Episodes

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0101The Body20130224

A new programme introduced by Paul Farley featuring the best of poetry now. The first in the series looks at the body in question - the shapes of poems and the people in them. How does a poet decide on the form of their poem? What do different poetic forms do the subject of a poem? The programme travels the country and anatomises its poetic body. With found poems and field-notes, a diary of failure and success, the sound of the world being taken down in rhyme, and a look into a hive of dead bees in midwinter. With new poems from Sean Borodale, Don Paterson and Alice Oswald. Producer: Tim Dee.

Adventures in strong language and the best of new poetry, introduced by Paul Farley.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0101The Body2013022420130302 (R4)

A new programme introduced by Paul Farley featuring the best of poetry now. The first in the series looks at the body in question - the shapes of poems and the people in them. How does a poet decide on the form of their poem? What do different poetic forms do the subject of a poem? The programme travels the country and anatomises its poetic body. With found poems and field-notes, a diary of failure and success, the sound of the world being taken down in rhyme, and a look into a hive of dead bees in midwinter. With new poems from Sean Borodale, Don Paterson and Alice Oswald. Producer: Tim Dee.

Adventures in strong language and the best of new poetry, introduced by Paul Farley.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0102Borders Met and Crossed20130303

Adventures in strong language - performed and from the page - introduced by a master of poetic ceremonies, Paul Farley. Borders - met and crossed - are the theme of the day. The River Styx where the dead arrive and the shape-shifting places where people become other animals are among the subjects. Jo Shapcott, James Lasdun and Simon Armitage come to the edge and shout their poems across. Producer: Tim Dee.

Presented by Paul Farley. With poems by Jo Shapcott, James Lasdun and Simon Armitage.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0102Borders Met and Crossed2013030320130309 (R4)

Adventures in strong language - performed and from the page - introduced by a master of poetic ceremonies, Paul Farley. Borders - met and crossed - are the theme of the day. The River Styx where the dead arrive and the shape-shifting places where people become other animals are among the subjects. Jo Shapcott, James Lasdun and Simon Armitage come to the edge and shout their poems across. Producer: Tim Dee.

Presented by Paul Farley. With poems by Jo Shapcott, James Lasdun and Simon Armitage.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0103Translations20130310

Adventures in strong language - the best of new poetry introduced by Paul Farley. The Echo Chamber has started to resound. Today it is listening to translations of all sorts and hoping to topple the Tower of Babel. Can you transplant a poem from one language to another? Can a man be a woman? A fox a thought? Featuring new poems by Robin Robertson, Leontia Flynn, and Jamie McKendrick and poems journeying into English from Ancient Greece, Rome, Italy, Spanish and German. Producer: Tim Dee.

The Echo Chamber resounds to translations and hopes to topple the Tower of Babel.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0103Translations2013031020130316 (R4)

Adventures in strong language - the best of new poetry introduced by Paul Farley. The Echo Chamber has started to resound. Today it is listening to translations of all sorts and hoping to topple the Tower of Babel. Can you transplant a poem from one language to another? Can a man be a woman? A fox a thought? Featuring new poems by Robin Robertson, Leontia Flynn, and Jamie McKendrick and poems journeying into English from Ancient Greece, Rome, Italy, Spanish and German. Producer: Tim Dee.

The Echo Chamber resounds to translations and hopes to topple the Tower of Babel.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0104Middle Age20130317Are the middle years tough for poets? Paul Farley listens to new poems on the subject.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0104Middle Age2013031720130323 (R4)Are the middle years tough for poets? Paul Farley listens to new poems on the subject.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0201Ancient Poem Kidnap20131103

Paul Farley returns with a new series showcasing the best of the latest poetry. Lavinia Greenlaw and Simon Armitage have been kidnapping three ancient poems and making them new, dub genius King Tubby has been remixing Dylan Thomas and Kaiti Soultana has taken Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to heart. Producer: Tim Dee.

Lavinia Greenlaw and Simon Armitage have kidnapped three ancient poems and made them new.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0201Ancient Poem Kidnap2013110320131109 (R4)

Paul Farley returns with a new series showcasing the best of the latest poetry. Lavinia Greenlaw and Simon Armitage have been kidnapping three ancient poems and making them new, dub genius King Tubby has been remixing Dylan Thomas and Kaiti Soultana has taken Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to heart. Producer: Tim Dee.

