Show Notes
A Working Class Literature podcast double-episode in which we talk to acclaimed author, poet and Professor of Children's Literature, Michael Rosen, about his anthology, Workers' Tales: Socialist Fairy Tales, Fables, and Allegories from Great Britain, which gathers together short stories from the labour and socialist press between 1880 and 1920. You can buy a copy of Michael's anthology here. More info on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/blog/wcl-e3-4-michael-rosens-socialist-fairy-tales/
More from Working Class Literature
As part of our work to mark the centenary of the UK's 1926 general strike, we sat down with with Charles Ferrall and Dougal McNeill, authors of the excellent Writing the 1926 General Strike: Literature, Culture, Politics to talk about some of the literature texts produced in response to the strike, both from established authors and emerging working-class writers.
Following our double-episode on the Florence Working-Class Literature Festival back in February, our co-host Matt was invited to this year’s festival, recording this episode on-site at the ex-GKN factory in Florence. Featuring the various writers, researchers, organisers, and activists in attendance, this episode captures the atmosphere of the festival at this critical time for the GKN struggle. Our podcast is brought to you by patreon supporters of both Working Class Literature and Working Class History. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory Taking place on 4-6 April 2025, the opending day of the festival marked the 1367th day since the 400+ workforce at the GKN car parts factory in Florence was first made redundant. They subsequently seized the factory and remain in control of it to this day, despite receiving their third – and now final – redundancy notice in the days leading up to this year’s festival.Recorded on-site at the occupied GKN factory on the outskirts of Florence, this episode features the voices of various writers, researchers, organisers, and activists that we spoke to while at the festival. These conversations took place against a frenzy of activity, both for the festival but also the GKN struggle itself.
Part 2 of our double episode on working-class author Jack Hilton, with Jack Chadwick whose literary detective work rescued Hilton from almost total obscurity. This part covers his novel Caliban Shrieks in more detail and how it compares to other working-class novels from the same period; his later writing and life, and how his writing career would come to an end (despite George Orwell’s efforts); and, finally, the amazing series of events that led to the rediscovery and republication of Caliban Shrieks. Our podcast is brought to you by patreon supporters of both Working Class Literature and Working Class History. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory
Part 1 of our double episode about Jack Hilton, a working-class author, World War I veteran, unemployed movement organiser, and trade union activist from Rochdale, north-west England.
Part 2 of our double-episode about the Working-Class Literature Festival held every year in Florence, at the former GKN car parts factory, which was taken over by the workers after they were made redundant in 2021.