''The Write Stuff'', "Radio 4's game of literary correctness", was a lighthearted quiz about literature on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

, taking a humorous look at famous literary figures, which ran from 1998 to 2014. It was chaired and written by James Walton. The two teams were captained by novelist

Sebastian Faulks Sebastian Charles Faulks (born 20 April 1953) is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is best known for his historical novels set in France – ''The Girl at the Lion d'Or'', '' Birdsong'' and '' Charlotte Gray''. He has also pub ...

and journalist John Walsh, with Beth Chalmers reading literary extracts.

Format

John Walsh and

have been team captains since the programme began. They are each joined by another journalist or novelist; frequent guests in later years included John O'Farrell,

Mark Billingham Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

and

Lynn Truss Lynne Truss (born 31 May 1955) is an English author, journalist, novelist, and radio broadcaster and dramatist. She is arguably best known for her championing of correctness and aesthetics in the English language, which is the subject of her ...

. Truss stepped in as captain to replace Faulks for series 13 (2010). Each week, the programme has an "Author of the Week";

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

, and

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...

all featured in the programme. The programme has, on occasion, featured a group of writers, rather than a single author, as its key study - for example, poets of the Beat Generation were the featured authors on 26 October 2010. Each programme begins with the panellists reading favourite extracts from the author's writing, and the first round is a series of questions about the author's life and works. The programme normally ends with panellists having to write a pastiche (or

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

; the programme uses the terms interchangeably) based on that week's author of the week. Walton describes these as 'the most popular bit of the programme'. Walton sets a topic that would be so out of style of the author in question that a pastiche would be humorous. For example, when

was the author of the week, contestants were asked to write a poem, in the style of Burns, celebrating something typically English; when

Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...

was the author of the week, contestants were asked how he might have written a children's story. Faulks has published a collection of his parodies as a book, ''Pistache''.http://www.sebastianfaulks.com/index.php?page_id=17 The intervening rounds do not focus on the author of the week. Rounds commonly included are: connections; odd one out; literary mistakes; the archive round; and a music round. The programme has normally been broadcast at 18:30 on a weekday, one of the Radio 4 comedy slots.

Episodes

Series 1 (1998)

Series 2 (1999)

Series 3 (2000)

Series 4 (2001)

Series 5 (2002)

Christmas Special (2002)

Series 6 (2003)

Series 7 (2004)

Christmas Special (2004)

Series 8 (2005)

Series 9 (2006)

Series 10 (2007)

Series 11 (2008)

Series 12 (2008)

Series 13 (2010)

Series 14 (2010)

Cheltenham Literature Festival Special

Series 15 (2012)

Series 16 (2013)

Series 17 (2014)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Write Stuff, The BBC Radio 4 programmes British radio game shows 1990s British game shows 2000s British game shows 2010s British game shows