Lavinia Greenlaw and Simon Armitage have kidnapped three ancient poems and made them new.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0202City Streets and Seashores20131110

Paul Farley meets Roy Fisher and Michael Longley: two of the greatest older poets at work in English today. City streets and the seashore sing loud in their poems. Roy Fisher's long sequence City about Birmingham is the best poetic account of modern urban life. Michael Longley has been writing lyric poems about a short stretch of the coastline of County Mayo for decades. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley meets poets Roy Fisher and Michael Longley.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0202City Streets and Seashores2013111020131116 (R4)

Paul Farley meets Roy Fisher and Michael Longley: two of the greatest older poets at work in English today. City streets and the seashore sing loud in their poems. Roy Fisher's long sequence City about Birmingham is the best poetic account of modern urban life. Michael Longley has been writing lyric poems about a short stretch of the coastline of County Mayo for decades. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley meets poets Roy Fisher and Michael Longley.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0203The Waste Remains20131117Paul Farley introduces new poems on the old theme of autumnal rot and mulch.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0203The Waste Remains2013111720131123 (R4)Paul Farley introduces new poems on the old theme of autumnal rot and mulch.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0204The poet, the poem, and the savannah20131124Paul Farley talks to Glyn Maxwell about where poems come from.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0204The poet, the poem, and the savannah2013112420131130 (R4)Paul Farley talks to Glyn Maxwell about where poems come from.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0301Derek Walcott20140406

Paul Farley returns with Radio 4's new poetry programme. Today's edition is devoted to a conversation (with poems and flying fish) with Derek Walcott at home on St Lucia. Walcott is now 84. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992. The tropical island of St Lucia has been his home and has defined his work for many years yet he is reluctant to think of himself as a Caribbean poet. His work has travelled far away from his home and his own relationship with St Lucia has been rich but not entirely comfortable. He talks about why and speaks also of his love for the English poets, John Clare and Edward Thomas, whilst, looking out over the Caribbean sea, he recites Walter de la Mare. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley presents a conversation about poems and flying fish with Derek Walcott.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0301Derek Walcott2014040620140412 (R4)

Paul Farley returns with Radio 4's new poetry programme. Today's edition is devoted to a conversation (with poems and flying fish) with Derek Walcott at home on St Lucia. Walcott is now 84. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992. The tropical island of St Lucia has been his home and has defined his work for many years yet he is reluctant to think of himself as a Caribbean poet. His work has travelled far away from his home and his own relationship with St Lucia has been rich but not entirely comfortable. He talks about why and speaks also of his love for the English poets, John Clare and Edward Thomas, whilst, looking out over the Caribbean sea, he recites Walter de la Mare. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley presents a conversation about poems and flying fish with Derek Walcott.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0302Jen Hadfield on Shetland20140413

Paul Farley meets the poet Jen Hadfield at home and out and about in Shetland taking some of her new poems from her book Byssus back to where they were written, their source. Byssus is the name given to a mussel's beard, it is what anchors the shellfish to its rock. Many poems in the book explore both molluscs and bivalves but also what a home might mean to other creatures including poets. Half the poems need wellington boots, the others a good raincoat, but the Spring is here too and life grows afresh. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley meets Jen Hadfield on Shetland, taking some of her poems back to source.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0302Jen Hadfield on Shetland2014041320140419 (R4)

Paul Farley meets the poet Jen Hadfield at home and out and about in Shetland taking some of her new poems from her book Byssus back to where they were written, their source. Byssus is the name given to a mussel's beard, it is what anchors the shellfish to its rock. Many poems in the book explore both molluscs and bivalves but also what a home might mean to other creatures including poets. Half the poems need wellington boots, the others a good raincoat, but the Spring is here too and life grows afresh. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley meets Jen Hadfield on Shetland, taking some of her poems back to source.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

030320140420Paul Farley and fellow poets remember Seamus Heaney in Belfast.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

03032014042020140426 (R4)Paul Farley and fellow poets remember Seamus Heaney in Belfast.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0304Cross-dressing Poets20140427Paul Farley hears from some poets about the appeal of prose.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0304Cross-dressing Poets2014042720140503 (R4)Paul Farley hears from some poets about the appeal of prose.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0401Extinctions2014113020141206 (R4)Paul Farley listens to old and new poetry of extinction one hundred years after the death of Martha, the last ever passenger pigeon. With poems from Fleur Adcock, Sean O'Brien, W.S. Merwin and David Harsent and the sounds of X-ray audio, the samizdat music of the Soviet Union that used black-market plates of skulls and ribcages to capture the beginnings of rock and roll. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley listens to old and new poetry of extinction.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

