The Verb
The Verb is a BBC Radio 4 programme hosted by poet Ian McMillan. It showcases the best in poetry, new writing and live performance. Each episode blends wordplay, music and conversation, creating a lively celebration of language.
Episodes
Poems to earth you
To 'earth' us this week, Ian McMIllan invites Owen Sheers, Jason Allen Paisant, Helen Mort, and David Morley to share poems that ground us - including work from the 2026 Laurel Prize for environmental poetry by the winner Fiona Benson.Helen Mort's latest book is 'Stepmother', Jason Allen Paisant's memoir is 'The Possibility of Tenderness' , Owen Sheers reads from 'The Green Hollow' as well as shar
Poems that shake up autumn from Contains Strong Language
Ian McMillan brings you poems and poets to shake up autumn from the Contains Strong Language Festival. Ian's guests, Alice Oswald, Paul Farley, Karen McCarthy Woolf and Liz Berry tread through the mellow fruit of John Keats' Ode to Autumn, but then turn their eyes and ears towards other surprising ways to write about this season of falling leaves, as well as exploring the art of poetry itself.Paul
Poems to help us brave the elements
Ian McMillan's poets show how the tiniest poem can help us brave the fiercest elements - from a haiku that's inspired generation after generation - with its careful noticing of the splosh of a frog into a pond, to a thin poem that summons the forces that shape mountains, and which end up shaping our own lives - and the poetry of biblical fire and wind. Some poets seem to be in tune with the eleme
Poetry to keep you afloat
Ian McMillan and poets Vona Groake, Jardel Rodrigues, Mira Rosenthal and Malgorzata Lebda bring poetry that helps us navigate storms, rivers and seas - real and metaphorical, and sound artist and musician SHHE (Su Shaw) immerses us in surprising sounds of the sea. Vona Groake’s latest collection Infinity Pool was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize this year. She’s writer in residence at St John’s
The Verb - a house of multipoet occupancy
The celebrated writer Daniel Mendelsohn on his acclaimed translation of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey. Poet Lydia Unsworth on finding inspiration for her new collection, Stay Awhile, in ring roads, shopping centres, and cooling towers.BBC New Generation Thinker, Joe Shute, on using poetry to reconnect communities to the waterway which powered Manchester's industrial revolution - the River Irk.Kh
Myths to nourish your life: poetry with Ian McMillan and Angie Hobbs, Rishi Dastidar, Bradley Taylor, Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch
The poems that nourish us, and the myths that nourish poems. What can a connection with a mythical figure give us, or a legendary flower? Ian McMillan is joined by Zeus, Poseidon, the Green Man, the trees of Under Milk Wood, and Wordsworth's favourite flower - courtesy of The Verb's guests - the philosopher Angie Hobbs, and poets Rishi Dastidar, Bradley Taylor, and Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch.Bradle
Poetry - a bullet-proof vest for the soul
Ian McMillan is joined by Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News' International Editor, who shares poems that have sustained her while reporting from conflict zones around the world.Richard Skinner, editor of 14, the annual poetry publication dedicated to 14-line poems, chooses this week's Neon Line.Kym Deyn discusses their debut poetry collection Folkish which reimagines the folklore of Northern England
The Verb at the Hay Festival
In this special edition of The Verb, coming from the Hay Festival, Ian McMillan's guests are:Nicola Davies, the Children's Laureate Wales, who will be talking about how the natural world inspires her poetry and why she thinks writing is a superpower;Novelist Joanna Kavenna will be taking on The Verb's Neon Line challenge where a guest chooses a line that they feel shines out from its poem;Nathan J
Dark nights of the Soul, Brian Bilston, JH Prynne, Daljit Nagra, William Blake and Martha Sprackland
The comedy of corporate language, why a 16th century 'dark night of the soul' poem could help you through your own dark night, the experiments of J.H.Prynne, and the tenderness of boys' friendships - with Ian McMillan and guests Brian Bilston, Martha Sprackland, Daljit Nagra and Ira Lightman.Brian Bilston's very funny books include 'You Took the Last Bus Home', and 'Alexa, what is there to know ab
Michael Laskey, Michael Schmidt, Michelle Penn, Rachel Douglas-Jones
Michael Laskey has produced six collections of poetry since his first pamphlet in 1988. That was also the year he co-founded the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival. His career in poetry which has seen him teach, edit, and publish and has resulted in him becoming this year's recipient of the King's Gold Medal for Poetry. As his Collected Poems is published, he looks back on charting his life in poetry.Wh
Sibling relationships with Blake Morrison, Natalie Shapero, Tara Bergin, and the word 'literally'
Ian McMillan is joined by Blake Morrison with the poetry of sibling relationships, Natalie Shapero - who reports poetically from the world of cinema in L.A., and Tara Bergin, who looks at how to escape from a poem, as well as sharing a 'Neon Line' with us. We also have our cartoon for the ear - an 'eartoon' exploring the origins of confusing words in the English language - written and performed by
George Szirtes, Iryna Starovoyt, Zain Rishi, Katie Clarke
George Szirtes, winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize and the King’s Gold Medal for Poetry, is the most recent poet to join the small selection panel for arguably the UK's most public celebration of poetry - Poems on the Underground. As the London Tube initiative reaches its 40th birthday, George discusses how poems are chosen and shares some poetry that he feels speaks to the strength of the scheme.De
Richard Dawson, Jacob Polley, Sarah Howe, Frank Cottrell Boyce on John Carey
Ian McMillan's guests this week are the singer and songwriter Richard Dawson, T.S. Eliot prize winning poets Jacob Polley and Sarah Howe and Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell Boyce - who celebrates Professor John Carey and the art of poetry criticism.Richard Dawson and Jacob Polley light up the past and make the future of energy and community life seem more real - by bringing their different sens
The Love Verb
Ian MacMillan has love in mind as he is joined by a swoon of poets all interested in the subject of love in lyric form.Kim Moore’s poetry collections include The Art of Falling and All The Men I Never Married. She's chosen this week's Neon Line, The Verb's feature on lines that shine out from their poems, from a love poem that has long moved her. She also shares a new love poem from her forthcom
Rilke's life-changing poems and Paul Farley, Kate Fox, Griot Gabriel
Ian McMillan explores Rainer Maria Rilke's life advice, and is joined by Paul Farley, Griot Gabriel, Kate Fox and Ulrich BaerPaul Farley brings us the sound of planes, and the world of the usher - as well as a life-long connection to Robert Louis Stevenson's 'A Child's Garden of Verses'. Paul's latest collection 'When it Rained for a Million Years' was shortlisted for this year's T.S.Eliot Prize
T.S. Eliot Prize Poets
Join Ian McMillan for a celebration of remarkable poets and poetry as he presents highlights of the annual T.S. Eliot Prize readings, recorded in front of an audience at London's Southbank.Ian was the host for the TS Eliot Prize readings at the Royal Festival Hall - where shortlisted poets read from their shortlisted collections in front of a packed audience.For this edition of The Verb Ian has s
The Christmas Adverb
Testament, beatboxer, rapper and writer - presents a festive Adverb (complete with a yuletide salad battle), with his guests the former Scottish Makar Jackie Kay, poetic legend John Hegley, Mercury prize nominated folk singer Sam Lee, as well as satirical supremo Brian Bilston.They bring iconic robins, soul stirring music, poetic Christmas questions, and quirky Yule traditions to an audience in th
Simon Armitage, Alistair McGowan, Joelle Taylor
Ian McMillan's guests include the Poet Laureate Simon Armitage with poetry from his latest collection 'New Cemetery', impressionist and poet Alistair McGowan and Joelle Taylor with her new book 'Maryville'.Poet Laureate Simon Armitage shares poems from his recent collection 'New Cemetery' - inspired by a cemetery that was being built near his house during lockdown. The poems incorporate a litany o
Train Poetry with Don Paterson, Bella Hardy, Carmen Marcus, Patrick McGuinness
Ian McMillan enjoys the language of the iconic 'Night Mail' poem by W.H. Auden, invites us into signal boxes, imagines train station bars, and evokes the empty platforms that inspire songs - as he celebrates 200 years of railway inspired poetry with his guests Don Paterson, Carmen Marcus, Bella Hardy and Patrick McGuinness.Don Paterson is a poet and musician. He's the editor of an anthology of tra
Shaun Usher, Katrina Naomi, Amani Saeed, Fran Edwards and Jennifer Jones
Shaun Usher's Letters of Note project became a cultural empire spanning multiple books, stage shows, and an online archive. He's now produced Diaries of Note - a collection of diary entries that span centuries from the great and the good . He discusses the relationship between a diary entry and a poem.Katrina Naomi on her latest pamphlet of poems, Dance As If, in which she reconnects with her bo
Poetry by Tony Harrison, US Poet Laureate Arthur Sze, Sinéad Morrissey, David Morley, and Daniel Sluman
Ian McMillan celebrates an iconic poem that inspired a generation of poets and readers - Tony Harrison's 'Them and Uz'.
His guests include the new US Poet Laureate Arthur Sze, the former Poet Laureate of Belfast Sinéad Morrissey who brings us an autumnal 'Neon Line', zoologist and poet David Morley on his new book 'Passion', and Daniel Sluman on a landmark anthology 'Versus Versus - 100 Poems by
Maria Popova, Aditya Narayan, Kimberly Campanello, DM Black
Writer and poet Maria Popova on taking inspiration from 19th century ornithological studies for her new publication, An Almanac of Birds – 100 Divinations for Uncertain Days.Slam poet Aditya Narayan has had an impressive winning streak this year – winning the Roundhouse Poetry Slam in April and the Loud Poets Grand Slam final in August. He discusses writing poetry for performance and rhyming Engli
The Verb from Contains Strong Language in Bradford
Ian McMillan presents The Verb from Contains Strong Language in Bradford - with poets Imtiaz Dharker, Kieron Higgins, Nabeela Ahmed, and Katrina Porteous (reading poems from her Laurel Prize winning collection Rhizodont).Rock, stone and sediments are everywhere in this celebration of poetry and poetry in Bradford. We have millstone grit and the story of stone in a specially commissioned poem from
The Adverb
Testament presents poetry in performance from Daljit Nagra, Kate Fox, Andrew McMillan and Kirsty TaylorThe Adverb is recorded in front of a studio audience in St George's Hall, Bradford at the Contains Strong Language festival. Part of the Bradford 2025 City of Culture celebrations.Testament is a writer, rapper, educator and world-record breaking beatboxer. Daljt Nagra won the Forward Poetry Priz
The Adverb from the Ledbury Poetry Festival
Ian McMillan presents poetry in performance with Jackie Kay, Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen in this recording of The Adverb at the Ledbury Festival.
They share poems of friendship, childhood, and of love in its many forms - from the love of a child for a parent, to the love of balconies.Jackie Kay is the former Makar (Poet Laureate) of Scotland - she shares poems of great tenderness from her l
Forrest Gander, Laurie Bolger, SJ Fowler, Rachel Segal Hamilton
Pulitzer prize-winning poet Forrest Gander discusses the Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships. An initiative which awards $50,000 to poets of literary merit appointed to serve in civic positions to enable them to create projects that enrich the lives of their neighbours, through responsive and interactive poetry activities.In awarding Laurie Bolger The Moth Poetry prize, Nobel Laureate
Harriet Walter, Jason Singh, Gillian Allnutt, Glacier Poetry
Ian McMillan is joined by actor and writer Harriet Walter, sound artist Jason Singh, poet Gillian Allnutt - and hears ritual language for glaciers - from writers Andri Snaer Magnason and Manjushree Thapa.Dame Harriet Walter is one of our best loved actresses. She's absorbed the rhythms of Shakespeare's writing over decades of her award-winning work on the stage. For 'The Verb' Harriet performs new
Boo Hewerdine, Fiona Benson, Alison Binney, Yvonne Lyon, Eartoon
Ian McMillan welcomes poetry about fathers, songs celebrating the things that fall out of books, and a poetic investigation into the women who were labelled witches, with guests Alison Binney, Boo Hewerdine, Yvonne Lyon, and Fiona Benson. Ian also presents a new Eartoon (our cartoon for the ear ) which celebrates the quirks of phrasal Verbs written by Stagedoor Johnny (aka Richard Poynton).Alison
Poetry and performance with Ian McMillan
On this week’s edition of The Verb: Ian McMillan basks in the glow of a Neon Line explained by the celebrated Faroese poet and novelist Carl Jóhan Jensen; Karen Downs-Barton shares poems from her debut collection, Minx, which reflects on her Romani childhood; Cristóbal Bianchi, cofounder of the Casagrande Collective, on their Bombing Of Poems project; and Naz Knight, poet-in-residence at Luton Tow
Hedges and poetry
Ian McMillan's guests celebrate hedges, with poetry from Alison Brackenbury and Testament, singing from Sam Lee, Michael Symmons Roberts explores a poem with a nightingale at its centre, and hedgelayer Paul Lamb records himself walking a hedgerow that's rich in wildlife.This hedge-themed special features a haunted hedge from poet Alison Brackenbury, part of the anthology 'Lincolnshire Folk Tales
Peter Mackay, Tishani Doshi, Scanner, Lorna Goodison
Ian McMillan's guests are the Scottish Makar Peter Mackay, Jamaican poet Lorna Goodison, as well as Indian dancer and poet Tishani Doshi, and the musician Scanner.Scanner lets us into the baffling and mysterious 'poetry' of album titles by Autechre, Aphex Twin and other electronic music artists. Scanner has worked with Laurie Anderson, and Pauline Oliveros amongst other artists, as well as creatin
Rebecca Watts, Brian Bilston, Cristina Rivera Garza, Deryn Rees-Jones
Rebecca Watts has just published her third poetry collection - The Face In The Well. She discusses writing poems that engage with the work of an earlier generation of poets, turning a cherished childhood memory into poetry, and Emily Brontë's love of ironing.
Poet and writer Brian Bilston is as much a fan of the American writer, artist, and designer Edward Gorey as The Verb. He accepted our com
Reeta Chakrabarti, Fred D'Aguiar, Ella Frears, Edward Wilson-Lee
Flames and poetry - what poetry tell us about the Los Angeles fires, the pleasure the poet John Keats took in reading - a poem-letter to an imaginary estate agent, and magical language. To explore all this McMillan is joined by poetry writers and poetry lovers.Ian's guests:
BBC newsreader and journalist Reeta Chakrabarti is a trustee of the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association. She shares her pas
Joelle Taylor, Anthony Joseph, Luke Wright, Accents
How does it feel to be adopted? How does naming things affect experience? Why does a mysterious sound make Ian want to get out of the studio in Salford? Is it ever a good idea to pretend to have a particular accent? Poems, questions and much more - on this week's Verb.Ian McMillan is joined by poets Joelle Taylor, Anthony Joseph, Luke Wright, and sociolinguist Rob Drummond.Joelle Taylor brings us
TS Eliot Prize Readings - highlights of a year in poetry
Ian McMillan presents highlights from the TS Eliot Prize Readings - extraordinary poetry from 2024.Poetry books featured :Raymond Antrobus 'Signs, Music' (Picador Poetry)
Hannah Copley 'Lapwing' (Pavilion Poetry)
Helen Farish 'The Penny Dropping' (Bloodaxe Books)
Peter Gizzi 'Fierce Elegy' (Penguin Poetry)
Gustav Parker Hibbett 'High Jump as Icarus Story' (Banshee Press)
Rachel Mann 'Eleanor Among
Richard Dawkins, Gwyneth Lewis, Kate Fox, Eartoon
Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins tells Ian McMillan about the influence of poetry on his writing, and shares poems written by his own mother. Ian also explores the influence of a very competitive mother on the life and poetry of former National Poet of Wales Gwyneth Lewis. And as it's the first Verb of the year, stand-up poet Kate Fox suggests new names for all the calendar months, whilst
The Morecambe Poetry Festival
The Morecambe Poetry festival hosts Ian McMillan and the Verb at the Morecambe Winter Gardens, for a special recording with poets Pam Ayres, Raymond Antrobus and Henry Normal, three performers much- loved by audiences.Pam Ayres takes us back to the beginning of her career with the first poem she ever performed live whilst working for the Royal Air Force. This preceded her memorable winning appeara
A special recording of The AdVerb at The Hackney Empire
A special recording of The AdVerb at The Hackney Empire . Ian McMillan introduces six unique collaborations - new commissions between poets composers and musicians in collaboration with BBC Contains Strong Language and the BBC Symphony Orchestra Poets from the East End of London team up with composers to make new pieces that tell stories of this part of the capital city in all its astonishing dive
Isy Suttie, Pascale Petit, Deryn Rees Jones, Alan Connor
Ian McMillan is joined by four guests for more poetry and performance . After a year characterised by wet weather, Alan Connor constructs a poem from 188 Words for Rain collected on travels around the country for his new book with that title. Comedian and writer Isy Suttie treats us to a new song written with the approaching Bonfire Night in mind, but the fireworks in the studio don't only come
Wendy Cope, Theresa Lola , Susie Dent, Ira Lightman
On this week's edition of The Verb, Ian McMillan gathers together - Wendy Cope - the poet whose 1986 debut collection "Making Cocoa For Kingsley Amis" became that rare thing - a poetry best seller. As her first collected poems are published she reflects on poetry forms and why some of her old poems are making their first public appearance in her new book.Ira Lightman, poet and artist, reflects o
Paul Farley, Malika Booker, Rob Drummond, Kate Fox
This week on The Verb Ian McMillan is joined by Paul Farley, author of the bird-centred 2019 poetry collection 'The Mizzy'. Especially for The Verb he's written us a brand new poem that considers birds on our workplace, inspired by new 'Nature Postive' building regulations.Malika Booker is tackling this week's 'Neon Line' poem. Booker won the Forward Prize for 'Best Single Poem' in 2023 and she t
Margaret Atwood and Alice Oswald
Ian McMillan talks to Margaret Atwood and Alice Oswald about how we write poetry, and their own process, the natural world, time, and the possibilities of myth.
The Verb in Australia
BBC Contains Strong Language 2024 took place in Sydney Australia in partnership with Red Room Poetry and ABC Australia . This special edition of The Verb was recorded in State Library of New South Wales n front of a audience as part of the festival. With guests Eileen Chong the first Asian Australian poet to be on the school syllabus, who came to Australia from Singapore in 2007. Singer songw
29/09/2024
Gardens, balloons, parties and whales feature in this week's cabaret of the word. Ian's guests include Toby Litt, Roger Robinson, Hannah Silva and Caleb Femi.Novelist, poet and librettist Toby Litt has wrestled Ian, written stories backwards, and been limited to a single verb, in previous Verb commissions. This week he has to write something surreal for us, and then write something even more surre
22/09/2024
Ian McMillan presents a cabaret of the word - the best poetry and performance - with guests Daljit Nagra, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Brian Bilston and the voice of Stagedoor Johnny.Brian Bilston, internet poetry sensation - and the poet behind 'Days like there' and 'Alexa, what is there to know about love?' shares poems in both human and animal languages from his new book 'Let Sleeping Cats Lie'.Karen
The Adverb in Australia
Bringing you the best in Australian spoken word poetry . A special edition of Adverb, recorded at the Riverside Theatres in Parramatta the creative edgy hub of West Sydney. Featuring the founder of the exciting Bankstown series of poetry slams Sara Mansour along with many of the poets who have performed there in slams that attract huge audiences to poetry . The Dharug people are the tradition
The Adverb at Outspoken
Inspiring words that connect us in difficult times; three outstanding poets take to the stage at Outspoken, one of the most exciting and innovative poetry nights in the world.Imtiaz Dharker, poet, film-maker and national treasure is on first. She is a recipient of the Queen's Gold Medal and reads new poems from her collection 'Shadow Reader' - some of which explore the uncanny experience of having
The Adverb at Hay
Ian McMillan presents poets in performance from the Hay Festival for The Verb's performance wing - The Adverb. This week's guests include the Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, the National Poet of Wales Hanan Issa, former Children’s Poet Laureate Joseph Coelho, Professor of Creativity Owen Sheers - and Jazz Money, an Australian poet of Wiradjuri heritage. They share poetry of nail varnish, snow, ri
The Adverb at Latitude
Recorded live at the sunny Latitude Festival Ian McMillan has gathered three top poets for The Adverb - The Verb's showcase of the best live poetry and readings. Dr John Cooper Clarke is a legend of the punk poetry scene and gets us into gear with a poem about the thrilling allure of the hire car. The best art can come out of limitations and Luke Wright shows his amazing lyrical dexterity with a p
28/07/2024
Why does 'mean' have so many meanings? Why do poets take metaphor so seriously? Why do objects like pink ghetto blasters make poems live? And why are the filaments of our eyes in the edges of the snow? To answer these surreal, and not so surreal questions - Ian McMillan is joined by Alistair McGowan, Caroline Bird, and Toria Garbutt, and presents an 'eartoon' - a cartoon for the ear, from Richard
21/07/2024
Crocodile-like men, fireflies, a soul hitching a ride on a bee, the coolness of Switzerland, anagrams, and a mysterious rhyming poem - all this and more from
Ian McMillan's guests this week - as they explore the way a poetic image can change the way we see things,Arji Manuelpillai is a poet and creative facilitator. His poetry collection 'Improvised Explosive Device' (Penned in the Margins) emerge
14/07/2024
Frogs who love rain, the poem that came from a magpie, the poetry of the peleton, and the everyday language of dating apps. Ian McMillan's guests this week (Hollie McNish, Testament, Ira Lightman and Liz Berry) bring all of this to the studio table and much, much more.Hollie McNish's latest book is 'Lobster and other things I'm learning to love' - she shares a pluviophile poem that shows how much
07/07/2024
Ian McMillan is joined by poets and poetry lovers for this celebration of language recorded at this year's Hay Festival. The actor, Harry Potter star, Dickens virtuoso and national treasure Miriam Margolyes shares one of her favourite poems, the 19th century poet Robert Browning's 'My Last Duchess'.
Miriam invites listeners to imagine the Duke, who is the speaker in the poem, as being like 'Hanni
30/06/2024
The appeal of 'the road less travelled by', Emily Brontë as self-help guru, a new way to look at Little Red Riding Hood and the 'little miracles' we might notice when we care for the elderly; Ian McMillan celebrates poems that explore all of these ideas with his guests, the poets Len Pennie, Malika Booker, Kate Fox, and Michael Symmons Roberts.Michael Symmons Roberts' poetry collections include
23/06/2024
What's it like being awake at 4am? How do we feel about toads? Where does the word chortle come from, and when is an anthem truly personal?Ian McMillan gets to the heart of these questions through brand new poetry commissions, exploring the poems and poets we love, and through celebrating language's delights and quirks - all in the company of his guests: the poets Jackie Kay and Helen Mort, the
The Final Verbdown
The Verb, which for the past 22 years has been bringing linguistic delights to the Radio 3 audience, will be leaving to make its new home on Radio 4. But in a mood of celebration Ian McMillan and his guests put the number 3 in the spotlight as they explore the magic and the power of three in poetry, storytelling and writing; with poet and memoirist Don Paterson to guide us around those poetic for
The Claustrophobic Verb
Ian McMillan is leaning into unease this week as he discusses writing and Claustrophobia. His guests are Holly Pester, whose new novel 'The Lodgers' examines the psychological disturbances of precarious housing situations; we meet a woman renting a flat that is more like a sandwich packet than a house, and another who must make her own life extremely small as she lodges with a family.Catherine Col
Zadie Smith
This week The Verb offers you another chance to hear a special extended interview with Zadie Smith. Her audacious first book 'White Teeth', written when she was just 24, was one of the most talked about debut novels of all time. Most of Smith's novels take place in north west London, where she grew up, and which she has described as the location of her imagination, and her heart. In her latest n
International Women's Day Verb
On International Women's Day Ian McMillan is joined by poets Joelle Taylor, Rommi Smith, Kim Moore and Shirley May to explore how women poets are using poetry and writing to explore and challenge sexism and to empower women through words. There's also music from soul singer, Sarah-Jane Morris, and musician, Tony Remy, from their new album 'Sisterhood'.
