Last week I went to hear the poet Ian McMillan at Nottingham Public Library.
Ian is well known for being on radio, introducing the BBC's weekly poetry programme, The Verb, and for being the resident poet for Barnsley football club. He gave some very amusing readings from his autobiography in verse, Talking Myself Home. His strong Yorkshire accent brought memories of when we lived in Leeds in the early 1970s. He's very broadminded though, and said he even enjoys performing in Lancashire. One of his comments was that poetry is like music, it stirs something very deep inside people.
Interestingly, Ian recites his poetry on tour with a music group and there are some samples of their work on this website: http://www.theianmcmillanorchestra.com/. I was delighted to discover that they use music composed by Aidan O'Rourke of the folk group Lau, who I also saw in Nottingham and the subject of an earlier blog. That's a really satisfying connection.
Part of the enjoyment of listening to Ian is his good rapport and repartee with his audience. He said at one point that he had to watch the clock as his stories and asides were taking over from the poems and he asked one elderly lady on the front row what the time was. "Nearly" she said. "That's a good time, far better than just too late", he said, quick as a flash.
More information about Ian and some of his poems are at http://www.uktouring.org.uk/ian-mcmillan/index.html
No comments:
Post a Comment