The Verb

with Iain Sinclair, Kate Fox, Sam Illingworth and Marilyn Hacker

The Verb celebrates Orkney and the work of George Mackay Brown in his centenary year. One of Scotland's greatest 20th century writers, George Mackay Brown was a poet, novelist, columnist and chronicler of Orcadian life.

Ian McMillan is joined this week by the novelist James Robertson who is fascinated by 'time' in George Mackay Brown's work and has said his writing is 'full of beautiful sentences, big ideas, mischievous comedy, powerful tragedy and, again and again, simple observations that make you pause and say, yes, that’s it, that’s how it is'. James' most recent novel 'News of the Dead' also explores time.

Alison Miller is National Library of Scotland and Orkney Library & Archive's Scots Scriever - she shares her love of George Mackay Brown's poem 'Them at Isbister' which appears in 'The Storm and other Poems', his first collection. Alison invites listeners to contact BBC Radio Orkney if they have a copy; only 250 were printed and she is part of a project to track as many down as possible ( [email protected]).

Josie Giles has just published a verse novel called 'Deep Wheel Orcadia' which has Orcadian dialect at its heart. 'Deep Wheel Orcadia' itself is described as 'a distant space station struggling for survival as the pace of change threatens to leave the community behind'. Josie reads poetry in Orcadian dialect and in English translation and explains how the English has been made less transparent.

Artist Anne Bevan grew up in Orkney and George Mackay Brown was a family friend. She reads letters from two 'fairies' ( Moonbeam and Rosebud) which George wrote for her when she was a child, and reads the poem he dedicated to her when she was at art school. Anne explains how he still inspires her art. http://www.annebevan.co.uk/

Ian McMillan talks to Margaret Atwood and Alice Oswald about how we write poetry, and their own process, the natural world, time, and the possibilities of myth.

Ian McMillan is joined by former US Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey, the poet Louise Fazackerley, linguist Deborah Cameron and singer Kathryn Williams to explore the language that feeds into domestic violence, and the images, myths and fairy stories that can help us cope with it, and prevent it.

Natasha Trethewey Natasha is a former US poet Laureate and a Pulitzer Prize winner. She brings tenderness, compassion, and forensic attention to language in her new memoir ‘Memorial Drive’ (Memorial Drive), an account of growing up with violence in the home, and of her mother’s killing at the hands of her stepfather. Natasha explores the layers of silence that surround intimate violence – the way children’s speech is often disregarded, even if they overcome their own silencing.

Kathryn Williams Kathryn Williams is one of the most subtle singer-songwriters of her generation, crafting songs which balance strength and delicacy. Here she performs a special rendition of ‘Wolf’ from her album ‘Old Low Light’ ,recorded in lockdown, and speaks about the circumstances that inspired it for the first time. Kathryn’s back catalogue is available in the limited edition ‘Anthology’.

Louise Fazackerley Louise was one of The Verb’s New Voices in 2014 – and her work has never shied away from difficult territory – described by one reviewer as razor-sharp and visceral, she is also a brilliant performer of her work. Louise reads ‘Women’s Refuge’ from the collection ‘Bird St’ and an extract from her new collection ‘The Lolitas’ (Verve Poetry Press) .

Deborah Cameron Professor Deborah Cameron researches language and communication at the University of Oxford – she has a blog called 'Language: a feminist guide' – recent posts include commentary on dieting, the word ‘lad’ and the ‘tone’ of voice ascribed to women https://debuk.wordpress.com/ . She is the author of ‘The Myth of Mars and Venus’.

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