The Verb

This week The Verb goes to the Circus where it uncovers the darker side of the Victorian fair and the extraordinary language used to tell the stories of the living exhibits of the Freak Show with ringmaster extraordinaire Norman Barrett, historian John Woolf, writer Rosie Garland and poet Keith Hutson.Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Cecile Wright

Ian McMillan explores German poetry after the fall of the Berlin Wall – with two of Germany’s most celebrated and groundbreaking poets Durs Grünbein and Nora Gomringer. He is also joined by Professor Karen Leeder who’s explored the ways in which contemporary German literature is ‘haunted’ by the GDR, and by Ira Lightman who reads a new poem haunted by Rainer Maria Rilke – the German language poet most often translated into English - and a translation of one of Durs' poems.Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Faith Lawrence

Part of the BBC's year-long celebration of books, The Verb looks at the way the language of novels inspires writers.Joining Ian McMillan to champion the books that have inspired them are Tim Minchin, Kit De Waal, Elif Shafak and Geoff Dyer.Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Faith Lawrence

This week The Verb examines the idea of 'Alone', whether it means revelling in solitude or drowning in loneliness. Joining Ian are debut novelist Okechukwu Nzelu, whose 'The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney' examines finding yourself and where you belong, and Will Taylor who will be presenting an excerpt of his audio drama 'Black Boys Cry', produced as part of the BBC's New Creatives scheme. DJ Taylor takes us on a tour of the loneliest characters, place and sentences in literature, as well as an examination of the 'The Lost Girls' - the subject of his new book, and there's a specially commissioned sound piece from Kate Carr.Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Jessica Treen

Ian McMillan with writing inspired by molluscs (snails, slugs, and cockles) - he's joined by the novelist Jill Dawson on Patricia Highsmith's pet snails, poets Isabel Galleymore and Kate Fox, and Richard Gameson on the mystery of snail battles in the margins of medieval manuscripts.

This week, Ian McMillan and the guests shoot for the moon.Ian is joined by Ocean Vuong, winner of the 2017 TS Eliot prize for 'Night Sky with Exit Wounds', who has just published his first novel 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' (Cape). Ocean celebrates his favourite recent moon writing by Mojave American poet Natalie Diaz. We also her from Mary Jean Chan, who has just published her debut collection 'Flèche'. As it's our last programme of The Verb season before we take our summer break, we've brought together our Verb regulars from the past year - poets Ira Lightman and Kate Fox and linguist Rob Drummond. Together they be considering how man walking on the moon 50 years ago has changed our language and our relationship with the moon, and there will be brand new poetry from both Kate and Ira.Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Jessica Treen

The 'feel' of another language and the impact of its sound is hard to convey in translation. Are there ways to be more faithful to the visceral experience of a prose piece or a poem? Or should we be questioning the idea that a translator can or should be faithful? Rowan Williams discusses the 'verbal spring' of the iconic Welsh bard Taliesin and the work attributed to him, novelist Adam Thirlwell and Palestinian writer Adania Shibli explore the pleasures and possibilities of simultaneous translation and performance, and Sophie Collins shares her experience of translating (from the Dutch) Lieke Marsman's poetry.Producer: Faith Lawrence Presenter: Ian McMillan

What kind of writing and behaviour gets called 'vulgar' and how does 'vulgar' relate to the word 'common'? The Verb explores the power of both words: their power to hurt and shame, the way they help, hinder and enlighten us - and asks whether we can do without them.Poets Philip Gross, Jacqueline Saphra, Heather Phillipson (the next artist to be curating the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square) and writer Cathy Rentzenbrink join Ian McMillan.Producer: Faith Lawrence Presenter: Ian McMillan

This week The Verb is live at The Aldeburgh Festival in Snape Maltings. Joining Ian and a studio audience are Lavinia Greenlaw, Fiona Sampson and Mark Padmore.Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Faith Lawrence

This week The Verb comes from The Hay Festival, recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Tent.Ian's guests are the writer John Lanchester on his new dystopian novel 'The Wall' (Faber), poet Hannah Sullivan who recently won the TS Eliot Prize for her debut collection 'Three Poems' (Faber), comedian and 'Mash Report' star Rachel Parris on the art of the musical parody and Nina Stibbe whose novel 'Reasons to Be Cheerful was awarded The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction.Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Jessica Treen