I'm Philip Holden and this is Ideas in Writing - the podcast where we talk to people who use words - written, spoken, performed and even sung and, sometimes only uttered in your mind... The guests bring along a word and so do I...it's all downhill from there on...

In this episode I talk to the lovely Ian McMillan – he's a poet, of course, and a playwright and a columnist and you've probasbly seen him on TV and listened to him on BBC radio. But have you seen him on a giant toilet in Leicester Square? No? Well, stay tuned.

We talked about Darfield in Yorkshire where he was born and lives, escaping and making a living as a poet. We talked briefly about his daily tweeting and how that sharpens his mind. We also talked about him visiting Tonbridge for an event as soon as possible.

Ian - without ever having listened to the podcast before - chose the word palimpsest (see episode one!) whilst I chose theatre - you'll see why if you listen. And don't forget to check out the visual representation of the network of words emanating from those - by clicking on the links.

Ideas in Writing is produced with the support of Mr Books Bookshop in Tonbridge - the home of inspiring, imaginative and intelligent books, gifts and conversation. They're on Twitter too @mrbooks_ton. But most importantly of all, you can visit them (in the lovely market town of Tonbridge in Kent) for a browse any Wednesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm.

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CREDITS & links

Ian’s book To Fold the Evening Star is available from Mr Books bookshop or, you can go straight to this link to order online - I think it might be due for a reprint!

Ian mentioned a couple of books; The Excitement of Writing by Sir Alec Clegg (1963) which is not currently in print – but we may be able to track down secondhand copies. You can find out something of the man at www.alecclegg.com which reports on a 2017 ‘retrospective’ of his pioneering work.

The Richard Matthewman Stories by Ian McMillan and Martyn Whiley (2009. Pomona Press) is £8.99 but again you can get this from Mr Books or order online here.

Ian also briefly mentioned Peter Brook’s The Empty Space (2008, Penguin) which is £9.99 and available from Mr Books here.

Ideas in Writing is recorded and produced by Philip Holden using Zencastr and Acast.com

The Ideas in Writing theme "Farting Around" is by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The "Light Easy March" sting is by ...dog http://www.besonic.com/dog

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