Diary Keeping

This is the tenth Forum episode I’ve presented on the BBC World Serivice.

I once interviewed Irving Finkel about Diary Keeping and The Great Diary Prject for my Z list Dead List Podcast:

So I was eager t delve further into the history of diaries. It is something that I’ve rarely ever done myself and something I don’t actually regret not doing.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people found that keeping a diary was one way of reducing stress during uncertain times. They also felt that it was important to chart their day to day experience of a historic moment in world history. Such diaries will be valuable sources in years to come for historians, providing future scholars with a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people.

These diaries form part of a long tradition of people chronicling their own stories, whether intended for publication or purely to put thoughts down on paper. One of the earliest texts we could describe as a diary was written by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, whose musings were influenced by Stoic philosophy. Later diaries, such as those by or the African American naval yard worker Michael Shiner or the teenage Anne Frank, have been important in helping us understand society and events from ‘the bottom up’ during a given period.

I explore what motivates people to keep diaries. I’m joined by a panel of experts including Dr Polly North, Founding Director of the Great Diary Project at Bishopsgate Institute in the UK; Julie Rak, the Henry Marshall Tory Chair in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta who's an expert on what’s known as life writing; and Sergio da Silva Barcellos who’s published widely on diary keeping in Brazil, including a chapter in The Diary: The Epic of Everyday Life.

It will be broadcast on 31st august 12:06 Local time BBC WORLD SERVICE EXCEPT EAST AND SOUTHERN AFRICA & WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA.

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