Library

Libraries are the wardrobes of literature, whence men, properly informed may bring forth something for ornament, much for curiosity, and more for use’ - William Dyer

Welcome to the Great Writers Inspire Resources Library. Here, you can search for and access thousands of literary open education resources such as audio and video podcasts, essays, ebooks, images and more. Explore the virtual shelves by searching by keyword in the title, author, and by media type.

If you don’t know where to begin, you can access our writer collections and themed collections for inspiration.

Format Resource Title Contributor Source Date Published
Audio Acting Masterclass: 'Pyramus, you begin' Gregory Doran https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio Oriental Tales and Their Influence Ros Ballaster, Marina Warner https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio From Owen's Doomed Youth, to his doomed youth Jean Moorcroft Wilson https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio From Mametz Wood to The General Jean Moorcroft Wilson https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio The Last Phase Max Egremont https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio "Bright Metal on a Sullen Ground": The idea of true character in English writing and portraiture Stella Tillyard https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio The real Jane Austen: A life in small things Paula Byrne https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio The Sandwich that Sabotaged Civilisation Dr Paul Miller https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Video The Sandwich that Sabotaged Civilisation Dr Paul Miller https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio Popular fiction in World War One Jane Potter https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio Wartime Art and Grief Claudia Siebrecht https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio W.B. Yeats and the Ghost Club Tara Stubbs https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Video Popular fiction in World War One Jane Potter https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Video Wartime Art and Grief Claudia Siebrecht https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio Shedding light on the dark ages Janina Ramirez https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Video Shedding light on the dark ages Janina Ramirez https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio The Merchant of Venice Emma Smith https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio Taming of the Shrew Emma Smith https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio A Midsummer Night's Dream Emma Smith https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio Language and History Simon Horobin https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio Much Ado About Nothing Emma Smith https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Video Conflict Culture Matthew Leonard https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio The Better Part of Valour Edward Madigan https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio Rethinking British Volunteerism in 1914: A Rush to the Colours? Catriona Pennell https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Video Rethinking British Volunteerism in 1914: A Rush to the Colours? Catriona Pennell https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio Dickens' Railways Stephen Gill https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio Hamlet Emma Smith https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio As You Like It Emma Smith https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Pictures Bennet family at home (image) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Pictures Pride and Prejudice title page https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Pictures Steventon Rectory https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Pictures Jane Austen's House in Chawton Rudi Riet https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
eBooks Letters writ by a Turkish spy https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/dbooks
Audio Kipling, the Elton John of his age? Dominic Davies, Elleke Boehmer https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Audio Postcolonial Women Writers Elleke Boehmer, Dominic Davies https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
Pictures Illustration from "One Thousand and One Nights" https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Pictures Frontispiece of Burton's Arabian Nights, volume 1 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Pictures Arabian nights manuscript https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Pictures Illustration from Thousand Nights and a Night https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Pictures Illustration from Thousand Nights and a Night https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Essays Fakiry: The Oriental Tale Ros Ballaster
Video ‘This ain’t the shop for justice’: Crime in Dickens’s London (lecture) Tony Williams https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/this-aint-the-shop-for-justice-cr…
Video London Theatre: Past Glories, Today’s Success and Tomorrow’s Opportunities (lecture) Julian Bird https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/london-theatre-past-glories-today…
Video London 1616: a snapshot of London early in James 1's reign (lecture) Ann Saunders https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/london-1616-a-snapshot-of-london-…
Pictures Satan in 'Paradise Lost', by Doré https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
eBooks The Tragedy of Dido Queene of Carthage https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/marlowe/christopher/dido/
eBooks The plays, histories and novels of ... mrs. Aphra Behn. With life and memoirs. (6/6) https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/dbooks
eBooks The plays, histories and novels of ... mrs. Aphra Behn. With life and memoirs. (5/6) https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/dbooks
eBooks The plays, histories and novels of ... mrs. Aphra Behn. With life and memoirs. (4/6) https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/dbooks
eBooks The plays, histories and novels of ... mrs. Aphra Behn. With life and memoirs. (3/6) https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/