The Verb

How do you write a fight? Ian McMillan and Hollie McNish are joined by Ross Sutherland, Ben Crystal, Willy Vlautin and Theresa Lola to talk about punching with a pen.

Willy Vlautin is an American novelist and musician. He is the lead singer for Richmond Fontaine, and his latest novel 'Don't Skip out on Me' (Faber), follows a young man who dreams of being a championship boxer.

The poet Ross Sutherland has written a brand new commission for The Verb inspired by the Jackie Chan film 'Rumble in the Bronx'

Hollie McNish introduces Theresa Lola, a British Nigerian poet and workshop facilitator. Based in London, Theresa hosts 'The Rhythm And Poetry Party', an evening of hip-hop-inspired poems and hip-hop song.

The Shakespearean actor and producer Ben Crystal explains how to bring alive a fight scene from page to stage, showing us how the seeds of physical combat are often sown into the fabric of the play without us necessarily knowing.

Producer: Cecile Wright

January is a month of resolutions and fresh starts, of gyms and diets. This week Ian McMillan and guests tackle the language of Wellbeing and Self-Care.

Poets are not generally known for their physical prowess, but in George Szirtes new collection 'Thirty Poets Go To The Gym' (Candlestick). What happens when famous poets from Lord Byron to John Berryman and from Emily Dickinson to Elizabeth Bishop try to get into shape?

What are the strongest influences on the ways we chose to live our lives? Does taking care of someone meaning letting them take care of themselves? These issues are at the heart of Kendall Feaver's new play 'The Almighty Sometimes', starring Julie Hesmondhalgh. Julie discusses her role with Ian, and also examines what wellbeing means to an actor.

The poet Melissa Lee-Houghton won the Somerset Maugham Award for her debut collection 'Sunshine' (Penned in the Margins), an intensely personal collection dealing with her experience of abuse, addiction and mental health issues. Melissa discusses how she protects herself when publishing such personal work.

Producer: Cecile Wright

Ian McMillan and Hollie McNish present the best in new poetry. Joining them this week are Remi Adefesysian, Jenni Fagan, Kerry Andrew and Danez Smith

Presenter: Ian McMillan

On the programme this week, linguist David Crystal is looking at pronunciation - what does is mean to have a 'friendly accent'? Inspired by David's writing is a brand new poem from Mike Garry which plays with 'Approximants' - consonants that sound like vowels and are often seen as being friendly.

In 'Spandex and the City' (Orbit), novelist Jenny Colgan finds out what happens when a romantic heroine meets a superhero, and we hear an extract from 'Lord Fox', a collaboration between the writer Kirsty Logan, harpist Esther Swift and songwriter Kirsty Law

Presenter: Ian McMillan

The Verb welcomes January's fresh starts and clear-outs with poems on empty drawers and new beginnings. Ron Padgett, Hollie McNish, Laurie Bolger, Lennox Cato and Harry Giles join Ian McMillan.

Joining Ian McMillan for a sci-fi themed Christmas party are Carol Ann Duffy, Hollie McNish, Abandoman, Paul Magrs, Katy Manning and Verb New Voice Laura Potts.

How has the scrolling we do on social media changed writers and readers, and what does it have in common with ancient scrolls? Join Ian McMillan as he uses the power of poetry and performance to answer these questions - with the actor and writer David Schneider, poet Ira Lightman, artist Vicki Bennett, and scroll unrollers Roberta Mazza and Richard Gameson.

This week on The Verb we're looking at writing mentors. How much different can a mentor make, how can we learn from their writing, and what kind of language should a mentor use?

Joining Ian is the comedian Margaret Cho, who was profoundly influenced by her friend and mentor Joan Rivers. Margaret is a groundbreaking American comic who has been Emmy and Grammy nominated five times, hosts the podcast 'Monsters of Talk' and is currently on tour with her latest stand-up show 'Fresh Off The Boat'.

Tim X Atack is a composer and sound designer who works across film, music and theatre; we commissioned him to create a audio piece inspired by the classical myth of Mentor and Athena.

The award winning poet Sarah Howe explores mentoring in the world of poetry.

This week Hollie McNish introduces us to the poetry of Rosy Carrick - who has been influenced by the Russian poet Mayakovsky.

Producer: Faith Lawrence.

Ian McMillan presents a special extended edition of Radio 3's The Verb recorded as part of Contains Strong Language, a season of poetry and performance from Hull, UK City of Culture 2017.

Ian McMillan is joined by a host of spoken word talent to celebrate the story of spoken-word performance in the UK on the 35th anniversary of 'Apples and Snakes'.

John Agard has been performing spoken word across the UK for over 30 years. His poem celebrates the Voice as he reminds us that 'Shakespeare was a performance poet'. Hannah Silva is an innovative playwright and performer, who presents a brand new poem. In this piece, specially commissioned by Apples and Snakes to celebrate their 35th anniversary, Hannah digs around in their archives to find poetic inspiration.

The Verb has also commissioned new work, a collaborative piece by SLAMbassadors UK founder Joelle Taylor and Zena Edwards. 'I remember you' examines the political history of spoken word. We also hear from Grace Nichols who brings a carnival spirit to the proceedings, Yomi Sode who takes us back to his awkward teenage years, and Dizraeli reads brand new work addressing toxic masculinity.

Apples and Snakes have also commissioned collaborative work from London based poet and grime artist Debris Stevenson and Hull's very own breakout grime star Chiedu Oraka.

John Hegley's first public performance was in Hull many years ago, so it's only fitting that he returns to the city to celebrate the birthday of Apples and Snakes, who have been an important part of his career for the past 35 years.

And there were so many fantastic performances at this Contains Strong Language event that we couldn't fit them all into the broadcast edition of the show, download our podcast to hear extra performances from all our guests and an extra podcast only appearance from poet and rapper TY and a brand new collaboration, commissioned by Apples and Snakes between Yomi Sode and Dizraeli.

Presenter: Ian McMillan

What does it mean to live a Stoic life in 2017? With the current resurgence of interest in Stoic ideas,, The Verb investigates.

Helping Ian is the philosopher Angie Hobbs, technology writer Tom Chatfield, Coralie Bickford Smith, Ned Boulting and John Osborne.

Producer: Faith Lawrence.