Programme Index

Discover 11,128,835 listings and 279,467 playable programmes from the BBC

How to Write a Poem

Episode 2: Dickinson and Byron

Duration: 30 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW

The poet Glyn Maxwell finds himself in a strange village. He has been invited there to teach a poetry masterclass at a literature festival with some impressive names on the line-up. Could that really be John Keats reading in the back room of the pub? Is that John Clare wandering the lanes? Is Emily Dickinson really doing a Q&A in the village hall? And isn't that Lord Byron propping up the bar?

With Glyn are three new poets - Holly Corfield Carr, Victoria Adukwei Bulley and Dominic Fisher - who share their poems-in-progress. The students put their questions on writing directly to the greats and Glyn shares his own advice on writing better poetry - from facing the blank page and developing ideas, to the intricacies of rhyme, meter, form and line break.

All words spoken by Keats, Clare, Dickinson and Byron are taken verbatim from their poems, letters and diaries.

Written and presented by Glyn Maxwell
Produced by Mair Bosworth & Chris Ledgard

CAST
Barmaid - Sally Phillips
Emily Dickinson - Amy Rose
Lord Byron - Adam Harley
Student Poets - Holly Corfield Carr, Victoria Adukwei Bulley, Dominic Fisher. Show less

About this data

This data is drawn from the data stream that informs BBC's iPlayer and Sounds. The information shows what was scheduled to be broadcast, meaning it was/is subject to change and may not be accurate. More