Poetry

101 POEMS BY 101 WOMEN

by Germanine Greer (editor)

read by Grace Dives

running time 4hrs 34mins

Germaine Greer's selection, covering a range of female preoccupations, begins in the sixteenth century and ends at the present day.

40 SONNETS

by Don Paterson

read by Bob Rollett

running time 45mins

In this series of sonnets, some take a traditional form and some are highly experimental. What these poems share is a lyrical intelligence and musical gift that has always been visible in Paterson’s work.

THE AGE OF ANXIETY: A BAROQUE ECLOGUE

by W H Auden

read by Bob Rollett

running time 4hrs

When it was first published in 1947 'The Age of Anxiety', W H Auden's last, longest, and most ambitious poem, immediately struck a powerful chord, capturing the imagination of the cultural moment that it diagnosed and named. This annotated, critical edition of the poem, introduces this important work to a new generation of readers by putting it in historical and biographical context and elucidating its difficulties.

BEE JOURNAL

by Sean Borodale

read by Bob Rollett

running time 1hr 30mins

This is a startlingly original poem-journal of beekeeping that chronicles the life of the hive. It observes the living architecture of the comb, the range and locality of the colony; its flights, flowers, water sources, parasites, lives and deaths. Because of its genesis as a working journal, there is here an unusual intimacy and scrutiny of life and death in nature.

CALL US WHAT WE CARRY

by Amanda Gorman

read by Amanda Gorman

running time 3hrs 30mins

Harnessing the collective grief of a global pandemic, these seventy poems shine a light on a moment of reckoning and reveal that Gorman has become our messenger from the past, our voice for the future. Includes The Hill We Climb.

DAMBURST OF DREAMS

by Christopher Nolan

read by Andrew Burt

running time 4hrs

A collection of the unique writings of Christy Nolan, who has never been able to speak or control his movements. His remarkable talent was only released when he was introduced to a muscular relaxant drug which has given him sufficient control to compose with a processor, manipulated by a 'unicorn' stick attached to his head.

ECHOES OF MEMORY

by John O'Donoghue

read by James Murphy

running time 1hr

In this powerful, evocative collection of poems, John O'Donohue explores themes of love and loss, beginnings and endings. Inspired by the ancient wisdom of the Celtic tradition and the rugged, majestic landscape of his birth, the west of Ireland, he creates a unique vision of a place and time, and the echo of a memory that will never fade.

FALLING AWAKE

by Alice Oswald

read by Gill Wilsher

running time 1hr 10mins

Mutability – a sense that all matter is unstable in the face of mortality – is at the heart of this collection, and each poem is involved in that drama. Costa Poetry Award Winner 2016

GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS - SELECTION OF POEMS

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

read by Oliver Bernard

running time 1hr

Selected poems by the 19th century English Poet.

THE HEART OF THINGS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF MEMORY AND LAMENT

by Richard Holloway

read by Alan Bowen

running time 4hrs 30mins

Richard Holloway is one of our most beloved public thinkers. As Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church he put principle over Church policy to advocate for gay rights and women in the priesthood. He never shied away from confronting his own doubts and fears, whether questioning his own faith, or facing the inevitability of death. Across numerous bestselling books he has been a radical voice of compassion and realism, helping us navigate the hectic modern world. Throughout his life Richard has turned to poets and writers to help answer the big questions, and for solace and guidance in the face of life's challenges. Now in The Heart of Things he shares those poems and words which have been his own guide, offered in the hope they will help us too.

I AM THE SEED THAT GREW THE TREE: A NATURE POEM FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR

by Fiona Waters (editor)

read by Katherine Shaw

running time 4hrs

A beautiful and unusual selection of 366 nature poems - one for every day of the year, including leap years. Filled with familiar favourites and new discoveries, they are written by a wide variety of poets, for children and adults to enjoy together.

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS

by Apollonius Of Rhodes

read by David Timson

running time 6hrs 45mins

Jason and the Argonauts is the only surviving full account of Jason's voyage on the Argo in quest of the Golden Fleece, aided by the sorceress princess Medea. Written in the Hellenistic period, this epic story of one of the most beloved heroes of Greek mythology, with its combination of the fantastical and the real, winged heroes and a magical vessel that speaks, was hugely influential on later literature, especially the Roman poetry of Virgil and Ovid.

THE KIDS

by Hannah Lowe

read by Vivienne Ennemoser

running time 1hr

Hannah Lowe taught for a decade in an inner-city London sixth form. At the heart of this book of compassionate and energetic sonnets are fictionalised portraits of 'The Kids', the students she nurtured. But the poems go further, meeting her own child self as she comes of age in the riotous 80s and 90s, later bearing witness to her small son learning to negotiate contemporary London. Across these deeply felt poems, Lowe interrogates the acts of teaching and learning with empathy and humour. Social class, gender and race - and their fundamental intersection with education - are investigated with an ever critical and introspective eye. These boisterous and musical poems explore the universal experience of what it is to be taught, to learn and to teach.

