Listen "Last Lines"
Episode Synopsis
Ian McMillan enjoys last lines in poetry, song, memoir, and novels - and his guests introduce him to different varieties of endings: the trap door, the rug-pull, the fade and many more. Stuart Maconie, writer and broadcaster, is Ian's guide to the bathetic and sometimes dramatic ends to be found in popular song - and explores an ending created by the Cornish poet Charles Causley. Caroline Bird reads a sonnet from her poetry collection 'The Air Year' and reveals the draft that helped her reach the poem and its ending, and fellow poet Sinéad Morrissey shares a work-in-progress inspired by endings: 'Seeing Red', her memoir of growing up in a Communist family in Northern Ireland. Producer: Faith Lawrence
More episodes of the podcast The Verb
The Christmas Adverb
19/12/2025
The Adverb
19/09/2025
The Adverb from the Ledbury Poetry Festival
12/09/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.