Three Faces of WH Auden
5.0/5
Critic Rating
In this new three-part series marking 50 years since Auden’s death, Michael Symmons Roberts sets out to consider those three different aspects of Auden’s massive body of work, beginning with a look at the political poet who in his early years was perhaps the leading voice of the British cultural left.
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Edward Wickham • Church Times • Sep 29, 2023
"If the criterion for a programme’s success is that it encourages us to explore further, then this was a consummate success — although, if we now dash to pick up an anthology only to find ourselves bewildered, it is not for lack of warning. Nobody here pretended that Auden’s poetry was easy."
Score: 5
James Marriot • The Times UK • Sep 22, 2023
"...superbly intelligent...You feel there is nothing he would rather be doing than making this radio programme about this poet. I think even taking into account my pro-Auden bias, Three Faces of WH Auden is the best thing Radio 4 has done this year. Someone give Symmons Roberts a microphone, some more dosh and let him do another poet."
