Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Wise and wonderful novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and identifies the misunderstandings and dangers that arise out of the notion of 'a single story'. From your home screen. Any time Find out more

The wonderfully poignant, achingly funny Kevin Barry reads from his story The Ox Mountain Death Song From your home screen. Any time Find out more

Opening with reflections on the structure of her second to last novel, The Green Road, Anne Enright goes on to discuss her special relationship to the short story, what it means to be an Irish writer, not being afraid of the sentence; what men ask her at dinner parties; failing to write in the mornings, sometimes accidentally writing in the evenings and more. From your home screen. Any time. Find out more

Birbeck's very own Toby Litt reads his short story on the search for soul and connection beyond family weirdness. Published in The Lonely Crowd in 2017 while Toby was in the process of writing his family memoir, Wrestliana. From your home screen. Any time Find out more

With delicate humour, Martina Evans, poet and former lecturer on Birkbeck's Creative Writing MA programme, recalls in lyrical form the foibles of an unforgettable mother. From your home screen. Any time Find out more

Master of the short – and sometimes very short – story, George Saunders has received many accolades for his 2017 novel Lincoln in the Bardo, described as 'a luminous feat of generosity and humanism'. Here, Saunders talks about the necessity of experimentation with voice and style, and of the essential connection between kindness and watchfulness. A perfect complement to Chimamanda Adichie's reflections on the 'dangers of a single story' (see above). From your home screen. Anytime Find out more

Selecting from The New Yorker archives, novelist Joseph O' Neill discusses and reads Spark's wonderful, sharply observed story about a face-off between rival hoteliers in a small Austrian village. O'Neill then discusses Spark's magic touch with the magazine's fiction editor, Deborah Triesman. From your home screen. Any time Find out more

Colin Barrett's exquisite mastery of dialogue and gesture is captured in this short story from his 2014 collection, Young Skins, that explores the wayward lives of young men and women in contemporary post-boom Ireland. From your home screen. Any time Find out more

Tracy Chevalier invites us to explore the detail in some of her favourite portrait paintings, how they make her pose questions and ultimately trigger imagined narratives. She shares her responses to three portraits, including the one that led to her best-selling novel ,"Girl With a Pearl Earring." From your Home Screen. Any time Find out more