The Verb

Ian McMillan and guests explore writing about insects and insect-language – including the way insect aliens are depicted in science fiction. Will Burns and Hannah Peel celebrate moths in a new sound commission, poet Elizabeth-Jane Burnett shares work-in-progress, linguist Rob Drummond explores Ursula Le Guin and Doctor Who, entomologist Richard Jones explains why he is happy to call himself 'Bugman', and editor Michael Schmidt celebrates the Australian poet Les Murray.

The Verb explores the pleasure and possibility of 'the gap', including line-breaks, spaces between words, and gaps in our understanding - with Linda Grant, Ira Lightman, Fiona Moore and Emma Smith.Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Faith Lawrence

In an extended interview, the Booker Prize winning poet and novelist Michael Ondaatje sits down with Ian McMillan to discuss the pleasure of naming characters, dark houses as settings, listeners in his fiction, his re-shaping of forms, and the enduring inspiration of music, along with other aspects of his writing process.Michael is best known for his critically acclaimed novel, 'The English Patient', turned into an Oscar winning film starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, and now on the shortlist for the Golden Man Booker Prize - celebrating the past 50 years of winners. One of the most important musical ideas that informs Michael's work comes from the jazz musician Ornette Coleman - who said that 'you begin with the territory and what follows is the adventure'. Ian riffs off the 'territory' outlined in Michael's rich and sensuous poem 'Death at Kataragama', and uses its themes to inspire an adventure through his books - starting with his first novel 'Coming Through Slaughter' and including his seventh, 'Warlight' (Cape), set in the aftermath of World War Two.In this programme, Michael reads 'Death at Kataragama' from his poetry collection 'Handwriting' (Cape), from his novels 'Warlight', 'The English Patient', 'Coming Through Slaughter', and from his memoir 'Running in the Family'. We also hear extracts from 'In the Skin of a Lion' and his afterword to 'The Collected Works of Billy the Kid'.Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Faith Lawrence

This week The Verb is looking at modern retelling and remixing of ancient stories. Jenny Lewis discusses her book 'Gilgamesh Retold' (Carcanet), Fiona Benson explains why Zeus is at the heart of her new collection 'Vertigo & Ghost' (Cape), there's new poetry from Richard Scott and Jack Bernhardt is off to Sherwood Forest, Hollywood style. Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Faith Lawrence

The Verb explores footnotes, ironic detective fiction, poem-spells, satire, sound loops and neologisms - and the way they can all be used to fight sexist language - in honour of International Women's Day.Ian's guests are the writer and sociologist Professor Ann Oakley, who popularised the word 'gender' in the 1970s, and founded the Social Science Research Unit at the UCL Institute of Education, the novelist and critic Dr Siri Hustvedt on her new novel 'Memories of the Future', the poet Salena Godden on her new collection 'Pessimism is for Lightweights: 13 Pieces of Courage and Resistance' - and he presents brand new work from sound artist and composer Ingrid Plum.Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Faith Lawrence

Ian McMillan explores what happens when writers have to shift their thoughts and feelings into a second language. Novelist Patrick McGuinness argues that he can 'feel more than he can say in French, and say more than he can feel in English', Nick Makoha brings us a new poetry commission inspired by leaving Uganda (and three languages behind) when he was only four. We also hear about the 'Polish Sappho' - the groundbreaking poet Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska who moved to Blackpool during the Second World War, and Heather Dohollau (who was born in Wales , but became an acclaimed poet in French). And our returning guest, the poet Kate Fox skewers that the familiar trope of the book blurb - the writer who 'divides their time' by choice - between two equally glamorous locations.

Ian McMillan looks at language after dark and writing about nightlife with guests Dave Haslam, Geraldine Quigley, Rachael Young and Chris Green. Dave Haslam is a writer, broadcaster and Dj and the author of 'Life After Dark', a comprehensive history of nightlife in Britain. Geraldine Quigley's debut novel 'Music Love Drugs War' follows a group of young friends trying to have a good time against the background of the troubles in Derry, Theater Maker Rachael Young examines both the good and the bad sides of going out in her piece 'Nightclubbing', and there's brand new work from Christopher Green on his love of dancing. Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Cecile Wright

Ian McMillan celebrates the bicentenary of writer, artist and critic John Ruskin, alongside US fiction writer Kristen Roupenian (author of 'Cat Person' - a story which went viral after being published in The New Yorker), Professor Dinah Birch, and Sarala Estruch. He also introduces a new commission inspired by Ruskin's fascination with geology (a collaboration between the musician Sonic Pleasure and Verb regular, the poet Ira Lightman).

Ian McMillan gets into the subjunctive mood with brand new writing from Toby Litt, a new poetry commission from Holly Pester, on the subjunctive in welsh with Menna Elfyn and Rob Drummond explains why the subjunctive is dying out amongst the young...Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Cecile Wright

The Verb this week is an extended conversation with the poet, editor, mentor, teacher and aphorist Don Paterson. Don Paterson first came to prominence in the early 90s, winning the Forward Poetry Prize for Best First Collection for ‘Nil Nil’ in 1993. The following year he was selected as one of the Poetry Society’s ‘New Generation Poets’ alongside contemporaries such as Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy, Kathleen Jamie and his friend and mentor Michael Donaghy. He has published nine collections of poems, two of which have been awarded the TS Eliot Prize; God’s Gift to Women in 1997, and again in 2003 for Landing Light. He was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2010. He also teaches at the University of St Andrews and is the Poetry editor at Picador. In a 45-minute conversation, Ian takes a forensic look at Don Paterson’s language map. They discuss the concept of the ‘true poem, the relationship between inspiration and spontaneity, where the impulse to write a poem comes from – and when to give up on a poem.We hear a close examination of poetic language as Don considers ‘the dance between vowels and consonants’, the weight of an ending, his love of an ellipsis. Don also explains why he dislikes poems set to music, and why you shouldn’t worry too much about your poetic voice…Don Paterson’s latest publication is his book of New and Collected Aphorisms, ‘The Fall at Home’. This book, and all his collections of poetry are published by Faber. Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Cecile Wright