Deaths Of The Poets

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

A Portable Shrine

20170213

20170220/21 (R4)

What is the cost of poetry? Must poets be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive? Or is this just a myth? In our new Book of the Week, Michael Symmons Roberts and Paul Farley - both award winning poets themselves - explore that very question through a series of journeys across Britain, America and Europe.

From Sylvia Plath's desperate suicide in the gas oven of her Primrose Hill kitchen to John Berryman's leap from a bridge onto the frozen Mississippi, the deaths of poets have often cast a backward shadow on their work.

The post-Romantic myth of the dissolute drunken poet has fatally skewed the image of poets in our culture. Novelists can be stable, savvy, politically adept and in control, but poets should be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive. Is this just a myth, or is there some essential truth behind it: that great poems only come when a poet's life is pushed right to an emotional knife-edge of acceptability, safety, security?

Today the poets explore the lives - and tragic deaths - of Thomas Chatterton and Dylan Thomas.

Written and read by the authors

Abridged for radio by Lauris Morgan Griffiths

Produced by Simon Richardson.

Poets Michael Symmons Roberts and Paul Farley ask 'What is the true cost of poetry?'.

The Names Of The Bridges

20170214

20170221/22 (R4)

From Thomas Chatterton's Pre-Raphaelite demise to Dylan Thomas's eighteen straight whiskies, the deaths of poets have often cast a backward shadow on their work.

The post-Romantic myth of the dissolute drunken poet - exemplified by Thomas and made iconic by his death in New York - has fatally skewed the image of poets in our culture. Novelists can be stable, savvy, politically adept and in control, but poets should be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive. Is this just a myth, or is there some essential truth behind it: that great poems only come when a poet's life is pushed right to an emotional knife-edge of acceptability, safety, security?

Today the poets explore the lives - and suicides - of John Berryman and Sylvia Plath.

Written and read by the authors

Abridged for radio by Lauris Morgan Griffiths

Produced by Simon Richardson.

The authors explore the lives - and suicides - of John Berryman and Sylvia Plath.

Poet Interrupted

20170215

20170222/23 (R4)

From Chatterton's Pre-Raphaelite demise to Dylan Thomas's eighteen straight whiskies and Sylvia Plath's desperate suicide in the gas oven of her Primrose Hill kitchen or John Berryman's leap from a bridge onto the frozen Mississippi, the deaths of poets have often cast a backward shadow on their work.

Today the poets explore the lives - and deaths - of Stevie Smith and Louis MacNeice.

Written and read by the authors

Abridged for radio by Lauris Morgan Griffiths

Produced by Simon Richardson.

The authors explore the lives - and deaths - of Stevie Smith and Louis MacNeice.

The Burning Of Some Idols

20170216

20170223/24 (R4)

Today the poets explore the lives - and reclusive deaths - of Emily Dickinson and Rosemary Tonks.

Written and read by the authors

Abridged for radio by Lauris Morgan Griffiths

Produced by Simon Richardson.

05 LAST

20170217

20170224/25 (R4)

Today the poets explore the life - and death - of eccentric poet W H Auden.

Written and read by the authors

Abridged for radio by Lauris Morgan Griffiths

Produced by Simon Richardson.

Michael Symmons Roberts and Paul Farley explore the life, and death, of poet WH Auden.

