The Essay

Ian Sansom is in the gutter looking at the stars as he writes to Oscar Wilde

Ian Sansom drops a quick line to Dante

Ian Sansom writes to poet Marianne Moore and asks her about that tricorn hat

Ten contemporary cultural specialists look back at the impact of the Russian Revolution of 1917 on artists of the time - in film, theatre, poetry, dance and beyond. Writer, composer and silent movie accompanist Neil Brand weighs up propaganda versus artistic invention in the re-enactment of the Revolution at the heart of Eisenstein's classic film October. Part of Breaking Free: A Century of Russian CultureProducer Alison Hindell BBC Cymru Wales.

Ten contemporary cultural specialists look back at the impact of the Russian Revolution of 1917 on artists of the time - in film, theatre, poetry, dance and beyond. Political commentator and historian Tariq Ali recalls a tour of Constructivist Moscow in the 1980s that introduced him to the work of revolutionary architect Moisei Ginzburg.Part of Breaking Free: A Century of Russian CultureProducer Alison Hindell BBC Cymru Wales.

Ten contemporary cultural specialists look back at the impact of the Russian Revolution of 1917 on artists of the time - in film, theatre, poetry, dance and beyond. Ceramicist Claire Curneen tells the strange story of the Imperial Porcelain Factory in Petrograd that was renamed the State Porcelain Factory in 1917. She examines two dinner plates, now held at the National Museum of Wales, that were originally designed for aristocrats but then repurposed after the Revolution.Part of Breaking Free: A Century of Russian CultureProducer Alison Hindell BBC Cymru Wales.

Ten contemporary cultural specialists look back at the impact of the Russian Revolution of 1917 on artists of the time - in film, theatre, poetry, dance and beyond. Poet and biographer Elaine Feinstein compares the impact of the Revolution on the contrasting lives of the two great poets, Anna Akhmatova and Marina Tsvetaeva. Part of Breaking Free: A Century of Russian CultureProducer Alison Hindell BBC Cymru Wales.

Ten contemporary cultural specialists look back at the impact of the Russian Revolution of 1917 on artists of the time - in film, theatre, poetry, dance and beyond. Musicologist Tamsin Alexander considers the music of Alexander Mosolov, which was inspired by the industrial sounds of the newly forged Soviet Union, and who was the only composer to be sent to the Gulag.Part of Breaking Free: A Century of Russian CultureProducer Alison Hindell BBC Cymru Wales.

Ten contemporary cultural specialists look back at the impact of the Russian Revolution of 1917 on artists of the time - in film, theatre, poetry, dance and beyond. Academic and art historian Christina Lodder describes the work and influence of visionary sculptor Vladimir Tatlin, whose major revolutionary design would never be realised.Part of Breaking Free: A Century of Russian CultureProducer Alison Hindell BBC Cymru Wales.

Ten contemporary cultural specialists look back at the impact of the Russian Revolution of 1917 on artists of the time - in film, theatre, poetry, dance and beyond. Director and writer Richard Eyre appraises the impact of the Russian Revolution on the life and career of theatre director Vsevolod Meyerhold. Initially, an enthusiast for the Bolshevik cause, he later fell foul of the system.Part of Breaking Free: A Century of Russian CultureProducer Alison Hindell BBC Cymru Wales.