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Diaries are one of our oldest literary traditions, conjuring questions of private confessions and public display. In this series of essays we explore five diarists of the past through the lens of the present.

In these extraordinary times, when the shift between the domestic and the out-of-reach wider world is ever more pronounced, Radio 3 has commissioned five Essays on the theme of diaries – five new diaries written during the unprecedented period of recent weeks, reflecting on the present moment and reaching out to another historical literary diarist for aid and inspiration.

5. Ian Sansom: Mince on Toast with Christopher Isherwood

Ian Sansom reflects on the supreme sociability of Christopher Isherwood through the extreme unsociability of social isolation.