The Verb

Our annual trip to the BBC Tent at the Hay Festival is one of the highlights of the Verb calendar. This week Ian McMillan is joined by just a few of the fantastic writers who are keeping the spirit of the festival alive with Digital Hay Festival, which runs until the 31st May 2020. Ian's guests are Inua Ellams, who will be performing from his show 'An Evening with An Immigrant', a personal story - and updating it to reflect impact of the global pandemic. James Shapiro discusses his latest book 'Shakespeare in a Divided America', and Kapka Kassbova reads from 'To the Lake'. And finally we're joined by the director of the Hay Festival, Peter Florence, on how they hope to preserve some of the magic of the festival in the digital space. For information on how to take part in the digital festival please visit the Hay website: hayfestival.com/homePresenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Cecile Wright

How have humans interpreted and been inspired by birdsong? Ian is joined by musician and song collector Sam Lee, who discusses the magic that happens on his annual Singing with Nightingale walks, TS Eliot award winning poet Jen Hadfield on the birds of her beloved Shetland and Richard Smyth, author of 'A Sweet Wild Note' reminds us that birdsong really has very little to do with music.Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Cecile Wright

This week The Verb is considering language, reflection and mirrors. There's a brand new commission from our palindromic poet regular Ira Lightman and joining us from San Francisco is Rebecca Solnit on her new memoir 'Recollections of my non-existence' (Granta)Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Cecile Wright

Ian McMillan is joined by guests Alan Titchmarsh and Patience Agbabi and there's the first in a brand new series of Verb Dramas. Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Cecile Wright

This week, Ian McMillan is joined from a distance by his guests, who are all in their own homes. Together they discuss the changing language we are all using as we try to keep friendships alive whilst isolating. There's a brand new poem from Kate Fox, advice from someone used to working alone from A.L Kennedy, John Carey takes us through some poetry that might hold solace for us, Caroline Bird reads a poem that is helping her, and Boo Hewerdine performs a song commissioned especially for The VerbPresenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Cecile Wright

Ian McMillan explores African writing with Maaza Mengiste, Ekow Eshun, Jennifer Makumbi and Ellah Wakatama.Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Cecile Wright

This week, the late-night language lock-in is feeling uncertain with Shaun Usher, Jo Neary and Jude Rogers.

When the world changes suddenly - how do we know what to abandon and what to keep? William Gibson, Don Paterson, Caro C, and Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún explore the writing of obsolescence with Ian McMillan.The iconic 1960s television series 'The Twilight Zone' is replete with sudden ruptures to daily life -Don Paterson explains how he used the series to write poems that explore our relationship with obsolescence. Sound artist and composer Caro C shares a new commission for The Verb, the novelist famed for conceiving 'cyberspace', William Gibson, considers the disappearance of the future, and Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún explains why he strives to give Nigerian English and the Yoruba language a technological presence. Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Faith Lawrence

Ian McMillan asks where poetry and philosophy meet - with guests Raymond Antrobus and Helen Mort.

Ian McMillan explores the language of leaving, resettling and exile with songwriter Ana Silvera and poets John McAuliffe, Igor Klikovac, Mina Gorji, and André Naffis-Sahely.