The Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed - Pam Ayres

THE POET LAUREATE HAS GONE TO HIS SHED - PAM AYRES (320kbs-m4a/91mb/39mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 26th February 2023

If the poets of the past sat in their garrets dipping their quills in ink, waiting for inspiration to strike, our current Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has a more mundane and domestic arrangement. From his wooden shed in the garden, surrounded on all sides by the Pennine Hills, he's been working on a new kind of poem he's invented - the Flyku - inspired by the moths and butterflies he sees around him. Any distraction is welcome, even encouraged, to talk about creativity, music, art, sheds, music, poetry and the countryside.

This week, poet, songwriter, comedienne and TV presenter Pam Ayres joins Simon in the shed. Their conversation ranges from Pam's first TV appearance on Opportunity Knocks in the '70s, to her love of performing to live audiences, writing her latest book of poems, her passion for wildlife and nature and her latest TV series The Cotswolds and Beyond with Pam Ayres.

Produced by Susan Roberts

The Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed - Lucy Beaumont

THE POET LAUREATE HAS GONE TO HIS SHED - LUCY BEAUMONT (320kbs-m4a/112mb/49mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 12th February 2023

If the poets of the past sat in their garrets dipping their quills in ink, waiting for inspiration to strike, our current poet laureate, Simon Armitage, has a more mundane and domestic arrangement. From his wooden shed in the garden, surrounded on all sides by the Pennine Hills, he's been working on a new kind of poem he's invented - the Flyku - inspired by the moths and butterflies he sees around him. Any distraction is welcome, even encouraged, to talk about creativity, music, art, sheds, music, poetry and the countryside.

This week, writer, actress and stand-up comedian Lucy Beaumont joins Simon in the shed. Their conversation ranges from the differences in their Yorkshire accents - Lucy grew up in Hull, Simon in the village of Marsden, to writing comedy for TV and radio, appearing on panel shows and working with her husband Jon Richardson on their reality show Meet the Richardsons.

Produced by Susan Roberts

The Poet Laureate Has GoneTto His Shed - Ian McKellen

THE POET LAUREATE HAS GONE TO HIS SHED - IAN MCKELLEN (320kbs-m4a/140mb/61mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 5th February 2023

If the poets of the past sat in their garrets dipping their quills in ink, waiting for inspiration to strike, our current Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has a more mundane and domestic arrangement. From his wooden shed in the garden, surrounded on all sides by the Pennine Hills, he's been working on a new kind of poem he's invented - the Flyku - inspired by the moths and butterflies he sees around him. Any distraction is welcome, even encouraged, to talk about creativity, music, art, sheds, music, poetry and the countryside.

To kick off the new series, Sir Ian McKellen, whose acting career spans seven decades joins Simon to talk about everything from his early childhood in Wigan, creating the character of Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, remembering Shakespearian lines and getting an Elvish tattoo.

Produced by Susan Roberts

The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed - HRH Prince Charles

THE POET LAUREATE HAS GONE TO HIS SHED - HRH PRINCE CHARLES (320kbs-m4a/143mb/62mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 28th August 2021

For a special finale to the current series, Simon Armitage travels to Wales to talk to HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales in his Welsh home, Llwynywermod, in Llandovery. Swapping his shed in the Pennines for a barn beside the Brecon Beacons, Simon weaves the conversation around themes of creativity, inspiration and nature. He speaks to The Prince of Wales about the flora and fauna of their surroundings, his passion for conservation, the music of Wagner, and the former Poet Laureate Ted Hughes. At one point, the doors of the big barn are thrown open and Prince Charles takes Simon through a series of hay meadows that surround the former farm, pointing out the trees that have been planted since he took over the property, including the maple trees used to line the aisle of Westminster Abbey for Prince William's wedding to Kate Middleton.

The Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed - JK Rowling

THE POET LAUREATE HAS GONE TO HIS SHED - JK ROWLING (320kbs-m4a/140mb/61mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 24th July 2021

Joanne Rowling, known as JK Rowling, is known globally for writing one of the best selling book series in history. Harry Potter and his classmates now have their firm place in the collective imagination of a generation of readers. She also writes crime fiction under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

In the shed, Jo Rowling discusses the joys and the pains of writing with fellow author Simon Armitage, explaining how she picked up a pen to start again after the huge success of her first series. She discusses myths and the truths that have grown up around the books, including the idea that she conceived the idea for the Harry Potter series while on a delayed train from Manchester to London.

Jo brings a very special 'show and tell' into the shed when she gives Simon the chance to dip into her very first notebooks, never before shown publicly, which she used to collect early ideas that might end up in a first Potter book, including the names of the pupils in Harry's class.

The seven-year period that followed saw the death of her mother, birth of her first child, divorce from her first husband, and relative poverty until the first novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was published in 1997. There were six further books in the series, of which the last was released in 2007. Since then, Jo has written several books for adult readers: The Casual Vacancy (2012) and - under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith - the crime-fiction Cormoran Strike series. She has lived a "rags to riches" life in which she progressed from living on benefits to being one of the best- selling writers of all time, giving away much of her earnings to charity.

Produced by Susan Roberts

The Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed - Johnny Marr

THE POET LAUREATE HAS GONE TO HIS SHED - JOHNNY MARR (320kbs-m4a/136mb/59mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 3rd July 2021

If the poets of the past sat in their garrets dipping their quills in ink and waiting for inspiration to strike, our current Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has a more mundane and domestic arrangement. From his wooden shed in the garden, surrounded on all sides by the Pennine Hills and the Pennine weather, this summer he's working on a set of haikus inspired by the landscape around him and the people who drop by.

Any distraction is welcome, even encouraged, to talk about poetry, creativity, music, art, sheds, sherry, music and the countryside.

To kick off the new series Johnny Marr, who first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of The Smiths, takes the trip over the Pennines from Manchester to visit the shed, along with his new twelve-string guitar. In a conversation punctuated by snatches of Smiths songs, Johnny Marr talks about his life in music and gives the Poet Laureate, a huge fan of The Smiths, a private run-through of chord sequences from his back catalogue.

Producer Susan Roberts.