Poetry is one of the oldest forms of art and storytelling in many cultures, and one of the most vibrant.

From the song cycles of Arnhem Land to Sappho to Slam Poetry at your local pub, poetry expresses culture, emotion, ideas, memory, politics – everything – using form, rhythm, sound, image, space and above all, language. Many poets make it look easy, but is it? What makes a poem work? What tools does a poet need in their writer’s toolbox? And for readers, how can we learn to read a poem?

In this panel of poets and poetry experts Thomas H Ford, Simon West and Judith Bishop will help us unravel these and many other questions with host Claire Knowles.

Recorded on 22nd May 2024.