The Iris Murdoch Society podcast

Joining me to discuss William Golding, Doris Lessing and Muriel Spark in relation to their own work (and Iris!) are James Bailey (University of Sheffield), Nicola Presley (University of Bath Spa), and Nonia Williams (University of East Anglia). We cover the novels, of course, but also politics, feminism, WW2, the influence of travel, mysticism and much more! James' new book on Spark: https://edinb...

In this episode Miles is (virtually) in the Murdoch collection at the Kingston University Archives; and joined by the Head Archivist, Dayna Miller, transcriber Rachel Hirschler, and one of the founders of the archive, Prof. Anne Rowe (Chichester and Kingston). We cover the letters, journals, links between novels and unpublished work, poetry, artwork, and much more. To ask Dayna a question, or to b...

In this podcast I'm joined by Prof Peter J. Conradi, Iris Murdoch's official biographer, to celebrate his own memoir, 'Family business', and to reflect on his biography of Iris, 'Iris Murdoch: A Life', twenty years after publication. He tells us about his relationship with Iris, her life, work and relationships, her unpublished novel 'Jerusalem', what he left unsaid until 'Family Business' (the fi...

In this lecture Rob Hardy (Emeritus, Henan Normal University, China) explores the consequences of two statements: (1) that Iris Murdoch was a shaman in the sense that Ted Hughes said that Shakespeare and T.S Eliot were, and (2) that Murdoch’s shamanism was deeply linked to the intertextuality of her fiction.

Joining me to discuss Iris Murdoch and feminism are Lucy Bolton, a film scholar from Queen Mary, University of London; Wendy Jones Nakanishi a literary scholar recently retired from Shikoku Gakuin University, Japan; and the artist and scholar Carol Sommer. Lucy's Book on Iris Murdoch and Film-Philosophy: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-contemporary-cinema-and-the-philosophy-of-iris-murdo...

George Steiner commented in Existentialists and Mystics that Iris Murdoch’s writings present ‘[l]uminous shades of Blake’s “holiness of the minute particular”’. This lecture explores some of the ways in which Murdoch engages with this oft-maligned Romantic visionary, whose works are referenced in her fiction, her letters and her philosophy. Blake and Murdoch share a dialectical moral vision that s...

Joining Miles on the podcast are Peter J. Conradi FRSL, author of the authorised biography, 'Iris Murdoch: A Life', as well as his own memoir 'Family Business' (2019); the novelist Garth Greenwell, author of 'What Belongs to You' and 'Cleanness' (2020); and the literary critic and former Deputy Director of PEN, Catherine Taylor. Peter's Memoir: https://www.serenbooks.com/productdisplay/family-busi...

This recording from 2019 features Miles Leeson and Anne Rowe, both from the Iris Murdoch Research Centre at the University of Chichester, discussing Murdoch's novel 'The Unicorn'.

In this episode, Miles is joined by Ian D'Alton (Trinity College, Dublin), Gillian Dooley (Flinders University Australia) and Frances White (IMRC, Chichester) to discuss Iris' Irishness. Areas covered include her biography and links with Irish culture, along with the novels 'The Unicorn', 'The Red and the Green', and her only short story 'Something Special'. Ian's article on her Irishness: https:/...

Joining Miles to present a general introduction to Murdoch's life and work are Prof. Cheryl Bove (Ball State University, USA), Prof. Avril Horner (Kingston University, UK), and Kieran Setiya (MIT, USA). In this podcast we introduce each facet of Murdoch's life and work - her biography, fiction, philosophy, life writing, her love of London, and more. You can discover more via these links: Avril's C...

Maureen reflects on her time studying with Iris Murdoch (and others) at St Anne's College Oxford in the late 1950s, and reflects on the effect that it had on her later career as an academic. Interviewed by Miles Leeson from the IMRC, Chichester.