Paul Farley listens to old and new poetry of extinction one hundred years after the death of Martha, the last ever passenger pigeon. With poems from Fleur Adcock, Sean O'Brien, W.S. Merwin and David Harsent and the sounds of X-ray audio, the samizdat music of the Soviet Union that used black-market plates of skulls and ribcages to capture the beginnings of rock and roll. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley listens to old and new poetry of extinction.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0402The Knowledge20141207Paul Farley does the Knowledge, collecting taxi poems and sounds from all over London.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0402The Knowledge2014120720141213 (R4)Paul Farley does the Knowledge, collecting taxi poems and sounds from all over London.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0403Michael Donaghy20141214Paul Farley remembers the poet Michael Donaghy with other poets, ten years after his death

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0403Michael Donaghy2014121420141220 (R4)Paul Farley remembers the poet Michael Donaghy with other poets, ten years after his death

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0404Solsticial20141221Paul Farley introduces a new poem for the year's midnight from Alice Oswald.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0404Solsticial2014122120141227 (R4)Paul Farley introduces a new poem for the year's midnight from Alice Oswald.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0501Clive James20150802

Clive James talks to Paul Farley and reads his new staring-death-in-the-face poems. The Echo Chamber returns with new poems on the old subjects. Clive James has been a poet throughout his life as well as a literary critic, memoirist and television pundit. He didn't expect to be alive to see his new collection Sentenced to Life after illness and old age took him in their grip a couple of years ago. But, against the odds, he's still with us. And his recent poems are extraordinarily clear-eyed and fearlessly moving. He manages to be light throughout whilst remaining, as one critic put it, deadly serious. Producer: Tim Dee.

Clive James talks to Paul Farley and reads his new staring-death-in-the-face poems.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0501Clive James2015080220150808 (R4)

Clive James talks to Paul Farley and reads his new staring-death-in-the-face poems. The Echo Chamber returns with new poems on the old subjects. Clive James has been a poet throughout his life as well as a literary critic, memoirist and television pundit. He didn't expect to be alive to see his new collection Sentenced to Life after illness and old age took him in their grip a couple of years ago. But, against the odds, he's still with us. And his recent poems are extraordinarily clear-eyed and fearlessly moving. He manages to be light throughout whilst remaining, as one critic put it, deadly serious. Producer: Tim Dee.

Clive James talks to Paul Farley and reads his new staring-death-in-the-face poems.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0502Liz Berry And Helen Mort2015080920150815 (R4)Two of the most striking and original first poetry collections in the last few years have been Division Street by Helen Mort and Black Country by Liz Berry. Both books are steeped in the places they were made in: West Yorkshire and the West Midlands. With Paul Farley for The Echo Chamber both poets have travelled towards one another and taken some poems back to their source. Helen Mort in the Peaks, on Sheffield streets, and then the memorably twisted spire of the church in Chesterfield. Liz Berry in a Black Country pigeon loft, an echoing canal tunnel and an ancient geological treasure trove. The heart of England is remade in these new poems. The poets end up half way between one anothers' places in a hotel that W. H. Auden (great poet of the unloved world) said served the best martinis in the land. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley travels through the poetry heart of England with Liz Berry and Helen Mort.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

Two of the most striking and original first poetry collections in the last few years have been Division Street by Helen Mort and Black Country by Liz Berry. Both books are steeped in the places they were made in: West Yorkshire and the West Midlands. With Paul Farley for The Echo Chamber both poets have travelled towards one another and taken some poems back to their source. Helen Mort in the Peaks, on Sheffield streets, and then the memorably twisted spire of the church in Chesterfield. Liz Berry in a Black Country pigeon loft, an echoing canal tunnel and an ancient geological treasure trove. The heart of England is remade in these new poems. The poets end up half way between one anothers' places in a hotel that W. H. Auden (great poet of the unloved world) said served the best martinis in the land. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley travels through the poetry heart of England with Liz Berry and Helen Mort.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0503Mark Doty and Andrew McMillan20150816

Paul Farley listens for ghosts and feels for flesh in the new poems of Mark Doty and Andrew McMillan. Among the subjects are baby mammoths and men working on their muscles in gyms. The body and absent bodies bring a veteran American poet and a young newcomer together across the Atlantic. Prodcuer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley listens for ghosts and feels for flesh with Mark Doty and Andrew McMillan.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0503Mark Doty and Andrew McMillan2015081620150822 (R4)

Paul Farley listens for ghosts and feels for flesh in the new poems of Mark Doty and Andrew McMillan. Among the subjects are baby mammoths and men working on their muscles in gyms. The body and absent bodies bring a veteran American poet and a young newcomer together across the Atlantic. Prodcuer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley listens for ghosts and feels for flesh with Mark Doty and Andrew McMillan.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0504Tony Harrison20150823

