The Poetry Detective

Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

Vanessa Kisuule explores the stories behind the poems we carry with us through life.

What's the line of poetry that will live in your head forever? Vanessa Kisuule tells the stories of poems that speak to us so strongly that we return to them again and again.

This is a show about the poems we carry with us. The poems that speak to us so strongly that we return to them in times of confusion, fear, loneliness or joy. Some of us might choose to scribble a couple of lines on a Post It and stick it to the mirror. Some of us mutter them under our breath like a mantra. Some of us ink them permanently into our skin. Some of us find that lines come back to us, unbidden, across the decades - and transport us to another time and place. 

Our Poetry Detective is the writer Vanessa Kisuule. She meets people with a poem that is precious to them, and unfolds the history of the poem. Why does it mean so much to them? Who wrote it and how? What's the story behind how it came to be written? How does it work on us?

BBC Radio 4 FM

The Poetry Detective: Episode Three

Episode Three

BBC Radio 4 - The Poetry Detective, Episode ThreeSearch BBC

A new series about the poems we carry with us through life. Poems that speak to us so strongly that we return to them in times of confusion or fear… loneliness or joy… love or doubt. Some of us might scribble these words on Post Its and stick them next to the mirror or on the fridge door. Some of us send them to friends or read them at funerals. Some of us mutter them under our breath like a mantra in moments of stress. Some of us ink them permanently into our skin. How much do we know about these words that move us so deeply? What are the stories behind the poems that we carry and that carry us in turn?

The poet Vanessa Kisuule speaks to people about the poems - and bits of poems - that mean the most to them. She finds out why the poems matter, and then unfolds the backstory of the poem itself - who wrote it, what was the context it came out of and how does it work on us? 

In this week's episode - poems that offer invitations and make demands. 

There is a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke that has always meant a huge amount to the poet Richard Scott - with the stunning last line 'you must change your life'. We speak to Rachel Corbett, author of 'You Must Change Your Life: The Story of Rainer Maria Rilke and Auguste Rodin' about the encounter between poet and sculptor and the huge impact it had on Rilke.

And Dr Altaf Saadi tells us about a Lucille Clifton poem she has carried in her pocket for many years and that has given her strength as a woman of Iranian-Iraqi heritage who came to the US a month before 9/11. A poem that Tara Betts also carries with her - as a tattoo covering her left arm. 

Produced in Bristol by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Poetry Detective

Episode Three

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4