In this interview, first broadcast on the BBC in 1977, Murdoch discusses her work in both philosophy and literature with Bryan Magee. An excellent companion piece, by the Murdochian scholar Gillian Dooley, can be found here: https://www.abc.net.au/religion/iris-murdoch-and-her-philosophy-of-fiction/11889672

Joining me to discuss Iris and Swimming are Natasha Alden from the University of Aberystwyth, Hannah Marije from St Mary's University of London, and Lucy Oulton from the research Centre at Chichester. We discuss her life writing, no-fiction, philosophy, and of course her fiction including: Under the Net The Bell The Sea, The Sea The Unicorn A Fairly Honourable Defeat The Philosopher's Pupil

Joining Miles to discuss 'A Word Child' are Professor Rob Hardy from Henan Normal University, China; Dr Daniel read from Kingston University, and Maria Peacock from the Research Centre at Chichester.

Join me and my guest Anne Rowe as she guides us around London's National Gallery! We'll be stopping off at four paintings that appear in her novels: Gainsborough's portrait of his two daughters from 'The Bell' https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/thomas-gainsborough-the-painters-daughters-chasing-a-butterfly Bronzino's 'Allegory with Venus and Cupid' from 'The Nice and the Good'. https://w...

Joining me to discuss Murdoch and Politics are Gary Browning (Oxford Brookes), author of 'Why Iris Murdoch Matters', Lesley Jamieson (Queen's University, Canada)who is conducting research into Murdoch's thought in the 1950s, and Vic Seidler (Goldsmiths, London) author of numerous works on sociology and politics. Gary's Book: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/why-iris-murdoch-matters-9781472574473/ Les...

Joining Miles in this special podcast on Brigid Brophy's life and work are Gerri Kimber, co-editor of the recent collection 'Brigid Brophy: Avant-Garde Writer, Critic, Activist'; Jonathan Gibbs, academic and novelist (whose latest novel 'The Large Door' is directly inspired by Brophy's 'The Snow Ball'); and Brophy's daughter, Kate Levey. Kate's Website: www.brigidbrophy.com Gerri's co-edited colle...

In 2016 Frances White (who you can also hear on the recent podcast) joined me at Chichester to discuss 'The Bell' with my students.

My guests on this podcast are Dr Frances White, Deputy Director of the IMRC at Chichester and author of the short biography 'Becoming Iris Murdoch', Fr Mark Patrick Hederman Former Abbott of Glenstall Abbey in Ireland and author of two works with a focus on Murdoch (see below), and James Marriott, Deputy Books Editor of The Times. Frances Book: https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Becoming_Iris_...

In this episode Miles is joined by Lucy Bolton (Queen Mary, University of London), Rebecca Moden (University of Chichester), and Anne Rowe (Chichester, and Kingston University) to discuss how Murdoch's use of imagery works in the novels, her inspirations, her relationship with painters and paintings, and how her philosophy can be brought to bear on the cinema and film-philosophy. Lucy's Book: http...

In 2017 A.N. Wilson was a guest at the Iris Murdoch Conference at Chichester. Here he is, in interview with Miles Leeson, reflecting on 'Iris Murdoch: As I Knew Her' 15 years after publication. If you want the full interview with audience questions and responses you can find it in this book. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Iris-Murdoch-Celebration-Miles-Leeson/dp/191297200X If you'd like a copy at a disc...

In this podcast Miles Leeson is joined by three renowned experts on Murdoch's philosophy; Justin Broackes (Brown University, USA), editor of 'Iris Murdoch, Philosopher' and author of a forthcoming commentary on SOG; Hannah Marije Altorf (St. Mary's, London) author of 'Iris Murdoch and the Art of Imagining' and translator of the Dutch edition of SOG, and Mark Hopwood (Sewanee, University of the Sou...

This podcast discusses 'Murdochland' - the locations, characters, and buildings that inhabit Murdoch's novels: London is central. Guests are Chris Boddington, author of 'Iris Murdoch A-Z' - a major reference work to all her characters, locations, and so much more ; James Jefferies, creator of irismurdoch.info - an online site dedicated to Murdoch's London, and Prof Anne Rowe co-author of 'Sacred S...

A talk at the Iris Murdoch Research Centre on the 20th anniversary of her death in 2019.

The first podcast from the Iris Murdoch Research Centre at the University of Chichester hosted by the Director, Miles Leeson. Guests include Visiting Professor Anne Rowe, Visiting Fellow Frances White, and researcher Lucy Oulton.