The Verb

Ian McMillan welcomes the Canadian poet and novelist Margaret Atwood, who joins The Verb from wild woods north of Toronto, to share poems from her new collection ‘Dearly’ and to explore the preoccupations that link her poetry and fiction: what it means to have a body, our increasingly precarious relationship with the natural world, the Canadian sensibility, and the way we are caught in time like ‘mice in molasses’. Margaret reads from her iconic novel ‘The Handmaid's Tale’ and takes us back through the layers of her own past, to a time in her early childhood when she started to tell her own stories, and write plays – about strange alien creatures, and a giant that gets squashed by the moon.

Ian talks to Maggie Gee about her new novel The Red Children. It's a fascinating take on migration which mixes humour with magic - and she tells us why she sought to avoid simplistic villains in a story that so often makes the headlines. Carmen Marcus tells us about her poetry collection and podcast the Catch and its distinctly personal link to the sea. She explains how the discovery of a letter from her father set her on a course to understand the changing fishing communities of her childhood home Redcar. And a maritime classic - we assess a defining keystone of the American imagination, that unforgettable story of a denizen of the deep pitted against man's hubris - Free Willy. Whoops - Moby Dick, sorry. Professor Hester Blum of Penn State University is editing the new edition and she explains why it's weighty reputation can undermine its extraordinary playfulness. And comedy writer Madeleine Brettingham stands at the shoreline and considers if a house at the beach will automatically make her enigmatic and interesting. Presented by Ian McMillan. Produced by Kevin Core

Ian McMillan is joined by poet Lucy Mercer whose latest collection is inspired by 16th-century emblems, behavioural scientist Nick Chater whose book The Language Game explores the development of language and conversation, debut novelist Tice Cin whose book Keeping the House tells the story of a Turkish Cypriot family in north London, and poet Glyn Maxwell with a newly commissioned work.

Ian McMillan's cabaret of the word, featuring the best poetry, new writing and performance

In 2002 a new radio programme was born. It was almost called 'Saturday Speakeasy', but Radio 3 finally settled on 'The Verb'. This is our twentieth anniversary programme, so as you might expect it's packed with energetic language-play, poetry, and prose, and with five new commissions, as we reflect on the ways in which writing and performance have changed in the last two decades, and ask what might happen over the next twenty years. Ian's guests are poets Kate Fox, Malika Booker, Ira Lightman, Luke Wright, Cia Mangat (who was born the same year as The Verb), and novelist Toby Litt. We also present a piece of mystery audio which stars the award-winning poet Joelle Taylor.As if that's not enough for one week, in this episode we launch a brand new recurring feature called 'Something Old, Something New' celebrating the BBC's role in commissioning and broadcasting poetry over the last hundred years. In each programme over the next year we'll be sharing a remarkable poem from the archive, and a contemporary poet will present a new commission. This week you can hear the Irish icon and public poet W.B.Yeats reading his poem 'Song of the Old Mother' in 1935, and our contemporary poet is Luke Wright; he reads a poem called 'Covehithe Beach'.

The Verb, Ian McMillan's weekly foray into writing and language examines the appeal of risk and chance. Risk is inherent to writing every time you put words on paper; whether it's risk in the use of form, or language, or subject matter. It's the risk a writer takes when they expose their own lives or the lives of others in their writing. Booker prize winning author DBC Pierre talks about his latest book 'Big Snake, Little Snake: An Inquiry into Gambling and Life'; Hannah Silva on the unpredictability of collaborating with an A-I algorithm for her latest play; poet and novelist Helen Mort, who's always been drawn to the thrill and risk of rock climbing, examines how the world views women who aren't afraid to take risks in her new book 'A Line Above the Sky' and poet Will Harris examines the role of the chance encounter in literature.Producer: Cecile Wright

The Equinox is a time of change, and at a special recording for Radio 3's After Dark Festival, The Verb's master of metamorphosis Ian McMillan presents a plethora of poets from Sage Gateshead. Our contribution to this major new live music festival, it's a feast of contemporary, classical and experimental music too and you can find out more searching "After Dark Festival" in BBC Sounds. We'll have live performances from Mike Garry bringing a flavour of Manchester to the North East and we'll also be joined by local lad Rowan McCabe - who described his "door-to-door" poetry service as "like the Avon lady but with rhymes." And we'll have a performance from the ever eclectic Kate Fox as well as John Challis and Tahmina Ali. If you like your poetry live and loud The Verb at the After Dark Festival has got you covered.Presented by Ian McMillan Produced by Kevin Core

The special bond of the mother and daughter - and its complexities - are up for discussion this week. Radio 3's regular writing programme hears about the concept of being "parentified" from Warsan Shire in her new collection examining the experience of displacement endured by her family. And Ruth Padel joins us to talk about Daughters of the Labyrinth, a novel which sees central character Ri investigate a secret history. Ruth also takes us through the Cretan performance poem the Mantinades, and even gives us a rendition. Think beautiful, ancient Cretan rap battle...And Hollie McNish reads us her poem Sweet Separation about the pangs felt when a daughter begins the process of developing her independence. Hollie discusses the somehow inadequate terminology of motherhood and how we consider, or rather reject, the postpartum female body. And following the death of beloved children's author and illustrator Shirley Hughes, Lissa Evans describes an artist with a unique ability to capture the small details of children's lives and encompass them in kindness. She discusses how Shirley's work made a difference to her non-traditional family, and how adopting daughters led to an interest in the experience of wartime evacuees. Her latest book is V for Victory. Presented by Ian McMillan. Produced by Kevin Core.

On The Verb this week Ian McMillan is up for a fight. We're delving into the world of the adversary. He'll be talking to Man Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James about Moon Witch, Spider King the second book in his Dark Star Trilogy, asking why the sequel explores the psychology of a witch - a character more generally associated with evil deeds than inner motivations. Hannah Lowe, fresh from a Costa Book of the Year win for her collection The Kids, will be exploring the adversarial side of the classroom, and unveils a special commission for The Verb. Unbuckled takes us into the world of an adversarial romantic relationship - with sad echoes of the Cinderella story. And when it comes to the villain of the piece - how can you top Satan himself? The name means "adversary" in Hebrew. So we're about get Satanic with Joe Moshenska. He's published a new book, Making Darkness Light, The Lives and Times of John Milton. He'll be explaining how the poet's compelling, smooth-talking creation became the template for a new type of antihero. Look no further than Paradise Lost for your embryonic Tony Sopranos and Walter Whites.And you can't talk adversaries in literature without touching on crime. Jane Casey's new novel is called The Killing Kind. When her life is threatened defence barrister Ingrid turns to a sinister stalker she helped to exonerate for help. Where does a classic Faustian deal with the devil come in the world of adversarial writing - and how much should we root for the bad guy?Presented by Ian McMillan Produced by Kevin Core

Ian McMillan goes to the extremes this week to explore writing from the edges of time and place with Shetland based poet Jen Hadfield, John Henry Falle aka The Story Beast, Penelope Shuttle who's latest poetry collection explores Lyonesse, a lost and mythical land that once formed the land's end of Cornwall and Jon Ransom who's debut novel is a visceral and poetic story set in the wide expanses of Norfolk.