Boo Hewerdine, Fiona Benson, Alison Binney, Yvonne Lyon, Eartoon

Ian McMillan welcomes poetry about fathers, songs celebrating the things that fall out of books, and a poetic investigation into the women who were labelled witches, with guests Alison Binney, Boo Hewerdine, Yvonne Lyon, and Fiona Benson. Ian also presents a new Eartoon (our cartoon for the ear ) which celebrates the quirks of phrasal Verbs written by Stagedoor Johnny (aka Richard Poynton).

Alison Binney explores what it means to have a parent with dementia in a new collection called 'The Opposite of Swedish Death Cleaning' (Seren). Alison is an English teacher and PGCE course tutor - her debut pamphlet is 'Other Women's Kitchens'.

Boo Hewerdine and Yvonne Lyons' new album is called 'Things that Fall out of Books' - they're performing their new songs in multiple venues across the UK in July and August - https://www.yvonnelyonmusic.com/events/

'Middenwitch' is Fiona Benson's new poetry collection and is a Poetry Book Society Summer Choice. Her poems illuminate the lives of the women who were the victims of superstitions about witches, and examines the societies who deal with fear of illness and other misfortunes by blaming outsiders.

Our Eartoon (a cartoon for the ear) this week delights in the seemingly arbitrary and confusing nature of phrasal Verbs. This is the latest episode in our series by Stagedoor Johnny 'Richard Poynton' in which he offers an origin myth for the English Language.