Poetry at the BBC

The BBC website has plenty of poetry related programme, archives and resources. Here's just a small selection of what we recommend from the extensive choice out there. Not all the links feature work from Northern Irish poems, but if you're a fan of poetry, there should still be plenty to rouse your interest.

SITES
Out Loud 
A small selection from the archives of poets reading their own works, with Heaney, Plath, Auden, Hughes, Cope and more.

Has poetry distorted our view of World War I? 
Written by Ian McMillan, this minisite starts with Wilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum Est, and using the poem at a jumping off point.  “It is easy to assume that the powerful words of this young man from Shropshire captured the true experience of the war. But is that assumption right? Or has our focus on poems like Owen's distorted our view of the war?”

Poetry Season 
From 2009, with interviews, classic poems, writing guides, and readings, featuring Carol Ann Duffy, Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes, Pghilip Larkin, Sylvia Plath, Stevie Smith, Dylan Thomas and many others. TS Eliot was voted the Nation's Favourite Poet at the time, with John Donne second, and Benjamin Zephaniah third.


GSCE Bitesize - Poetry Slideshows
Readings of poems from the school syllabus. Categories include pre and post War poetry, poems from different cultures, character and voice, place, and relationships. Also of interest is Seamus Heaney reading 'Digging

BBC Radio 3's Poetry Library

Seamus Heaney reading ‘Digging’


PROGRAMMES
Letters to a Young PoetTaking Rilke's classic correspondence as inspiration, five leading poets write personal letters to a young poet. (click on the arrow buttons to scroll through the programmes)

Poetry Idol 
Poetry has always had an essential role to play in Arab literature, and the tradition is thriving in unexpected ways. Shahidha Bari travels to Abu Dhabi to join the audience of 'Million's Poet', a massive televised competition to find the best poet in the Middle East.

Ask Me - The Poetry of William Stafford
William Stafford's achievement is extraordinary. He wrote more than 20,000 poems, of which more than 4,000 have been published, in more than 80 books and 2,000 periodicals. But it is the quality of his work that distinguishes him. Stafford was the poetry consultant to the Library of Congress - the post that became the Poet Laureate of the United States, for years he was Oregon's Laureate and he won the National Book Award.

Building Sights - Series 4 - Humber Bridge
First transmitted in 1996, the poet Simon Armitage finds inspiration in the Humber Bridge, then the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Desert Island Discs
You can find a list of all the poets archived on DID here. Here's just a few of our favourites. 
Seamus Heaney
Philip Larkin
C Day Lewis

The Verb
Radio 3's cabaret of the word, featuring the best poetry, new writing and performances.

Poetry Please
Roger McGough presents a weekly selection of favourite poetry requested by listeners.