Paul Farley hears Tony Harrison read a new long poem called Polygons - a poem set in Delphi in Greece, that richly draws together many of the poetic preoccupations of his life: Greek tragedy, the wild landscapes of ancient human sacred sites, the deaths and passing of poetic mates, and the comforts of water and of wine. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley hears Tony Harrison read his new poem Polygons.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0504Tony Harrison2015082320150829 (R4)

Paul Farley hears Tony Harrison read a new long poem called Polygons - a poem set in Delphi in Greece, that richly draws together many of the poetic preoccupations of his life: Greek tragedy, the wild landscapes of ancient human sacred sites, the deaths and passing of poetic mates, and the comforts of water and of wine. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley hears Tony Harrison read his new poem Polygons.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

06James Fenton20151213

Paul Farley meets the poet James Fenton who has, in his varied life, also been a war reporter, a gardener and and a lyricist. He has just received the 2015 Pen Pinter prize for his writing. His poems of exile, emigration and conflict written over forty years of travelling into assorted bad lands remain extraordinarily telling documents. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley meets poet James Fenton, recipient of the 2015 Pen Pinter prize.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

06James Fenton2015121320151219 (R4)

Paul Farley meets the poet James Fenton who has, in his varied life, also been a war reporter, a gardener and and a lyricist. He has just received the 2015 Pen Pinter prize for his writing. His poems of exile, emigration and conflict written over forty years of travelling into assorted bad lands remain extraordinarily telling documents. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley meets poet James Fenton, recipient of the 2015 Pen Pinter prize.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

06Kathleen Jamie20160103Kathleen Jamie reads from her new book of poems for Paul Farley.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

06Kathleen Jamie2016010320160109 (R4)Kathleen Jamie reads from her new book of poems for Paul Farley.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

06Sam Riviere and Emily Berry20151227Paul Farley hears new poems from two new poets, Sam Riviere and Emily Berry.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

06Sam Riviere and Emily Berry2015122720160102 (R4)Paul Farley hears new poems from two new poets, Sam Riviere and Emily Berry.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

06Wendy Cope and Lachlan Mackinnon20151220

Paul Farley hears new poems from Wendy Cope and Lachlan Mackinnon at their home in Ely. Since 'Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis', her first collection, was published in 1986, Wendy Cope has been among the most popular of poets in Britain and her poems have lent ideas to the national imagination. Her husband, Lachlan Mackinnon, has published four highly regarded collections too and is a great poet of love and loss as well as being as funny as his wife. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley hears new poems from Wendy Cope and Lachlan Mackinnon at their home in Ely.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

06Wendy Cope and Lachlan Mackinnon2015122020151226 (R4)

Paul Farley hears new poems from Wendy Cope and Lachlan Mackinnon at their home in Ely. Since 'Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis', her first collection, was published in 1986, Wendy Cope has been among the most popular of poets in Britain and her poems have lent ideas to the national imagination. Her husband, Lachlan Mackinnon, has published four highly regarded collections too and is a great poet of love and loss as well as being as funny as his wife. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley hears new poems from Wendy Cope and Lachlan Mackinnon at their home in Ely.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0701Simon Armitage in the Somme20160626

One hundred years after the beginning of the catastrophic battle of the Somme, Paul Farley crosses the battlefield in north-eastern France with Simon Armitage to hear his new poems inspired by wartime aerial photographs of the area and Virgil's ancient Georgics (quasi-didactic texts on good land use and husbandry). Taking these new poems back to their source involves travelling along an old Roman road that runs through open farmland. One hundred years ago a paltry mile or two along this road were the scene of horrendous carnage as British and Allied troops attempted to attack and overrun the German lines. Months after the battle began in July 1916 only a mile or so of ground had been won. An appalling price had been paid. In one of the many wartime cemeteries now chequering the French farmland is the grave of a William Shakespeare. Many others and much else died in those months and Simon Armitage and the Echo Chamber have been to listen. His poem sequence is called 'Still' and was commissioned by 14-18 NOW, the UK's arts programme for the First World War centenary, the Writer's Centre Norwich, and Norfolk and Norwich Festival.

New poems by Simon Armitage inspired by the battle of the Somme.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0701Simon Armitage in the Somme2016062620160702 (R4)

One hundred years after the beginning of the catastrophic battle of the Somme, Paul Farley crosses the battlefield in north-eastern France with Simon Armitage to hear his new poems inspired by wartime aerial photographs of the area and Virgil's ancient Georgics (quasi-didactic texts on good land use and husbandry). Taking these new poems back to their source involves travelling along an old Roman road that runs through open farmland. One hundred years ago a paltry mile or two along this road were the scene of horrendous carnage as British and Allied troops attempted to attack and overrun the German lines. Months after the battle began in July 1916 only a mile or so of ground had been won. An appalling price had been paid. In one of the many wartime cemeteries now chequering the French farmland is the grave of a William Shakespeare. Many others and much else died in those months and Simon Armitage and the Echo Chamber have been to listen. His poem sequence is called 'Still' and was commissioned by 14-18 NOW, the UK's arts programme for the First World War centenary, the Writer's Centre Norwich, and Norfolk and Norwich Festival.

New poems by Simon Armitage inspired by the battle of the Somme.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0702Sharon Olds20160703

In New York City Paul Farley hears some new odes from Sharon Olds addressed to bodies and body parts, both shoddy and enduring. Sharon Olds' poetry is almost always personal and is renowned for its frank directness. She has written unflinchingly about abuse in her family and her broken marriage. Much imitated and highly influential no one compares to her. She reads her new poems about her hymen, and her wattles, a composting toilet, and the tampon. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley hears some new odes from Sharon Olds.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0702Sharon Olds2016070320160709 (R4)

In New York City Paul Farley hears some new odes from Sharon Olds addressed to bodies and body parts, both shoddy and enduring. Sharon Olds' poetry is almost always personal and is renowned for its frank directness. She has written unflinchingly about abuse in her family and her broken marriage. Much imitated and highly influential no one compares to her. She reads her new poems about her hymen, and her wattles, a composting toilet, and the tampon. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley hears some new odes from Sharon Olds.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0703Craig Raine20160710

Paul Farley meets Craig Raine at his home to hear new and old poems from a famous Martian. 'A Martian Sends A Postcard Home' (1979) was Craig Raine's second collection and its poems defined and encapsulated a way of looking afresh at the familiar world. Since then Raine has taught English literature, written novels, edited Fabers' poetry list and started and run magazines of criticism and new writing. He has written poetry throughout. 'How Snow Falls' appeared in 2010 and this year he has published a book on the writing and reading of poetry called 'My Grandmother's Glass Eye'. He talks about arguing about poetry and reads a suite of new poems as well as some old ones. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley meets Craig Raine at his home to hear new and old poems from a famous Martian.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0703Craig Raine2016071020160716 (R4)

Paul Farley meets Craig Raine at his home to hear new and old poems from a famous Martian. 'A Martian Sends A Postcard Home' (1979) was Craig Raine's second collection and its poems defined and encapsulated a way of looking afresh at the familiar world. Since then Raine has taught English literature, written novels, edited Fabers' poetry list and started and run magazines of criticism and new writing. He has written poetry throughout. 'How Snow Falls' appeared in 2010 and this year he has published a book on the writing and reading of poetry called 'My Grandmother's Glass Eye'. He talks about arguing about poetry and reads a suite of new poems as well as some old ones. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley meets Craig Raine at his home to hear new and old poems from a famous Martian.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0704Tracy K Smith and Patricia Lockwood20160717

Paul Farley hears new work from two young American poets: Tracy K. Smith and Patricia Lockwood. Outside of a few famous names recent British poetry has made little impact on American life and letters. The same might be said in reverse: though we speak the same language our poetries are oddly discrete. The Echo Chamber has opened its doors in the USA to seek some commonality by listening to some younger female American voices. Tracy K. Smith's book 'Life on Mars' won a Pulitzer Prize for her poems about space and race and David Bowie. Patricia Lockwood's writing-life on Twitter is watched from around the world and her 'sexts' and her 'Rape Joke' poem brought her a celebrity very rare in poetry. Both poets read from their ground-breaking books and share some new poems too. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley hears from two young American poets: Tracy K Smith and Patricia Lockwood.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0704Tracy K Smith and Patricia Lockwood2016071720160723 (R4)

Paul Farley hears new work from two young American poets: Tracy K. Smith and Patricia Lockwood. Outside of a few famous names recent British poetry has made little impact on American life and letters. The same might be said in reverse: though we speak the same language our poetries are oddly discrete. The Echo Chamber has opened its doors in the USA to seek some commonality by listening to some younger female American voices. Tracy K. Smith's book 'Life on Mars' won a Pulitzer Prize for her poems about space and race and David Bowie. Patricia Lockwood's writing-life on Twitter is watched from around the world and her 'sexts' and her 'Rape Joke' poem brought her a celebrity very rare in poetry. Both poets read from their ground-breaking books and share some new poems too. Producer: Tim Dee.

Paul Farley hears from two young American poets: Tracy K Smith and Patricia Lockwood.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0801Matthew Hollis And Fiona Sampson2016120420161210 (R4)Paul Farley hears new poems from Matthew Hollis and Fiona Sampson.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0802Daisy Fried and Brenda Shaughnessy20161211A mix-tape of new poems from two American poets: Daisy Fried and Brenda Shaughnessy.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0802Daisy Fried and Brenda Shaughnessy2016121120161217 (R4)A mix-tape of new poems from two American poets: Daisy Fried and Brenda Shaughnessy.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0803Tom Pickard and Denise Riley20170101New year, new poems, veteran poets: Tom Pickard and Denise Riley.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0803Tom Pickard and Denise Riley2017010120180630 (R4)New year, new poems, veteran poets: Tom Pickard and Denise Riley.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0804Matthew And Michael Dickman2017010820170114 (R4)Twin American poets Matthew and Michael Dickman read poems and talk about brotherliness.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0901Simon Armitage and Ted Hughes's Paper Round20170402Paul Farley hears poems from Simon Armitage and follows Ted Hughes's boyhood paper round.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0901Simon Armitage and Ted Hughes's Paper Round2017040220170408 (R4)Paul Farley hears poems from Simon Armitage and follows Ted Hughes's boyhood paper round.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0902Crude Poems: Making Poetry after the Torrey Canyon20170409Paul Farley, in Cornwall, hears the poetry of oil spills 50 years after the Torrey Canyon.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0902Crude Poems: Making Poetry after the Torrey Canyon2017040920170415 (R4)Paul Farley, in Cornwall, hears the poetry of oil spills 50 years after the Torrey Canyon.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0903Who's There, by Greta Stoddart20170416Paul Farley hears a new radio poem, Greta Stoddart's Who's There, set in a care home.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

0903Who's There, by Greta Stoddart2017041620170422 (R4)Paul Farley hears a new radio poem, Greta Stoddart's Who's There, set in a care home.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

10Andrew Motion20171203

Paul Farley hears Andrew Motion read excerpts from a new long poem about his parents: Essex Clay. The first part tells the story of his mother's riding accident and slow death.

And we pay tribute to the late Sarah Maguire: highly-acclaimed poet, and founder of the Poetry Translation Centre. From BBC archive we hear her reading her poem The Florist's at Midnight

Producers: Tim Dee and Melvin Rickarby.

Paul Farley hears Andrew Motion read from a new poem about his parents: Essex Clay.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

10Andrew Motion2017120320171209 (R4)

Paul Farley hears Andrew Motion read excerpts from a new long poem about his parents: Essex Clay. The first part tells the story of his mother's riding accident and slow death.

And we pay tribute to the late Sarah Maguire: highly-acclaimed poet, and founder of the Poetry Translation Centre. From BBC archive we hear her reading her poem The Florist's at Midnight

Producers: Tim Dee and Melvin Rickarby.

Paul Farley hears Andrew Motion read from a new poem about his parents: Essex Clay.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

10Darkness Visible20171217

Visual artist Sam Winston spent a week living in total darkness, recording the experience in a series of 'blind' drawings. He later invited three poets to undertake 'darkness residencies', asking them to write new work in response to the experience.

Paul Farley visits Sam's installation at the Southbank Centre to spend time in the dark himself, and to hear the resulting poems by Kayo Chingonyi, Emily Berry and George Szirtes.

Producer: Mair Bosworth.

Paul Farley is in the dark, with poets Kayo Chingonyi, Emily Berry and George Szirtes.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

10Darkness Visible2017121720171223 (R4)

Visual artist Sam Winston spent a week living in total darkness, recording the experience in a series of 'blind' drawings. He later invited three poets to undertake 'darkness residencies', asking them to write new work in response to the experience.

Paul Farley visits Sam's installation at the Southbank Centre to spend time in the dark himself, and to hear the resulting poems by Kayo Chingonyi, Emily Berry and George Szirtes.

Producer: Mair Bosworth.

Paul Farley is in the dark, with poets Kayo Chingonyi, Emily Berry and George Szirtes.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

10Ocean Vuong and Mark Pajak20171210

Paul Farley meets the Vietnamese-American poet and essayist Ocean Vuong, who was awarded the Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection for his remarkable debut collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds at the 2017 Forward Prizes, and who is shortlisted for the 2017 T.S. Eliot Prize. And talks to Manchester-based Mark Pajak, a rising talent to watch, about his pamphlet Spitting Distance.

