When We’re Smiling
Do photographs of working-class people have to be sombre, serious and vaguely threatening? Not if Carmina Ripollès is taking the pictures, they don’t. Here’s her show of smiles from the past year to celebrate the season of joy.
Archive
How I Ruined a Middle-Class Christmas
Her family scoff sausage rolls, love a bit of tinsel, and open their presents when they get up. His eat tiny amounts of Thorntons, colour-co-ordinate, and – yes, we are in Hell – wait until after dinner. A festive disaster story from Leesa Morris.
The Working Class Library Episode 6: Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Kevin Barry joins Claire Malcolm, chief executive of New Writing North, and Richard Benson, editor of The Bee, to discuss Frank McCourt’s 1996 memoir Angela’s Ashes.
A Guide to Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Siobhan McShane’s introduction to the plot, characters and historical background of Frank McCourt’s working-class memoir of growing up in poverty in Ireland in the 1930s and 1940s.
The Silence Between Fields
In the Northern Irish countryside, the land held identity tightly. Too tightly for some.
Everything but the Kitchen Sink
Working-class TV shows are being destroyed by finance, middle-class bias and “beigevision”, finds Claire Malcolm.
The Working Class Library Episode 5: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ by Sue Townsend
Richard and Claire are joined by novelist David Nicholls to consider Sue Townsend’s 1982 novel The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾.
A Guide to The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend
Georgia Poplett’s introduction to the plot, characters and historical background of Sue Townsend’s novel about a young working-class intellectual in 1980s Leicester.
Are working class people saints?
Britain needs to stop its “sanctification” of working-class people, says one conservative commentator. We weren’t aware it had ever started.
Selina Nwulu’s Other Green World
The acclaimed poet’s first essay collection asks why environmental movements exclude people, and what a saved planet might look like for a Black collective.
The Working Class Library Episode 4: Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson
Richard and Claire are joined by novelist Sarah Hall to consider Flora Thompson’s memoir Lark Rise to Candleford.
An Introduction to Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson
Lark Rise to Candleford is a classic of English working-class literature, but is commonly thought of as a cosy, nostalgic memoir. Why?
