‘Sick,’ a poem, written & read by RM.
‘Sick,’ a poem, written & read by RM.
‘An Almost Made Up Poem,’ a poem by Charles Bukowski, read by RM.
‘Last Letter,’ a poem/letter, written by Ted Hughes, read by RM.
This is the infamous ‘Last Letter,’ uncovered by Melvyn Bragg (previously unpublished and buried within the archives of the British Library) that Ted Hughes wrote to Sylvia Plath after her suicide.
Have a listen.
A Letter From Ernest Hemingway to F. Scott Fitzgerald, read by RM.
On May 10th of 1934, a month after the publication of his new novel, Tender Is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote to his friend, Ernest Hemingway, and asked for his honest opinion on the book — a tale about Dick and Nicole Diver, a couple based largely on mutual acquaintances of both Fitzgerald and Hemingway: Gerald and Sara Murphy.
Hemingway certainly responded with honesty.
Have a listen.
A Letter From Lenny Bruce To His Father, read by RM.
In August of 1966, following years of controversy and multiple arrests for his “obscene” stand-up routines, pioneering comedian Lenny Bruce was found dead at his home after a morphine overdose. He was 40-years-old. Approximately a year and a half before he passed away, as he faced jail following a drug conviction, Bruce wrote a letter to his father.
Give it a listen.
A Letter From Patti Smith To Robert Mapplethorpe, read by RM.
In 1967, 20-year-old Patti Smith moved to New York and met her “soul mate,” Robert Mapplethorpe — a then-aspiring and since-celebrated photographer who quickly became her lover. They lived and worked together for the next 7 years. 22 years later, by which time they had long separated but were still close friends, Robert, 42, passed away after being diagnosed with AIDS.
In the days preceding his death, Patti wrote him the following letter. Sadly, he didn’t get a chance to read it.
Give it a listen.
A Letter From Charles Bukowski to Hans van den Broek, read by RM
In 1985, following a complaint from a local reader, staff at the Public Library in Nijmegen decided to remove Charles Bukowski’s book, Tales of Ordinary Madness, from their shelves whilst declaring it “very sadistic, occasionally fascist and discriminatory against certain groups (including homosexuals).” In the following weeks, a local journalist by the name of Hans van den Broek wrote to Bukowski and asked for his opinion. It soon arrived.
Give it a listen.
‘A Vote For The Gentle Light,’ a poem by Charles Bukowski, read by RM.
A Letter From F. Scott Fitzgerald To Gerald & Sara Murphy, read by RM.
On January 30th of 1937, two years after his older brother, Baoth, succumbed to meningitis, 16-year-old Patrick Murphy passed away following a seven year battle with tuberculosis. The boys’ 20-year-old sister, Honoria, remained. A few days later, the children’s distraught parents, Gerald and Sara Murphy, received the following letter of condolence from their friend, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Have a listen.
A Letter From Aldous Huxley to George Orwell, read by RM.
In October of 1949, a few months after the release of George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four, he received a fascinating letter from fellow author Aldous Huxley — a man who, 17 years previous, had seen his own nightmarish vision of society published, in the form of Brave New World. What begins as a letter of praise soon becomes a brief comparison of the two novels, and an explanation as to why Huxley believes his own, earlier work to be a more realistic prediction.
Have a listen.
