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Perhaps they're always layered together, if not inextricably intertwined - now, as the old year closes and a new year dawns, Chris Power explores what makes a perfect ending, and how best to open a new story.

Chris is joined by a panel of literary experts, the writers Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Lucy Caldwell and Aminatta Forna, in a lively and moving discussion. There's laughter and even tears as our writers share their literary tips and some of their favourite examples of brilliant beginnings and unforgettable endings

Presented by Chris Power
Produced by Allegra McIlroy

Book List – Sunday 31 December and Thursday 4 January

These Days by Lucy Caldwell
The Window Seat: Notes from a Life in Motion by Aminatta Forna
Runaway Robot by Frank Cottrell Boyce
The Accidental by Ali Smith
By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
True Grit by Charles Portis
The Complete Short Stores by Roald Dahl
The Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekhov
The Dead by James Joyce
The Dubliners by James Joyce
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Watership Down by Richard Adams
The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit