Ian McMillan hosts Radio 4's cabaret of the word, featuring the best poetry, new writing and performance.
The Verb explores 'The Midlands' - with the novelist Jonathan Coe - on using the Midlands 'to think with' in his new book 'Middle England' , the poet Liz Berry on Black Country language, the writer and performer Steven Camden ( AKA Polar Bear) on the different influences on his 'voice' - and musician Ben Walker and researcher Bethany Whalley offer a sound art tribute to the cult 1974 film 'Penda's Fen'.
The Verb on Instagram Poetry, and the pleasures of writing on social media. Ian McMillan, and writer and cartoonist Moose Allain, explore the bittersweet language of the grapefruit, the 'oo' in festoon, and the 'bone' in trombone - for a brand new Twitter word game called 'The Word Service'. Poets Yrsa Daley-Ward, Mandy Kahn, and Johnathan Rice share poems of anxiety, joy in the everyday, and dark humour.
The Verb heads into the forest as part of Radio 3's season exploring the enchantment, escape and magical danger of forests. We explore the forest as metaphor with Terry Deary, Pascale Petit, with music and poetry from Claire Trévien and Kate Arnold, and Jack Bernhardt reminds us why teenagers should never go into the woods in horror films... Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Faith Lawrence
The Verb on 'failure' with Kate Fox, Mohammed Hanif, Scanner and Bryony Kimmings
Recorded at the Contains Strong Language Festival of poetry and performance in Hull, this week The Verb is examining young poets and young writing and celebrating 20 years of the Foyle Young Poet Award. Ian is joined by three previous winners of the the award. Phoebe Stuckes published her debut pamphlet Gin & Tonic in 2017, is a Barbican Young Poet, and has been a Foyle Young Poet four times. Jay Bernard won the 2017 Ted Hughes Award for their performance piece Surge: Side A, and was a Foyle...
The Verb at the 'Contains Strong Language' festival in Hull with Jackie Kay, Gruff Rhys, Louise Wallwein, Joe Hakim and work inspired by 'Palgrave's Golden Treasury'.
The Verb headed down to the Latitude Festival in Suffolk and popped up at their 'Speakeasy' spoken word stage. Joining Ian McMillan are: Luke Wright Latitude Festival veteran Luke Wright, who ran the Poetry Tent at the festival for eleven years. Luke performs from his new show 'Luke Wright@ Poet Laureate', and explains how he keeps his performances fresh night after night. Travis Alabanza Poet and performer Travis Alabanza reads from their debut chapbook 'Before I Step Outside You Love Me', and ...
Ian McMillan is joined by Michael Palin on the language of 19th century Naval officers (drunk and sober), ‘Rule Britannia’, and a remarkable ship called ‘Erebus’, He's also joined by beatboxer Jason Singh who uses his voice to create an astonishing maritime soundscape, by Oscar-winning composer Anne Dudley who celebrates the yearning of First World War songs, and Mojdeh Stoakley who beachcombs the language of this 'Proms Verb' to create an instant poem. The Verb audience at Imperial College Unio...
The Verb celebrates the NHS at 70, exploring the language of the body, and the way bodies communicate when words fall short. So much care given in hospitals and GPs' surgeries is non-verbal, but how do we talk about and pass on expertise that lacks a lexicon? Ian introduces an NHS tribute poem, a brand new commission for The Verb from nurse Molly Case, and contributions from surgeon Professor Roger Kneebone (who collaborates with experts outside medicine e.g. chefs, magicians, musicians), puppet...
The Verb explores the language and literature inspired by northern rocks - with Benjamin Myers, Bella Hardy, M. John Harrison, Kate Davis and Simon Bainbridge.
Ian McMillan talks resilience in the BBC Tent with The Last Poets, Michael Morpurgo, Daniel Morden and Helen Mort Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Jessica Treen.
Ian McMillan peers into the pop-up tent that is 'festival' writing with Murray Lachlan Young - he introduces new fiction from Louise Welsh, new poetry from William Letford and Hollie McNish joins the programme to explore, in conversation with Dr Peter Mackay, the kind of festive language and rituals associated with Scots Gaelic literature. Ian is also joined by Professor Sarah Churchwell to unpick the language of the great American novelist Philip Roth - who died this week - and to celebrate not...
Examining autism, and the experience of being autistic through comedy, poetry, fiction and footnotes with guests Henry Normal, James McGrath, Kate Fox, and Alicia Kopf. Producer: Faith Lawrence Presenter: Ian McMillan.
Ian McMillan and guests explore Japanese night-time language, poetic encounters and musical collisions - and uncanny meetings that happen in the dark. The programme is part of Radio 3's 'Night Blossoms' - a week exploring the unexpected, the shadows and the counter-cultural in Japanese music and arts. Producer: Faith Lawrence Presenter: Ian McMillan.
Can algorithms help writers think more clearly and create innovative work ? On this week's 'Algorithm Verb' Ian McMillan is joined by Helen Arney, who performs a brand new love-song (written for the programme) using search engine algorithms, by Eugenia Cheng, a mathematician and pianist who is passionate about ridding the world of 'math-phobia', by the computer scientist Ursula Martin (who writes on Ada Lovelace, often credited with the first computer 'algorithm'), and by writer Kate Pullinger w...