Ocean Vuong's writings have been featured in The Atlantic, Harper's, The Nation, New Republic, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Village Voice, and American Poetry Review, which awarded him the Stanley Kunitz Prize for Younger Poets. Selected by Foreign Policy magazine as a 2016 100 Leading Global Thinker, alongside Hillary Clinton, Ban Ki-Moon and Warsan Shire, Ocean was also named by BuzzFeed Books as one of "32 Essential Asian American Writers". Born in Saigon, Vietnam, he lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he serves as an Assistant Professor in the MFA Program for Poets and Writers at Umass-Amherst. He is currently at work on his first novel.

Mark Pajak was born in Merseyside. His work has appeared in The London Review of Books, Poetry London, The North, The Rialto and Magma. He has been awarded a Northern Writer's Award, an Eric Gregory Award, first place in The Bridport Prize and has been commended in the National Poetry Competition. His first pamphlet, Spitting Distance, was selected by Carol Ann Duffy as a Laureate's Choice and is published with smith

doorstop.

Producer: Mair Bosworth.

Paul Farley meets poets Ocean Vuong and Mark Pajak.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

10Ocean Vuong and Mark Pajak2017121020171216 (R4)

Paul Farley meets the Vietnamese-American poet and essayist Ocean Vuong, who was awarded the Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection for his remarkable debut collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds at the 2017 Forward Prizes, and who is shortlisted for the 2017 T.S. Eliot Prize. And talks to Manchester-based Mark Pajak, a rising talent to watch, about his pamphlet Spitting Distance.

Ocean Vuong's writings have been featured in The Atlantic, Harper's, The Nation, New Republic, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Village Voice, and American Poetry Review, which awarded him the Stanley Kunitz Prize for Younger Poets. Selected by Foreign Policy magazine as a 2016 100 Leading Global Thinker, alongside Hillary Clinton, Ban Ki-Moon and Warsan Shire, Ocean was also named by BuzzFeed Books as one of "32 Essential Asian American Writers". Born in Saigon, Vietnam, he lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he serves as an Assistant Professor in the MFA Program for Poets and Writers at Umass-Amherst. He is currently at work on his first novel.

Mark Pajak was born in Merseyside. His work has appeared in The London Review of Books, Poetry London, The North, The Rialto and Magma. He has been awarded a Northern Writer's Award, an Eric Gregory Award, first place in The Bridport Prize and has been commended in the National Poetry Competition. His first pamphlet, Spitting Distance, was selected by Carol Ann Duffy as a Laureate's Choice and is published with smith

doorstop.

Producer: Mair Bosworth.

Paul Farley meets poets Ocean Vuong and Mark Pajak.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

1101The Long Take2018040820180414 (R4)Paul Farley meets the poet Robin Robertson, and hears extracts from his new book-length poem, The Long Take.

1946. Walker is a D-Day veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder; he can't return home to rural Nova Scotia, and looks instead to the city for freedom, anonymity and repair. As he walks the streets of New York, we witness a crucial period of fracture in American history, one that also allowed film noir to flourish. The Dream had gone sour but - as those dark, classic movies made clear - the country needed outsiders to study and dramatise its new anxieties.

While Walker tries to piece his life together, America is beginning to come apart: deeply paranoid, doubting its own certainties, riven by social and racial division, spiralling corruption and the collapse of the inner cities. The Long Take is about a good man, brutalised by war, haunted by violence and apparently doomed to return to it - yet resolved to find kindness again, in the world and in himself.

Reader: Kerry Shale

Producer: Mair Bosworth

Sound Design: Rebecca Ripley and Mair Bosworth.

Poet Robin Robertson shares extracts from his new noir narrative, The Long Take.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

1102Caroline Bird and Kaveh Akbar20180415

'My assigned counsellor told me I used
poetry to hide from myself, unhook
the ballast from my life; a floating ruse
of surreal jokes.'

Paul Farley brings together two poets working on opposite sides of the Atlantic whose latest work explores addiction and recovery with surrealism and dark wit. Caroline Bird's fifth collection, In These Days of Prohibition, has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize and the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry, while the Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar's debut collection Calling a Wolf a Wolf was published in the UK in early 2018 to great acclaim.

Produced by Mair Bosworth.

Paul Farley meets poets Caroline Bird and Kaveh Akbar.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

1102Caroline Bird and Kaveh Akbar2018041520180421 (R4)

'My assigned counsellor told me I used
poetry to hide from myself, unhook
the ballast from my life; a floating ruse
of surreal jokes.'

Paul Farley brings together two poets working on opposite sides of the Atlantic whose latest work explores addiction and recovery with surrealism and dark wit. Caroline Bird's fifth collection, In These Days of Prohibition, has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize and the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry, while the Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar's debut collection Calling a Wolf a Wolf was published in the UK in early 2018 to great acclaim.

Produced by Mair Bosworth.

