Oulipo

Josie Long presents a series of short documentaries and audio adventures inspired by the work of the Oulipo, a loose collective of writers and mathematicians who use playful constraints in their work to spark new ideas.

The Oulipo's name - Ouvroir de littérature potentielle - roughly translates as 'the workshop of potential literature'. They have produced works such as Georges Perec's La Disparition; A Void in the English translation, in which the letter e never appears; If on a Winter's Night a Traveller..., Italo Calvino's novel which features ten different first chapters of novels; and Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style, in which the same story is retold 99 times in a different style.

Our workshop for potential radio features literary reviews, audio games and new stories from Joe Dunthorne, Jon Tjhia, John-Luke Roberts and Ross Sutherland.

As Far As The I Produced by Jon Tjhia

Peanut Butter Featuring Joe Dunthorne

A Void Featuring John-Luke Roberts

The Other Ross Sutherland Featuring Roddy Forsyth and Ross Sutherland An alternate version of this story first appeared on the podcast Imaginary Advice Produced by Ross Sutherland

Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2019.