Main content

TRAILBLAZERS: Sappho, two spirits and an artist community in Rome.

Loud and Proud: Trailblazers, an LGBTQ+ special with writer Tana Wojczuk on Charlotte Cushman and the artistic community in Rome and writer Charlotte Higgins on the poet Sappho.

As part of 6 Music's Loud and Proud season, our annual celebration of LGBTQ+ voices to mark Pride month, Cerys looks at artists who were real trailblazers.
She's joined by writer and Associate Professor Tana Wojczuk looking at the life of Charlotte Cushman and the community of female artists who lived in Rome with Charlotte. She also talks to writer Charlotte Higgins talking about the life and work of the Ancient Greek poet Sappho.

Tana Wojczuk is a LAMBDA Award finalist and author of Lady Romeo: The Radical, Revolutionary Life of Charlotte Cushman, America's First Celebrity. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines, including The New Yorker, New York Times Magazine and Orion. Her work has been shortlisted for the Marfield Prize, Publishing Triangle Award, Gulf Coast Nonfiction Prize and most recently selected as a Best American Science and Nature Writing notable. She is an Associate Professor at New York University.
Charlotte Higgins is the chief culture writer of the Guardian and a respected author. Her work frequently revisits ancient texts with a modern lens and Sappho, who is a key female voice in ancient literature fits into Charlotte interests. In her book Greek Myths: A New Retelling (2021), Charlotte centers many stories from the female perspective and while Sappho is not a mythological figure per se, her voice is part of that broader feminist reclamation of classical narratives.

24 days left to listen

3 hours

Last on

Last Sunday 10:00
BBC Radio 6 Music

More episodes

Previous

Salami Rose Joe Louis in session

Next

Bloomsday special: James Joyce's Ulysses

See all episodes from Cerys Matthews

Music Played

  • Richard Durrant

    JS Bach Cello Suite Number 1 On Tenor Banjo(1 Prelude)

    • Four Strung Bach Technique.
    • The Burning Deck.

  • The Diasonics

    Oriole

    • Oriole / Chickadee.
    • Record Kicks.

  • Sally Anne Morgan

    Eye is the First

    • Eye is the First.
    • Thrill Jockey.
    • 1.

  • Kieran Hebden & William Tyler

    If I Had a Boat

    • Single.
    • Temporary Residence Ltd..

  • Joni Mitchell

    Carey

    • Reprise.

  • Χαΐνηδες

    O Hainis

    • Music Box International.

  • Quincy Jones

    Summer In The City

    • You've Got It Bad Girl.
    • A&M JAZZ.
    • 1.

  • Laíz & The New Love Experience

    Se Segura

    • Agogo Records.

  • Orchestra Baobab

    Ray M'bele

    • Pirates Choice.
    • World Circuit.
    • 5.

  • Case Oats

    Bitter Root Lake

    • merge records.

  • Salami Rose Joe Louis

    Crow, Friendship: V60 Dripper: Cyanotype of Blue - 6 Music Session - RX 01/06/25

  • Sobaky v Kosmosi

    Metro

    • Terrastudio.

  • Susan Bickley & Iain Burnside

    7 Sappho Songs: The Apple Orchard

    • Naxos Music UK Ltd.

  • Parviz

    Sappho's Fragments

    • Disques Abadan.

  • Simone Kermes, La magnifica comunità & Enrico Casazza

    Che si può fare?

    • Love.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 5.

  • Sirens of Lesbos

    Sweet Harmony

    • Peace.
    • Sirens Of Lesbos.
    • 11.

  • Orchestra Mesogios

    Hasaposerviko

    • Greece Is Popular And Folk Dances (Remastered).
    • Minos - EMI SA.
    • 3.

  • Brian Jackson & Masters at Work

    It's Your World (feat. Raheem DeVaughn & J. Ivy)

    • It's Your World.
    • BBE Music.
    • 1.

  • Hank Penny & His Radio Cowboys

    Peach Tree Shuffle

    • The Best of Western Swing, Vol. 1.
    • Midget Music.
    • 7.

  • Moondog

    Tree Trail

    • Moondog.
    • Original Jazz Classics.
    • 3.

  • Van Morrison

    Redwood Tree

    • Saint Dominic's Preview.
    • Legacy Recordings.
    • 6.

  • Eddie Taylor

    Peach Tree Blues

    • Masters Of Modern Blues.
    • HighTone Records.
    • 7.

  • Claudio Villa & Armando Fragna

    Campanone di Piazza S. Pietro

    • Roma 4 Vol. 1 & 2.
    • Fonit Cetra WMI.
    • 5.

  • SAULT

    Wildfires

    • Forever Living Originals.

  • Nick Drake

    River Man

    • ISLAND.

  • The Last Dinner Party

    The Feminine Urge

    • Prelude to Ecstasy.
    • Universal-Island Records Ltd..
    • 4.

  • Claudio Villa

    Nannì... ('na gita a li Castelli)

    • Roma 4 Vol. 1 & 2.
    • Fonit Cetra WMI.
    • 7.

  • Ibex Band

    Yezemed Yebada

    • Stereo Instrumental Music.
    • Muzikawi.
    • 5.

  • Johnny “Guitar” Watson

    Superman Lover

    • High Fashion Music.

  • Laura Marling & Jonathan Wilson

    Bonny Portmore (From Turn)

    • AMC's Turn: Washington's Spies Original Soundtrack Season 1.
    • Republic/AMC/Turn.
    • 4.

  • Kutiman

    So Long Stay Safe

    • Dreams in Aspamia.
    • Siyal Music.

  • Caetano Veloso & Maria Bethânia

    Tropicalia (live)

    • Sony Music.

Broadcast

  • Last Sunday 10:00
    BBC Radio 6 Music