Advertise on podcast: The Verb

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 sharing new poetry, David Morley explores an earthy 'Neon Line' - and celebrates 'Middenwitch' by Fiona Benson. Produced by Faith Lawrence

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 Farley's latest book is his virtuosic poetry collection 'When it Rained for a Million Years' , Liz Berry's verse novel about forced child emigration is called 'The Home Child', Alice Oswald reads from 'Rhapsody- a manifesto' - a new book that looks at the origins (and the future) of poetry, Karen McCarthy Woolf's 'Unsafe' looks at nature, land and who has permission to walk it freely. Presented by Ian McMillan Produced by Faith Lawrence

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 elements - and in this show Ian celebrates the poetry of Wendell Berry, American poet and farmer - who encouraged us to 'come into the peace of wild things' in times of despair. Ian's guests are: The poets Robert Crawford and Keith Jarrett, who share poems of fire, air, water and earth. Professor of Physical Geography Jamie Woodward, who takes us close to a landscape that's inspired life-changing poems, and to poetry that can help us understand the changing landscape. Poet Kate Fox who brings us a new poem inspired by the screen-avoiding, earth-loving, farmer and poet Wendell Berry - who died in Kentucky last week. Kate wonders whether modern poets can really avoid the distraction, or the assistance, of a mobile phone when they try to get closer to the elements. Books: Robert Crawford's new book is 'Haiku. How the modern world came to fall in love with small poems from Japan' and his most recent collection of poems is 'Old World'. Keith Jarrett's latest collection is 'Hide me under the blood' Jamie Woodward's new book is 'A Little History of the Earth' Kate Fox's latest book is 'On Sycamore Gap' Produced by Faith Lawrence

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 College Cambridge and the Ireland Professor of Poetry at Trinity College in Dublin. Vona chooses a 'neon line' to explore and reads her own work. Su Shaw, who works as SHHE, is a sound artist and composer, whose music has been shortlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year. Su is based in Dundee – and has always been intimate with that city’s river - the River Tay. Her new album ‘THALASSA’ was produced sustainably, in keeping with her ecologically minded projects - and is is a six-part ambient work giving voice to the Mediterranean Sea. Jardel Rodrigues is from Old Trafford in Manchester – he’s won the BBC Words First Spoken Word Poetry Competition, and he’s a titan of Manchester’s shining spoken word institution 'Young Identity'. He brings us a new commission on the theme 'How to get through'. We hear the voice and the work of Malgorzata Lebda, a Polish poet who writes poems that reveal what flows between people and landscape. Malgorzata ran the length of the longest river in Poland, the Vischula – driven by her sense of how threatened our rivers are, a kind of poetry activism. Malgorzata's translator, Mira Rosenthal joins us to explain how she managed to convey Malgorzata's innovative way of writing about the body in her collection 'Mer de Glace' (Fitzcarraldo). Mira is a poet, and a Professor of Creative Writing based in California. Produced by Faith Lawrence

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. Khadijah Ibrahiim discusses her choice of Neon Line for The Verb's long-running feature which asks a guest to talk about a line from a poem that shines out to them. Presenter Ian McMillan Producer: Ekene Akalawu

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. Bradley Taylor brings Brummie legends like 'Pete the Feet' into a poem with the likes of Zeus and Icarus, in his slam-winning poem 'I don't care about the gods'. Bradley's book is called 'You Missed the Best Parts', and he writes a brand new poem during the programme. Angie Hobbs is Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy Emerita at the University of Sheffield. and her most recent book is called 'Why Plato Matters Now'. Angie shares 'a neon line', a stellar line of poetry that can help us get through uncertain times. Rishi Dastidar shares a new commission on the theme of 'how to get through' - and celebrates William Wordsworth's favourite flower, the lesser celandine. Rishi also reads from his new collection 'Cherry Blossom at Nightbreak' - and we discover the mythic name of the legendary entertainer Bruce Forsyth. Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch's new book is 'Milk Wood Memoir'. It includes a legendary tree, and family recollections of that mythic Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Samantha's poetry has been nourished by living in the Welsh fishing village of New Quay - also an influence on Dylan Thomas's play 'Under Milk Wood'

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 for a contemporary reader. Cara Thompson, Nottingham's first Nature Poet Laureate, talks about her new project, Needle, which fuses poetry and textiles. Presented by Ian McMillan Produced by Ekene Akalawu

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 James Dearden is the composer-mentor for this year's Composer's Medal. A former Composer's Medal winner himself, he'll be helping the shortlisted composers create new choral works using the poetry of Waldo Williams. He discusses the art of setting poetry to music.; clare e potter will be reflecting on her her participation in The Clearing - a Royal Society of Literature project where four poets from the home nations of the UK have written poems separately and together inspired by the myths and stories found in their respective parts of the British Isles. Presenter Ian McMillan Producer: Ekene Akalawu

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 about love'? He reads from his new guide to reading and writing poetry: 'How to Lay an Egg with a Horse Inside'. Martha Sprackland is a poet, essayist and poetry editor as well as a translator. She explores a poem called 'Dark Night' by the 16th century Spanish mystic St John of the Cross. It comes from her new book of translations, also called 'Dark Night'. Daljit Nagra, poet, professor of poetry and radio presenter for BBC Radio 4 Extra reads from his new collection 'Yiewsley' (the 'Venice of West London' ) and illuminates this week's 'Neon Line' - a remarkable line in a remarkable poem. Ira Lightman is a Verb regular, a poet and an artist. He dives into the words and ideas of J.H. Prynne, one of our most celebrated experimental poets who died in April.

