Observation | Celebration - with Ian McMillan

Hush your vuvuzela! Barnsley's own Ian McMillan lobs the keeper and helps Planet Poetry's fourth season start with a belting win.  He treats us to selections from To Fold The Evening Star, New and Selected Poems from Carcanet as well as his smith|doorstop pamphlet, Yes But What Is This? What Exactly?

Plus your podcast pals Robin Houghton and Peter Kenny strap on their boots and shin pads, and discuss everything from Spitfires to a Welsh shrine-like display for R. S. Thomas, they dip  into books by Denise Levertov, Glynn Maxwell and Han Kang,  sprinkle a few Neanderthals, a Stanza Anthology and Robin's great plunger into the mix, and... Yep! Planet Poetry is back.

Photo of Ian McMillan by Adrian Mealing

Books mentioned by Robin & Peter:
The Man Who Went into the West,  The Life of RS Thomas by Byron Rogers (Aurum 2006)
The Big Calls, Glyn Maxwell (Live Canon, 2023) The White Book, by Han Kang (Portobello Books 2018) and The Naked Neanderthal by Ludovic Slimak (Penguin 2023).