Anton Chekhov: Plays and Stories

Live online course. Thursdays, weekly, 5-26 November 2026, 6.00-8.00 pm British Time

Join us for an introductory course on the stories and plays of Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), with Claire Davison and Trudi Tate.

Chekhov was one of the greatest writers in late 19thC Russia. His short stories and plays were also hugely important to English-language writers, including Samuel Beckett, Raymond Carver, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Katherine Mansfield, Bernard Shaw, Leonard Woolf, Virginia Woolf.

Chekhov was a doctor; he first started writing short stories as a young man to help his family, who were in financial difficulties. In 1887 his first play was performed. He had considerable success with his stories and plays. He suffered from tuberculosis for many years and died in 1904, aged 44.

Lecture list

1. Introduction to Chekhov’s life and work. Early stories. CD
2. The Seagull (1896; English trans. 1913) CD
3. Later stories TT
4. The Three Sisters (1901; English trans. 1922) TT

Course fees for 4 sessions

£210 Full price
£190 CAMcard holders
£190 students

Prices include VAT of 20%

Set Reading

Chekhov, The Seagull in Five Plays by Anton Chekhov (Oxford World’s Classics, 2008)
Chekhov, Three Sisters in Five Plays (as above)
Chekhov, Selected short stories in Chekhov, Fifty-Two Stories (Penguin, 2021)

Optional Further Reading

Rosamund Bartlett, Chekhov: Scenes from a Life (2004)
James Loehlin, The Cambridge Introduction to Chekhov (CUP, 2010)

Links

The Anton Chekhov Foundation (UK) website
Chekhov’s Garden Project
BBC Radio 4. Great Lives: Chekhov (2004)
BBC Radio 4. In Our Time: Chekhov (2013)
BBC World Service. Meridian on Chekhov, Three Sisters (2001)
NPR. Cornel West on Chekhov’s Legacy (2004)

Recordings

This is a 4-session course, with a live online lecture and seminar each week. The lectures are recorded so you can listen again during the course if you wish. The seminars are not recorded.

If you cannot attend a course you have booked

Please note that, because places are limited, we cannot usually give refunds if you cannot attend a course. But if you contact us in advance, we may be able transfer your booking to a different course.

Zoom link

We will send you a zoom link for the course by email at least 24 hours before the first lecture. If it does not arrive, please let us know by email in good time, at least an hour before the session, so we can re-send.

Please click on the image below to book.