Rommi Smith reads a poem specially written fo
Words on Music
Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins’ practise notebooks, pianist Stephen Hough’s account of tackling Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, the voice of Fairport Convention’s Sandy Denny in the words of Scottish poet Don Paterson, and E. M. Forster’s evocation of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony in Howard’s End: just some of the texts we’ll hear on tonight’s celebration of writing about music.Ian’s joined by fou
The Cute Verb
This week it’s the ‘cabaret of cuteness’ as this week Ian McMillan and his guests examine all things small, fluffy, wide eyed and sleepy in The Cute Verb. Ian is joined by poet Isabel Galleymore who reads from her new collection Baby Schema which asks what we ask cuteness to do for us and follows Mickey Mouse’s journey towards cuteness across the past one hundred years. Tom Morton Smith wrote the
The World in Words
The World in Words. The Verb, presented by Ian McMillan, revisits the Contains Strong Language which was held in Leeds in September of last year. It was a gathering of poets from all over the world and featured Felene Cayetano from Belize, Andre Bagoo from Trinidad and Tobago, Ngwatilo Mawiyoo from Kenya, Lebo Mashile from South Africa, Chris Tse, the Poet Laurete of New Zealand, Ramya Jirasinghe
The Physical Verb
This edition of the verb is a celebration of the physical - everything from mountain climbing, human desire, a mother's touch or the act of writing. The poet Helen Mort writes in her head, while running, climbing and she even wrote one whilst in labour. She tells Ian about her new collection The Illustrated Woman - inspired by what she calls a "pain epiphany" while being tattooed - and how her poe
The Hip Hop Verb
The Verb goes back to the brilliant Contains Strong Language Festival held in September last year in Leeds to consider the poetics of rap, rhyme and flows with a celebration of 50 years of hip hop. Rapper and playwright, and friend of The Verb, Testament led a panel discussion on one of the 20th and 21st century’s most powerful and influential literary movement with guests UK rapper Jehst, writer
Tessa Hadley
Ian McMillan presents a special extended interview with writer and novelist Tessa Hadley. Tessa Hadley's books are admired for the flowing, thoughtful intensity of her prose; and she is a master of capturing the humanity of domestic lives and the quietly devastating drama of the everyday. Hadley is a writer with a keen eye for the telling detail and a gift for bringing everything she has, sees and
The TS Eliot Prize
Ian McMillan presents a celebration of remarkable poets and poetry readings from one of the major events in the poetry calendar: the TS Eliot Prize Readings at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The prize is awarded annually by the TS Eliot Foundation for the best collection of the year. The winning book Self-Portrait as Othello by Jason Allen-Paisant also won the 2023 Forward Prize.
