Ward: When your mother calls you, come. 6th July: Bill Manhire: Known Unto God 7th July: Jackie Kay: Private Joseph Kay 8th July: Daljit Nagra: On your 'A 1940 Memory'Bill Manhire's poem was commissioned by 14-18 NOW:WW1 Centenary Art Commissions, Norfolk & Norwich Festival and Writers' Centre Norwich. It was published by Gatehouse Press."Producer: Tim Dee.

In a week of broadcasts tracking the 100th anniversary of the first week of the Battle of the Somme, Radio 3's Essay series is featuring five new poems written in response to the battle. The poems have been commissioned by 14-18Now and these programmes will broadcast the poems for the first time and also hear from the poets about their inspiration and writing. 4th July: Paul Muldoon: July 1st 1916, With the Ulster Division 5th July: Yrsa Daley-Ward: When your mother calls you, come. 6th July: Bill Manhire: Known Unto God 7th July: Jackie Kay: Private Joseph Kay 8th July: Daljit Nagra: On your 'A 1940 Memory'Yrsa Daley-Ward's poem was commissioned by 14-18 NOW:WW1 Centenary Art Commissions, Norfolk & Norwich Festival and Writers' Centre Norwich. It was published by Gatehouse Press."Producer: Tim Dee.

In a week of broadcasts tracking the 100th anniversary of the first week of the Battle of the Somme, Radio 3's Essay series is featuring five new poems written in response to the battle. The poems have been commissioned by 14-18Now and these programmes will broadcast the poems for the first time and also hear from the poets about their inspiration and writing. 4th July: Paul Muldoon: July 1st 1916, With the Ulster Division 5th July: Yrsa Daley-Ward: When your mother calls you, come. 6th July: Bill Manhire: Known Unto God 7th July: Jackie Kay: Private Joseph Kay 8th July: Daljit Nagra: On your 'A 1940 Memory'Paul Muldoon's poem was commissioned by 14-18 NOW:WW1 Centenary Art Commissions, Norfolk & Norwich Festival and Writers' Centre Norwich. It was published by Gatehouse Press.Producer: Tim Dee.

As part of BBC Music Get Playing, supporting amateur music making around the UK this summer, 5 leading writers and artists contribute an Essay in this series, in which they talk about their little-known passions for playing an instrument. In the final programme of the series, the writer Alexander McCall Smith, author of "The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" describes how he learned to play saxophone which led to him starting The Really Terrible Orchestra.His career as an amateur saxophonist began with lessons' from his wife's flute teacher and then, during a stay in the US, he began to assemble a collection of saxophones, including a fine bass instrument.After returning home to Edinburgh, Alexander decided that he should encourage other amateur musicians to play together, no matter what their standard, and the Really Terrible Orchestra was born. In spite of its name, it has performed in concert halls to packed houses.Producer: Emma Kingsley.

As part of BBC Get Music Playing supporting amateur music making around the UK, 5 leading writers and artists contribute an Essay in this series, in which they talk about their little-known passions for playing an instrument. In the 4th programme of the series, the Guardian's film critic Peter Bradshaw describes how he was reunited with his electric guitar, decades after having given it away. He explores what playing the instrument meant to him as a youngster and assesses how he approaches it now as an adult. He examines the pleasures and pitfalls of relearning an instrument. And he marvels at the beauty of the electric guitar itself. For more information visit bbc.co.uk/getplayingProducer: Emma Kingsley.

As part of BBC Music Get Playing, supporting amateur music making around the UK, 5 leading writers and artists contribute an Essay in this series, in which they talk about their little-known passions for playing an instrument. In the third programme of the series, the poet Fiona Sampson explores how playing the violin to professional standard in her youth has informed her life and work today.She relives her youth spent at summer schools and in orchestras and describes playing the violin in the practice rooms at the Royal Academy of Music. And she describes how the shape that that her body made around the violin stays with her wherever she goes. For more information visit bbc.co.uk/getplaying Producer: Emma Kingsley.

As part of BBC Music Get Playing, supporting amateur music making around the UK, 5 leading writers and artists contribute an Essay in this series, in which they talk about their little-known passions for playing an instrument.In the second programme, the award-winning novelist Joanne Harris (best known for her novel "Chocolat") describes how she learned to play the flute as a child. This was followed by the bass guitar which she began after falling in love with a drummer in a band and wanting to join. When she heard the story told by her grandfather of how he had refused to hand his double bass over to a Nazi soldier in occupied France, the young Joanne Harris realised that a musical instrument could be a powerful force. She began playing herself, first the flute and then, as a 16 year old, the bass guitar. She's continued to play both instruments and is now developing a way of telling stories in performances which incorporates music. In this Essay, Joanne tells the story of her performing life and considers