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Tongue and Talk: The Dialect Poets

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

Series exploring dialect poetry in different parts of the UK.

Tongue and Talk: The Dialect Poets: Episode 3 - Yorkshire

Episode 3 - Yorkshire

BBC Radio 4 - Tongue and Talk: The Dialect Poets, Episode 3 - Yorkshire

Academic Katie Edwards examines the roots and prevalence of dialect poetry in Yorkshire.

Academic Katie Edwards examines the roots and prevalence of dialect poetry in her native Yorkshire. She discovers numerous humorous poems about place and identity.

Academic Dr Katie Edwards examines the roots and prevalence of dialect poetry in Yorkshire.

Ever since Katie found herself mocked in academic circles for her broad South Yorkshire accent, she's made it her mission to celebrate her linguistic heritage. She travels round what was historically England's largest county discovering a huge range of dialect and dialect poetry. She meets with members of the Yorkshire Dialect Society, hears how dialect has evolved in different parts of Yorkshire, finds out what's been lost down the years and discovers a fresh passion for using Yorkshire dialect among several young poets in the region. 

From Ilkley Moor Bah Tat (Yorkshire's unofficial national anthem) via the industry and land that spawned much of the dialect, to poets using it as part of various types of social activism, Katie gets a real sense of a county in which dialect is still very much an important part of identity.


A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4

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Episode 3 - Yorkshire

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