Language
Ian McMillan is looking at, and listening to, the wonderfully different ways we use language with three poets: Daljit Nagra whose new collection Indiom celebrates language in more than forty different poetic forms; Nasser Hussain whose poems take us deep into individual words often creating patterns so that build something new, and Safiya Kamaria Kinshas; a poet, dancer and choreographer whose wor
Last Lines
Ian McMillan enjoys last lines in poetry, song, memoir, and novels - and his guests introduce him to different varieties of endings: the trap door, the rug-pull, the fade and many more. Stuart Maconie, writer and broadcaster, is Ian's guide to the bathetic and sometimes dramatic ends to be found in popular song - and explores an ending created by the Cornish poet Charles Causley. Caroline Bird r
The Verb Christmas Special
Ian McMillan ho ho hosts a special Christmas edition of The Verb from the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge, recorded in front of a live audience. With stories and verse and song to bring comfort and joy, from poet Jackie Kay, singer-songwriter Amelia Coburn, international storyteller Danyah Miller and doorstep poet Rowan McCabe who's been knocking on stranger's doors and offering to write them a poem
Writing a Good Future
What does a good life mean in 2023 and beyond? The Verb returns to the future for a look at stories for a fast-changing planet. This week we hear from some of the most talented storytellers in the world - who have looked at (both literally and metaphorically) the retreat of the glaciers and asked themselves “what can I do now as a writer to help make a good future?'.Ian McMillan is joined by Ben
Joyce Carol Oates
Ian McMillan presents a special extended interview with Joyce Carol Oates, one of the most prolific and pre-eminent American writers of the 20th century. Now 85, Oates is the author of 62 novels, 47 short story collections, poetry volumes, plays, essays, and criticism. Her latest book is the unsettling short-story collection 'Zero-Sum'.Producer: Cecile Wright
Colm Tóibín
Ian McMillan presents a special extended interview with acclaimed Irish novelist, essayist, playwright, and poet Colm Tóibín, who's been described as one of Ireland's finest writers.Colm Tóibín is the author of eleven novels including Brooklyn, which won the 2009 Costa novel award, and The Magician, winner of the Rathbones Folio Prize; as well as two short story collections. Three times shortlist
Shakespeare and the future
Ian McMillan celebrates what Shakespeare can tell future generations - about animals, sound, performance and language. With actor Paterson Joseph, grime poet and writer Debris Stevenson, Verb regular Kate Fox and Prof Todd Borlick from the University of Huddersfield.
New International Poetry from the Contains Strong Language Festival 2023
Ian McMillan presents some of the most exciting international poetry and poets - recorded in Leeds at the Contains Strong Language festival 2023. He's joined by Andre Bagoo from Trinidad, Ramya Jirasinghe from Sri Lanka, and by poets from the 'Language is a Queer Thing' project - an international poetry development programme from The Queer Muslim Project and the British Council - including Jay M
20/10/2023
Ian McMillan discusses the act of looking, what it means to write about art and to translate what you see into language, and the relationship between art and life; with American poet Terrance Hayes, Christine Coulson, whose novel One Woman Show is told through museum wall labels, author and art critic Laura Cumming, and Jason Allen-Paisant whose Forward Prize winning collection, Self-Portrait As O
The Verb at Contains Strong Language Festival
Ian McMillan presents The Verb recorded in front of a live audience at the Contains Strong Language Festival in Leeds with Ian Duhig, Jacob Polley, South African writer and performance poet, Lebogang Mashile, and Kenyan poet, writer and filmmaker Ngwatilo Mawiyoo.
Poetry from Contains Strong Language
Ian McMillan hosts a special performance edition of The Verb recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC’s Contains Strong Language Festival in Leeds. Featuring poetry from Hannah Silva, Khadijah Ibrahiim, Malika Booker, Cecilia Knapp, Toria Garbutt and Testament.
Live from Contains Strong Language 2023
Live from the ‘Contains Strong Language’ Festival in Leeds, Ian McMillan introduces public poets from around the world, including Simon Armitage, Hanan Issa (the National Poet of Wales), Chris Tse (Poet Laureate of New Zealand) and Titilope Sonuga - Nigerian-Canadian poet and former Laureate of Edmonton. Ian will also hear from the winner of the 2023 Laurel Prize - the international award for na
Irish Writing
Novels by Irish writers make up a third of this year's Booker longlist for the first time in the prize's history. Ian McMillan explores the boom in Irish writing and the wave of new and experimental voices melding poetry and prose emerging from both the North and South of Ireland. With Elaine Feeney, Martina Evans, James Conor Patterson and Liam Harte, professor of Irish Literature at the Univer
The Verb at the Trades Club
Ian McMillan presents Radio 3's The Verb from the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. He's joined by poet Clare Shaw whose poetry extols the poetic possibilities of peat bogs and moss; Ben and David Crystal whose new book Everyday Shakespeare offers us a quotation from the bard for every day of the year; Jimmy Andrex offers a meeting place between music and poetry and singer Emily Portm
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