Episode One Of ‘Whose Truth Is It Anyway?’ On BBC4

In this new three part series, Damian grapples with the slippery idea of truth in literature - from memoir to fiction to writing that occupies all the areas in between. What does it mean for a story to be true - and is the idea of truth changing? Who gets to decide whose truths make it into onto the page and into our bookshelves?

With contributions from Sathnam Sanghera, Olivia Laing, Ellah Wakatama, Taymour Soomro, Alexandra Heminsley and Suede singer and co-creator of the new album Autofiction, Brett Anderson.

In this first episode, Damian explores one of the most popular and personal genres of writing - memoir. Revisiting my own complex experience of writing a memoir, and dealing with the aftermath, I unpick what it is that authors and readers expect from type of writing. What makes a memoir more or less true? And do readers understand something different by that truth from authors? Do modern audiences expect a different kind of truth?

Damian also reveals some of his own discoveries about the process of writing a true memoir - including discovering that even the most candid memoir is also be shaped by legal and personal considerations. Not all truths are published equally.

Listen on BBC Radio 4, Sunday 21st May at 4.30pm for episode one of Whose Truth Is It Anyway?.