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. When Michael Schmidt met Elizabeth Jennings, he was a student and she was a celebrated poet. As managing director of Carcanet Press he become her publisher. A relationship that endured until her final collection in 2001. In her centenary year, he talk about her distinctive qualities as a poet and shares his favourite poem of hers. Michelle Penn takes inspiration from the Latin American iteration of the retablos art form for her new book - Retablo for a door. The poetry collection in part explores the female experience, but also turns its attention to subjects as varied as the first atomic bomb test, and Leonardo da Vinci's drawing, Vitruvian Man. She discusses why she found retablos such a useful creative aid for her poetry. In Redacted: Writing in the Negative Space of the State, academic Rachel Douglas-Jones reflected on the poetic power of redaction to interrogate and understand the General Data Protection Regulations. She explains why redaction, currently in the news for its power to obscure, can also lead to revelation. Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Ekene Akalawu

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 Stagedoor Johnny (Richard Poynton). Blake Morrison's new poetry collection is 'Afterburn' (Chatto and Windus) - his new book on writing memoir 'On Memoir' is published in April. Natalie Shapero's collection 'Stay Dead' is published by Outspoken Press. Tara Bergin's 'Savage Tales' is published by Carcanet Produced by Faith Lawrence

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. Depending on how you count it, this month marks the 4th or the 12th anniversary of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia - a conflict in which poetry has become a player. Iryna Starovoyt is a poet and critic from Ukraine. She reflects on the 19th century poet and artist Taras Shevchenko - regarded as a totemic figure in Ukrainian literature, and whose name is on the country's highest award for Arts and Culture, the Taras Shevchenko National Prize. Katie Clarke, Director of Literature at The Reader organisation, shares her experiences of reading poetry with people who have dementia and the surprising power of poetry to make fresh connections at the individual and group level. Zain Rishi's debut poetry pamphlet, Noon, is published this month. He becomes the latest poet to choose a Neon Line for The Verb's regular feature in which poets reflect on poetry lines that they feel shine out. Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Ekene Akalawu

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 sensibilities to 'Ancestral Reverb' - an album created by north east organisation 'Threads in the Ground' (directed by Adam Cooper). 'Ancestral Reverb' contains music spanning over 100 years, and the words of those connected to coal. DJ and producer Bert Verso sampled historic music for this album, and wove it through with his own new compositions. The records are embedded with fragments of coal. Richard Dawson's latest album is 'End of the Middle' and Jacob Polley's 'Hymn to Water' can be heard on BBC Sounds (www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002mw7t) Sarah Howe's new book is 'Loop of Jade' which beautifully takes on threads from her T.S. Eliot prize winning collection 'Loop of Jade'. Sarah explores a 'Neon Line' for us from the work of the American 20th century poet Elizabeth Bishop - a stand-out line that lets us into a poem. Sarah tells us about the power of the messy first draft, and where it can lead a poet. Children's Laureate, novelist and writer of the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony - Frank Cottrell Boyce celebrates the wit, generosity, and pithy opening sentences of Professor John Carey, whose distinctive voice as teacher, critic and broadcaster led so many into a deep engagement with poetry. Presented by Ian McMillan Produced by Faith Lawrence

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 forthcoming collection, The House of Broken Things, Deborah Alma, poet, editor, and co-founder of The Poetry Pharmacy is a fan of love poetry anthologies She discusses the approach she took in her own love poetry anthology - Words For Love, and why she finds The Emma Press Anthology of Love edited by Rachel Piercey and Emma Wright, and Something New: Alternative Poems for Alternative Weddings edited by Caroline Bird and Rachel Long, such appealing collections. In Rob Macaisa Colgate's debut poetry book, Hardly Creatures, he models his collection of poems on the experience of a fully accessible art gallery, inspired by his work in disability arts gallery in Toronto called Tangled. Hardly Creatures features a series of love poems which Rob calls Benches to reflect the fact that he sees them as places of rest in a collection often concerned with the practicalities, the pain, and the politics of disability. Mark Connors, co-founder and editor of Yaffle Press, on the love song inspired poetry in their latest publication - Poems Inspired By the Best Songs of All Time. Presented by Ian MacMillan Produced by Ekene Akalawu

Ian McMillan explores Rainer Maria Rilke's life advice, and is joined by Paul Farley, Griot Gabriel, Kate Fox and Ulrich Baer Paul 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. 'Can poetry change your life'? - poet and Verb regular Kate Fox - and writer and scholar Ulrich Baer explore a 'neon line' (an outstanding line of poetry' ) by the German language poet Rainer Maria Rilke; an enigmatic line that has left the page and entered popular culture. So why is Rilke's poetry so popular in 2026 - a hundred years after his death? Kate's latest book is 'On Sycamore Gap' - Ulrich's writing on Rilke includes 'Dark Interval: Rilke's Letters on Grief, Loss and Transformation'. Griot Gabriel is from Manchester, and founded The Poetry Place. In 2025 he won the Forward Prize for 'Best Single Poem – Performed' for ‘Where I’m From’. Here he shares extracts of new work and explores the resonance of the word 'hand-me-down'.