Frank loves a hard-drinking, hard-smoking Polytechnic lecturer like Martin Bell, especially when he is offering poetic praise to Groucho Marx. The poems referenced are ‘Ode to Groucho’ by Martin Bell and ‘The Second Coming’ by W.B. Yeats.

Jo Shapcott

Feb 21st, 2024 54m 18s

Jo Shapcott sends Frank, an enthusiastic tree-hugger, into a sap-soaked frenzy. The collection referenced is ‘Of Mutability’. The poems referenced are ‘I Go Inside The Tree’, ‘My Oak’ and ‘Cypress’.

Sasha Dugdale

Feb 14th, 2024 33m 56s

Frank stands in awe as Sasha Dugdale sends a frighteningly honest Valentine’s message. The collection referenced is ‘Joy’ by Sasha Dugdale. The poems referenced are ‘Joy’ and ‘Valentine’s’.

AE Housman

Feb 7th, 2024 47m 55s

Frank is alarmed by AE Housman’s A Shropshire Lad.

Jessica Traynor

Jan 31st, 2024 40m 48s

The Irish poet, Jessica Traynor, explores one of Frank’s favourite subjects – ageing performers who don’t know when to quit. The collection referenced is ‘Pit Lullabies’ by Jessica Traynor. The cycle of poems referenced is ‘An Island Sings’. Th

Billy Collins

Jan 24th, 2024 44m 37s

American poet, Billy Collins, makes Frank question the whole Poetry Podcast experience. The poems referenced are ‘Introduction to Poetry’ and ‘American Sonnet’ by Billy Collins.

Sappho

Jan 17th, 2024 35m 54s

Frank trembles at the fragmented beauty of Sappho, the superstar poet of Ancient Greece. The fragment translations are by Aaron Poochigian.

T.S. Eliot

Jan 10th, 2024 57m 46s

Frank explores The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot. Nuff said.

Trailer

Series 9 Trailer

Jan 8th, 2024 32s

Series 9 of Frank Skinner's Poetry Podcast begins on 10th January. See you there!

Elizabeth Bishop

Sep 20th, 2023 54m 4s

Is it a man? Is it a moth? Frank has a strange night out with Elizabeth Bishop. The poem referenced is 'The Man-Moth'.

Geoffrey Hill

Sep 13th, 2023 47m 19s

Frank indulges his obsession with the Anglo Saxons as he reads Geoffrey Hill's Mercian Hymns.

Robert Browning

Sep 6th, 2023 51m 12s

Did he or didn't he? Frank investigates Robert Browning's 'My Last Duchess'. The other poem referenced is 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' by Robert Browning.

Jean Sprackland

Aug 30th, 2023 43m 41s

Nature gets horny and reflective. Frank is excited about the poetry of Jean Sprackland. The collection referenced is 'Green Noise'. The poem referenced is 'April' and the sequence referenced is 'The Lost Villages'.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Aug 23rd, 2023 52m 45s

Frank examines statues and statutes with Percy Bysshe Shelley. The poems referenced are 'England in 1918' and 'Ozymandias'. The essay referenced is 'A Defense of Poetry'.

Sylvia Plath

Aug 16th, 2023 38m 47s

Frank howls at the moon with Sylvia Plath. The poems referenced are 'The Moon and the Yew Tree' and 'Ariel. TW: mentions of suicide.

Don Paterson

Aug 9th, 2023 43m 41s

Frank celebrates the razor-sharp poetic mind of Don Paterson. The poem referenced is 'Rain'.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Aug 2nd, 2023 40m 38s

Elizabeth Barrett Browning shows Frank that it's hard to be a mother and a poet and a revolutionary. The poem referenced is 'Mother and Poet'.

Trailer

Series 8 Trailer

Jul 26th, 2023 27s

Series 8 of Frank Skinner's Poetry Podcast coming very soon...

Alans at War

May 10th, 2023 41m 19s

This week, Frank discovers two very different war poets, Alan Ross and Alan Seeger. The poems referenced are ‘Mess Deck’ by Alan Ross and ‘I Have a Rendezvous with Death’ by Alan Seeger.

Charlotte Mew

May 3rd, 2023 42m 21s

This week, Frank explains why the poet, Charlotte Mew, should, in his opinion, be a household name. The poems referenced are ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ and ‘Sea Love’.

Sinéad Morrisey

Apr 26th, 2023 43m 41s

This week, Frank screams the praises of Sinéad Morrissey’s Beatlemania poems. The book referenced is ‘On Balance’. The poems referenced are ‘The Millihelen’ and ‘Perfume’.

Thomas Hardy

Apr 19th, 2023 41m 24s

This week: Thomas Hardy’s poetry, featuring love, death and men that look like holly bushes. The poems referenced are ‘Exeunt Omnes’, ‘A Light Snow-Fall After Frost’ and ‘A Countenance’.