Edward Said's thinking

Orientalism was his book, published in 1978, which outlined Said's view that imperialism and a romanticised version of Arab Culture clouded the way the East was depicted by Western scholars. In 1981 he published Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World (revised in 1997). Timothy Brennan puts these books and other initiatives, such as the founding of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim; and his advocacy for the establishment of a Palestinian state, into context in the first biography since Said's death from leukemia in 2003. Rana Mitter talks to Timothy Brennan and the writers Ahdaf Soueif, Pankaj Mishra and Marina Warner about Said's life and legacy. Places of Mind: A Life of Edward Said by Timothy Brennan is out now.

Dame Marina Warner - author of many books about figures including Joan of Arc, the Virgin Mary and fairy tales including the Arabian Nights. She has just published Inventory of a Life Mislaid: An Unreliable Memoir which pieces together of her parents' lives from journals, photos and mementoes and looks at her own childhood in 1950s Cairo.

Ahdaf Soueif is an Egyptian novelist and author of books including In the Eye of the Sun, The Map of Love, Cairo: My City our Revolution; and she founded the Palestine Festival of Literature.

Pankaj Mishra is the author of books including Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan and Beyond; A History of Indian Literature in English; Age of Anger: A History of the Present and Bland Fanatics: Liberals, Race, and Empire. You can find him discussing Global Anger with Elif Shafak in the Free Thinking archives https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08c32c3

You can find other programmes exploring key books and ideas in a playlist called Landmarks of Culture on the Free Thinking website. Recent episodes include Foucault, John Rawls and Hegel https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01jwn44 They are all available to download as Arts&Ideas podcasts.

Producer: Eliane Glaser