Charlotte Higgins

Greek Myths

The tale of how the hero Theseus killed the Minotaur, finding his way out of the labyrinth using Ariadne's ball of red thread, is one of the most intriguing, suggestive and persistent of all myths, and the labyrinth - the beautiful, confounding and terrifying building created for the half-man, half-bull monster - is one of the foundational symbols of human ingenuity and artistry. Charlotte Higgins, author of the Baillie Gifford-shortlisted Under Another Sky, tracks the origins of the story of the labyrinth in the poems of Homer, Catullus, Virgil and Ovid, and with them builds an ingenious edifice of her own. She follows the idea of the labyrinth through the Cretan excavations of Sir Arthur Evans, the mysterious turf labyrinths of northern Europe, the church labyrinths of medieval French cathedrals and the hedge mazes of Renaissance gardens. Along the way, she traces the labyrinthine ideas of writers from Dante and Borges to George Eliot and Conan Doyle, and of artists from Titian and Vel�zquez to Picasso and Eva Hesse. Her intricately constructed narrative asks what it is to be lost, what it is to find one's way, and what it is to travel the confusing and circuitous path of a lived life. Red Thread is, above all, a winding and unpredictable route through the byways of the author's imagination - one that leads the reader on a strange and intriguing journey, full of unexpected connections and surprising pleasures.

A Circuitous Journey Through Mazes and Labyrinths

Red Thread

Shortlisted for the 2013 Samuel Johnson Prize, the Thwaites Wainwright Prize and the 2014 Dolman Travel Book Award This is a book about the encounter with Roman Britain: about what the idea of âe~Roman Britainâe(tm) has meant to those who came after Britainâe(tm)s 400-year stint as province of Rome âe" from the medieval mythographer-historian Geoffrey of Monmouth to Edward Elgar and W.H. Auden. What does Roman Britain mean to us now? How were its physical remains rediscovered and made sense of? How has it been reimagined, in story and song and verse? Charlotte Higgins has traced these tales by setting out to discover the remains of Roman Britain for herself, sometimes on foot, sometimes in a splendid, though not particularly reliable, VW camper van. Via accounts of some of Britain's most intriguing, and often unjustly overlooked ancient monuments, Under Another Sky invites us to see the British landscape, and British history, in an entirely fresh way: as indelibly marked by how the Romans first imagined, and wrote, these strange and exotic islands, perched on the edge of the known world, into existence.

Journeys in Roman Britain

Under Another Sky

It's all Greek to me

Chris Ofili

A New Retelling, with Drawings by Chris Ofili

The Extraordinary Birth and Troubled Life of the BBC

This New Noise

It's All Greek to Me

A major new retelling of the Greek myths for a new generation, with original drawings by world-renowned artist Chris Ofili. Charlotte Higgins' spellbinding new collection will include all the most famous Greek myths, as well as many less well known but equally intriguing ones. Here are stories of the creation, of Heracles and Theseus and Perseus, the Trojan war and its origins and aftermaths, tales of Thebes and Argos and Athens. There are stories of love and desire, adventure and magic, destructive gods, helpless humans, gender-shifting characters, resourceful witches, and the origins of birds and animals. Taking her cue from Ovid, Charlotte Higgins has an intriguing structural device to thread her stories together. Inspired by the many moments in Greek myths in which women are seen to weave stories on to textiles (such as Helen of Troy in Homer, and Arachne and Minerva in Ovid), the tales will be told as if they are scenes in the act of being woven on to textiles by women. And, while not operating as an explicitly feminist retelling, this will add a new dimension to her myths, bringing women narrators and characters into the foreground. Above all, Charlotte Higgins' Greek Myths will be an original work of literature and scholarship by an exceptionally talented writer. It will be book to be enjoyed as a work of art, a source to be consulted, a present to be given, and an object to keep and treasure.

On Mazes and Labyrinths

The Angel Children; Or, Stories From Cloud-LandBy Charlotte M Higgins

The Angel Children; Or, Stories from Cloud-Land

It wasn't just heated floors, hot baths, aqueducts, and paved roads that the Romans did first and best—they were also experts at the art of love. From the most effective pickup lines to percipient advice on getting over a breakup, from grooming tips to sex tips, the Romans had time-proof solutions. Charlotte Higgins brings them together in this indispensable guide to love—a collection of the richest, most illuminating, and sensuous writing about this mysterious emotion that can move us to joy or despair. Filled with the sage advice of Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Propertius, and Tibullus, this witty, smart, and laugh-out-loud-funny handbook offers a fresh, new take on romance based on some of civilization's oldest adages.

Put a Little Ovid in Your Life

Latin Love Lessons

Charlotte Higgins, the Guardian's chief culture writer, steps behind the polished doors of Broadcasting House and investigates the BBC. Based on her hugely popular essay series, this personal journey answers the questions that rage around this vulnerable, maddening and uniquely British institution. Questions such as, what does the BBC mean to us now? What are the threats to its continued existence? Is it worth fighting for? Higgins traces its origins, celebrating the early pioneering spirit and unearthing forgotten characters whose imprint can still be seen on the BBC today. She explores how it forged ideas of Britishness both at home and abroad. She shows how controversy is in its DNA and brings us right up to date through interviews with grandees and loyalists, embattled press officers and high profile dissenters, and she sheds new light on recent feuds and scandals. This is a deeply researched, lyrically written, intriguing portrait of an institution at the heart of Britain.

Charlotte Higgins

Books

Your next favorite book is out there