THE LADY OF THE LAKE

by Sir Walter Scott

read by Bob Rollett

running time 4hrs

This classic narrative poem, set in the Trossachs region of Scotland, is composed of six cantos, each of which concerns the action of a single day. The poem has three main plots: the contest among three men to win the love of Ellen Douglas; the feud and reconciliation of King James V of Scotland and James Douglas; and a war between the lowland Scots and the highland clans.

MAESTRO AT A VALLEY FESTIVAL & OTHER POEMS

by John Lewis

read by Bob Rollett

running time 30mins

John Lewis was born and brought up in the Cynon valley between the wars. He spent most of his working life in Wales as an archaeologist. These poems, many of which draw on his early years, are anchored in observation, and are attempts to evoke places and people.

NEW SELECTED POEMS

by Seamus Heaney

read by Seamus Heaney

running time 2hrs 30mins

An unrivalled account of a period of work that was crowned by the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995. This collection reprints the author's chosen poems from his later years, completing the arc of a remarkable career.

THE ODYSSEY

by Homer

read by Anton Lesser

running time 12hrs 45mins

The Trojan War is over and Odysseus, the cunning King of Ithaca, sets out for home, his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus. It proves a long, 10-year journey, fraught with dangers, from Polyphemus, the one-eyed Cyclops, and the seductive Sirens, to the love of Calypso on her all-too-comfortable isle.

PAM AYRES - DOWN THE LINE

by Pam Ayres

read by Pam Ayres

running time 3hrs

Blending Pam’s characteristically sharp wit with her warm, comic observations on everyday life, this hilariously funny collection is a must-have for seasoned fans and first time listeners alike. It also includes some of Pam’s more reflective poems including the title poem, Down the Line, which she wrote for the 100th Anniversary of the end of the First World War.

QUARTET: THE FOUR SEASONS

by Deborah Gaye (Editor)

read by Vivien Tomlinson

running time 1hr 30mins

Providing a spectacular panoply of ever-changing colours, this collection of poems evokes the rich character and intense emotion of the changing seasons, featuring works from some of the UK's finest poets.

THE RATTLE BAG

by Seamus Heaney

read by Bruce Alexander

running time 12hrs

An anthology of poems, old and new, traditional form and free verse, selected by two leading poets, Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes.

SCARS UPON MY HEART: WOMEN'S POETRY AND VERSE FROM THE FIRST WORLD WAR

by Catherine W. Reilly

read by Gill Wilsher

running time 3hrs 40mins

An anthology of poems written by women during the First World War. Contributors include Rose Macauley, Edith Nesbit and Marie Stopes. Many of the poems arise from experiences of nursing the wounded or the pain of separation and show that women were writing protest poetry before Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon.

TALES FROM OVID

by Ted Hughes

read by Bruce Alexander

running time 6hrs 15mins

1998 Whitbread Prize Winner. A masterful translation of twenty-four stories from the Metamorphoses.

THE UNACCOMPANIED

by Simon Armitage

read by Bob Rollett

running time 1hr 30mins

The pieces in this collection are set against a backdrop of economic recession and social division and document a world on the brink, a world of unreliable seasons and unstable coordinates.

THE VIRGIN MARY'S GOT NITS: A CHRISTMAS ANTHOLOGY

by Gervase Phinn

read by Bob Rollett

running time 3hrs 30mins

A hilarious and touching anthology of poetry and prose on the subject of Christmas from the Yorkshire school inspector and bestselling author of the Dales series and Little Village School series.

WAR GIRLS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF POETRY AND PROSE BY WOMEN IN THE 1ST WORLD WAR

by Miscellaneous authors

read by Ruth Sillers

running time 1hr 30mins

War Girls is a commemoration and celebration of the remarkable, often deeply moving and largely unsung experiences of women in the First World War told in their own words. Through poetry, journals and letters this audio book documents the contribution made by women from all walks of society - from campaigning for peace to working on the home front and in the services. Some are the writings of established poets and novelists but many more are the records of ordinary women living in extraordinary times. They detail not only personal hardship and suffering but also the joy and excitement of a new society emerging as the war brought women challenges, freedoms and possibilities previously unknown to them. A century on, their experiences are still as compelling, powerful and relevant as they were at the time.

YOU TELL ME

by Michael Rosen & Roger McGough

read by Bob Rollett

running time 45mins

An entertaining collection of poems by two of the country’s most well-known poets who write about everyday life in an entertaining and wickedly funny way.

ZOOM! AND OTHER POEMS

by Simon Armitage

read by Simon Armitage

running time 1hr

A collection of poems written and read by the popular northern writer.