Fiona Sampson

Fiona Sampson, poet and biographer of George Sand, explores Aurore Dupin’s reinvention as a literary icon. She discusses Sand’s rise to fame, her choice of a male name and mens dress as a claim to authority, her prolific invisible labour and tangled romantic life, and why her literary achievements were overshadowed by scandal and gendered criticism.

Fiona Sampson, poet and literary biographer who wrote In Search of Mary Shelley, explores Mary Shelley’s vital four months in Bath. She traces Mary’s living conditions, intense self-education, fraught relationships, family tragedies, and how Bath shaped Frankenstein’s composition. Short, vivid scenes of social clash, maternal grief, and literary creation bring Mary’s overlooked young life into focus.

In this engaging discussion, poet and biographer Fiona Sampson uncovers the life of Mary Shelley, the mastermind behind Frankenstein. Fiona explores scandalous myths, including whether Mary lost her virginity on her mother's grave and if she kept Percy Shelley’s heart after his death. They dive into Mary’s upbringing, her radical intellectual influences, and how personal loss fueled her writing. Discover the dramatic backdrop of Villa Diodati, where the famous ghost story competition sparked her iconic novel, revealing the shadows of her turbulent life.