The writer and psychoanalyst Adam Phillips is the author of 'On Kindness', and 'On Kissing, Tickling and Being Bored' amongst other works of non-fiction. He is also a regular contributor to the London Review of Books. Adam invited The Verb into his west-London consulting room to discuss the rules and significance of Freud's concept of 'free association', the importance of inconclusive conclusions and what he sees as the lopsided relationship between poetry and psychoanalysis - something he explo...
This week on the verb we are turning our attention to Local language. Joining Ian McMillan are the linguist Rob Drummond who has been studying Manchester Voices and identifying new youth dialects, the Icelandic stand up comedian Ari Eldjárn on performing comedy in a city where everyone really does know everyone else and the novelist Sarah Hall discusses how she crafts specificity of place in her writing. Also joining Ian is Verb regular Hollie McNish who will be introducing us to Vanessa Kisuule...
Taking notes with Ian are Toby Litt and Jude Rogers. Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Cecile Wright.
This week we're looking the possibilities of looking back. Joining Ian McMillan are... Novelist and essayist Tim Winton has been twice shortlisted for the Booker prize for his novels 'The Riders' and 'Dirt Music'. In his most recent book, 'The Boy Behind the Curtain', he returns to his childhood. The comedian Stewart Lee has honed the art of the callback over a long career writing for television and radio alongside his stand-up touring schedule. Angie Hobbs is the Professor of the Public Underst...
How do you write a fight? Ian McMillan and Hollie McNish are joined by Ross Sutherland, Ben Crystal, Willy Vlautin and Theresa Lola to talk about punching with a pen. Willy Vlautin is an American novelist and musician. He is the lead singer for Richmond Fontaine, and his latest novel 'Don't Skip out on Me' (Faber), follows a young man who dreams of being a championship boxer. The poet Ross Sutherland has written a brand new commission for The Verb inspired by the Jackie Chan film 'Rumble in the ...
January is a month of resolutions and fresh starts, of gyms and diets. This week Ian McMillan and guests tackle the language of Wellbeing and Self-Care. Poets are not generally known for their physical prowess, but in George Szirtes new collection 'Thirty Poets Go To The Gym' (Candlestick). What happens when famous poets from Lord Byron to John Berryman and from Emily Dickinson to Elizabeth Bishop try to get into shape? What are the strongest influences on the ways we chose to live our lives? Do...
Ian McMillan and Hollie McNish present the best in new poetry. Joining them this week are Remi Adefesysian, Jenni Fagan, Kerry Andrew and Danez Smith Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Cecile Wright.
On the programme this week, linguist David Crystal is looking at pronunciation - what does is mean to have a 'friendly accent'? Inspired by David's writing is a brand new poem from Mike Garry which plays with 'Approximants' - consonants that sound like vowels and are often seen as being friendly. In 'Spandex and the City' (Orbit), novelist Jenny Colgan finds out what happens when a romantic heroine meets a superhero, and we hear an extract from 'Lord Fox', a collaboration between the writer Kirs...
The Verb welcomes January's fresh starts and clear-outs with poems on empty drawers and new beginnings. Ron Padgett, Hollie McNish, Laurie Bolger, Lennox Cato and Harry Giles join Ian McMillan.
Joining Ian McMillan for a sci-fi themed Christmas party are Carol Ann Duffy, Hollie McNish, Abandoman, Paul Magrs, Katy Manning and Verb New Voice Laura Potts. Recorded in front of a studio audience at Media City.
How has the scrolling we do on social media changed writers and readers, and what does it have in common with ancient scrolls? Join Ian McMillan as he uses the power of poetry and performance to answer these questions - with the actor and writer David Schneider, poet Ira Lightman, artist Vicki Bennett, and scroll unrollers Roberta Mazza and Richard Gameson.
This week on The Verb we're looking at writing mentors. How much different can a mentor make, how can we learn from their writing, and what kind of language should a mentor use? Joining Ian is the comedian Margaret Cho, who was profoundly influenced by her friend and mentor Joan Rivers. Margaret is a groundbreaking American comic who has been Emmy and Grammy nominated five times, hosts the podcast 'Monsters of Talk' and is currently on tour with her latest stand-up show 'Fresh Off The Boat'. Tim...
Ian McMillan presents a special extended edition of Radio 3's The Verb recorded as part of Contains Strong Language, a season of poetry and performance from Hull, UK City of Culture 2017. Ian McMillan is joined by a host of spoken word talent to celebrate the story of spoken-word performance in the UK on the 35th anniversary of 'Apples and Snakes'. John Agard has been performing spoken word across the UK for over 30 years. His poem celebrates the Voice as he reminds us that 'Shakespeare was a pe...
What does it mean to live a Stoic life in 2017? With the current resurgence of interest in Stoic ideas,, The Verb investigates. Helping Ian is the philosopher Angie Hobbs, technology writer Tom Chatfield, Coralie Bickford Smith, Ned Boulting and John Osborne. Producer: Faith Lawrence.
Philip Pullman, Hollie McNish, Francesca Martinez and David Denison join Ian McMillan A masterclass in using 'tense' for writers. Philip Pullman, author of the 'His Dark Materials' series, explains why the fashion for the present tense can limit writers of fiction and celebrates the 'classical tone' of Philippa Pearce. Francesca Martinez delights in the present tense of comedy, whilst Hollie McNish introduces Erin Fornoff and her poem of 'back and forth' tenses. Linguist David Denison reveals ho...