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
01	A Portable Shrine	20170213	20170220/21 (R4)	What is the cost of poetry? Must poets be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive? Or is this just a myth? In our new Book of the Week, Michael Symmons Roberts and Paul Farley - both award winning poets themselves - explore that very question through a series of journeys across Britain, America and Europe. From Sylvia Plath's desperate suicide in the gas oven of her Primrose Hill kitchen to John Berryman's leap from a bridge onto the frozen Mississippi, the deaths of poets have often cast a backward shadow on their work. The post-Romantic myth of the dissolute drunken poet has fatally skewed the image of poets in our culture. Novelists can be stable, savvy, politically adept and in control, but poets should be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive. Is this just a myth, or is there some essential truth behind it: that great poems only come when a poet's life is pushed right to an emotional knife-edge of acceptability, safety, security? Today the poets explore the lives - and tragic deaths - of Thomas Chatterton and Dylan Thomas. Written and read by the authors Abridged for radio by Lauris Morgan Griffiths Produced by Simon Richardson. Poets Michael Symmons Roberts and Paul Farley ask 'What is the true cost of poetry?'.
02	The Names Of The Bridges	20170214	20170221/22 (R4)	What is the cost of poetry? Must poets be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive? Or is this just a myth? In our new Book of the Week, Michael Symmons Roberts and Paul Farley - both award winning poets themselves - explore that very question through a series of journeys across Britain, America and Europe. From Thomas Chatterton's Pre-Raphaelite demise to Dylan Thomas's eighteen straight whiskies, the deaths of poets have often cast a backward shadow on their work. The post-Romantic myth of the dissolute drunken poet - exemplified by Thomas and made iconic by his death in New York - has fatally skewed the image of poets in our culture. Novelists can be stable, savvy, politically adept and in control, but poets should be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive. Is this just a myth, or is there some essential truth behind it: that great poems only come when a poet's life is pushed right to an emotional knife-edge of acceptability, safety, security? Today the poets explore the lives - and suicides - of John Berryman and Sylvia Plath. Written and read by the authors Abridged for radio by Lauris Morgan Griffiths Produced by Simon Richardson. The authors explore the lives - and suicides - of John Berryman and Sylvia Plath.
03	Poet Interrupted	20170215	20170222/23 (R4)	What is the cost of poetry? Must poets be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive? Or is this just a myth? In our new Book of the Week, Michael Symmons Roberts and Paul Farley - both award winning poets themselves - explore that very question through a series of journeys across Britain, America and Europe. From Chatterton's Pre-Raphaelite demise to Dylan Thomas's eighteen straight whiskies and Sylvia Plath's desperate suicide in the gas oven of her Primrose Hill kitchen or John Berryman's leap from a bridge onto the frozen Mississippi, the deaths of poets have often cast a backward shadow on their work. The post-Romantic myth of the dissolute drunken poet - exemplified by Thomas and made iconic by his death in New York - has fatally skewed the image of poets in our culture. Novelists can be stable, savvy, politically adept and in control, but poets should be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive. Is this just a myth, or is there some essential truth behind it: that great poems only come when a poet's life is pushed right to an emotional knife-edge of acceptability, safety, security? Today the poets explore the lives - and deaths - of Stevie Smith and Louis MacNeice. Written and read by the authors Abridged for radio by Lauris Morgan Griffiths Produced by Simon Richardson. The authors explore the lives - and deaths - of Stevie Smith and Louis MacNeice.
04	The Burning Of Some Idols	20170216	20170223/24 (R4)	What is the cost of poetry? Must poets be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive? Or is this just a myth? In our new Book of the Week, Michael Symmons Roberts and Paul Farley - both award winning poets themselves - explore that very question through a series of journeys across Britain, America and Europe. From Chatterton's Pre-Raphaelite demise to Dylan Thomas's eighteen straight whiskies and Sylvia Plath's desperate suicide in the gas oven of her Primrose Hill kitchen or John Berryman's leap from a bridge onto the frozen Mississippi, the deaths of poets have often cast a backward shadow on their work. The post-Romantic myth of the dissolute drunken poet - exemplified by Thomas and made iconic by his death in New York - has fatally skewed the image of poets in our culture. Novelists can be stable, savvy, politically adept and in control, but poets should be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive. Is this just a myth, or is there some essential truth behind it: that great poems only come when a poet's life is pushed right to an emotional knife-edge of acceptability, safety, security? Today the poets explore the lives - and reclusive deaths - of Emily Dickinson and Rosemary Tonks. Written and read by the authors Abridged for radio by Lauris Morgan Griffiths Produced by Simon Richardson.
05 LAST		20170217	20170224/25 (R4)	What is the cost of poetry? Must poets be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive? Or is this just a myth? In our new Book of the Week, Michael Symmons Roberts and Paul Farley - both award winning poets themselves - explore that very question through a series of journeys across Britain, America and Europe. From Chatterton's Pre-Raphaelite demise to Dylan Thomas's eighteen straight whiskies and Sylvia Plath's desperate suicide in the gas oven of her Primrose Hill kitchen or John Berryman's leap from a bridge onto the frozen Mississippi, the deaths of poets have often cast a backward shadow on their work. The post-Romantic myth of the dissolute drunken poet - exemplified by Thomas and made iconic by his death in New York - has fatally skewed the image of poets in our culture. Novelists can be stable, savvy, politically adept and in control, but poets should be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive. Is this just a myth, or is there some essential truth behind it: that great poems only come when a poet's life is pushed right to an emotional knife-edge of acceptability, safety, security? Today the poets explore the life - and death - of eccentric poet W H Auden. Written and read by the authors Abridged for radio by Lauris Morgan Griffiths Produced by Simon Richardson. Michael Symmons Roberts and Paul Farley explore the life, and death, of poet WH Auden.