Poetry Extra: The Poetry Olympian - Michael Horovitz at 75

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BBC Radio 4 Extra

Poetry Extra

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Weekly opportunity for listeners to revisit the riches of the BBC radio poetry archive

A brand new poetry slot on Radio 4 Extra gives listeners a weekly opportunity to revisit the riches of the BBC radio poetry archive

The Poetry Olympian - Michael Horovitz at 75

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Poetry Extra, The Poetry Olympian - Michael Horovitz at 75

Daljit Nagra selects the best programmes from the BBC's poetry archives.

Daljit Nagra selects The Poetry Olympian: Michael Horovitz at 75. Simon Warner celebrates the beat poet and musician. From 2010.

Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's poetry archive and selects The Poetry Olympian - Michael Horovitz at 75.   Celebrating the British beat poet and musician.  Presented by Simon Warner. 

The British Beat poet and musician Michael Horovitz was 75 on April 4th 2010, and in this lively celebration of a lifetime's idiosyncratic poetry output, his admirer, music lecturer and writer Simon Warner, makes the case that no-one has had a greater influence on the development of British poetry over the last 50 years. 

Horovitz has spent decades publishing and promoting the verse of the English underground, often at his own expense and in the face of establishment indifference. 

His notion that poetry should be seen and heard, often with music has been shared and developed in collaboration with notable musicians from Stan Tracy to Damon Albarn. 

His influence on publishing has been as significant as his impact on performance. In 1959 he launched New Departures, which first published works by Beckett, Burroughs and Ginsberg. The magazine grew into a famously anarchic touring show which brought poetry, music, visual art and performance to venues all over Britain during the counterculture explosion of the 1960s. 

Since 1980 he organised a a number of Poetry Olympics events that have showcased, inventive and inspiring collaborations between poets and musicians. 

Simon Warner charts the impact of this energetic and eccentric provoker of the establishment and talks to those who have worked with him including poets Pete Brown, Roger McGough, John Hegley, Valerie Bloom and Libby Houston, musicians Laurie Morgan and Damon Albarn, and writer Barry Miles.

Produced by Sara Davies

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.

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