Paul Farley meets poets Caroline Bird and Kaveh Akbar.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

1103Sean Borodale20180422Sean Borodale and Holly Corfield Carr share poems in the caves of the Mendips hills.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

1103Sean Borodale2018042220180428 (R4)Sean Borodale and Holly Corfield Carr share poems in the caves of the Mendips hills.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

1104Gillian Clarke20180429A visit to Gillian Clarke's home in Wales, with poems from her latest collection, Zoology.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

1104Gillian Clarke2018042920180505 (R4)A visit to Gillian Clarke's home in Wales, with poems from her latest collection, Zoology.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

12Carol Ann Duffy20181021Carol Ann Duffy shares poems from her final collection as Poet Laureate.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

12Carol Ann Duffy2018102120181027 (R4)Carol Ann Duffy shares poems from her final collection as Poet Laureate.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

12Fiona Benson20181014

Poet Fiona Benson takes Paul Farley to her favourite swimming spot on the River Exe and shares new work from her forthcoming collection Vertigo + Ghost - poems of domestic life set against the backdrop of horrific world events, and of depression, motherhood and renewal.

Fiona Benson won an Eric Gregory Award in 2006 and a Faber New Poets Award in 2009. She lives in Devon with her husband and their two daughters. Her first collection, Bright Travellers, was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. It won the 2015 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and the 2015 Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry Prize for First Full Collection.

With music by The Cabinet of Living Cinema.

Presenter: Paul Farley
Producer: Mair Bosworth

Fiona Benson shares poems from her forthcoming collection, Vertigo & Ghost

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

12Fiona Benson2018101420181020 (R4)

Poet Fiona Benson takes Paul Farley to her favourite swimming spot on the River Exe and shares new work from her forthcoming collection Vertigo + Ghost - poems of domestic life set against the backdrop of horrific world events, and of depression, motherhood and renewal.

Fiona Benson won an Eric Gregory Award in 2006 and a Faber New Poets Award in 2009. She lives in Devon with her husband and their two daughters. Her first collection, Bright Travellers, was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. It won the 2015 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and the 2015 Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry Prize for First Full Collection.

With music by The Cabinet of Living Cinema.

Presenter: Paul Farley
Producer: Mair Bosworth

Fiona Benson shares poems from her forthcoming collection, Vertigo & Ghost

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

12Live from the Contains Strong Language Festival20181007

Jacob Polley, Caroline Bird, Wayne Holloway-Smith and Mary Jean Chan share poems about beginnings, arrivals and coming of age in a special episode of The Echo Chamber recorded in front of a live theatre audience at the BBC Contains Strong Language festival in Hull.

Presenter: Paul Farley
Producer: Mair Bosworth

A special episode, recorded live at the BBC Contains Strong Language Festival in Hull.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

12Live from the Contains Strong Language Festival2018100720181013 (R4)

Jacob Polley, Caroline Bird, Wayne Holloway-Smith and Mary Jean Chan share poems about beginnings, arrivals and coming of age in a special episode of The Echo Chamber recorded in front of a live theatre audience at the BBC Contains Strong Language festival in Hull.

Presenter: Paul Farley
Producer: Mair Bosworth

A special episode, recorded live at the BBC Contains Strong Language Festival in Hull.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry

12Terrance Hayes And Danez Smith2018102820181103 (R4)Terrance Hayes and Danez Smith, two of the most exciting voices in American poetry, share poems of rage and tenderness, and talk about Trump and race, oppression and love.

Terrance Hayes' American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin is a sequence of 70 sonnets written during the first two hundred days of the Trump presidency. These are poems haunted by the USA's past and future eras and errors, its dreams and nightmares. Danez Smith's work explores blackness, queerness, violence and love.

Terrance Hayes is the author of six poetry collections, including American Sonnets for My Past And Future Assassin, How to Be Drawn, which received the 2016 NAACP Image Award for Poetry and Lighthead, which won the 2010 National Book Award for Poetry. Other honors include a Whiting Writers Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a United States Artists Zell Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a MacArthur Fellowship.

In September 2018, Danez Smith became the youngest ever winner of the Forward Prize for best poetry collection, for their book Don't Call Us Dead. Danez is also the author of two chapbooks, hands on your knees (2013, Penmanship Books) and black movie (2015, Button Poetry), winner of the Button Poetry Prize. They are the recipient of fellowships from the Poetry Foundation and the McKnight Foundation.

Presenter: Paul Farley

Producer: Mair Bosworth

Terrance Hayes and Danez Smith, two of the most exciting voices in American poetry.

Paul Farley presents a series showcasing the best of the latest poetry