Frank Skinner’s Poetry Podcast (Absolute)
Comedian Frank Skinner’s best-known prose might be a rhyming couplet about the English national team, but don’t hold that against him.
The 63-year-old is as passionate about poetry as he is about football, something he is exploring in his new podcast.
The popular comic says he’ll chat about poetry in the same way he does about the beautiful game in this podcast which launched last week.
So, while he’s unlikely to give a reading of “Three lions on a shirt, Jules Rimet still gleaming. Thirty years of hurt, never stopped me dreaming”, he will be exploring in detail his favourite poetic pieces, such as Stevie Smith’s Not Waving But Drowning, and William Carlos Williams’ Danse Russe, both of which featured in last week’s debut episode.
In these troubling times, turning to thoughtful prose can have a calming, reassuring, effect, as Scotland’s Makar Jackie Kay has been proving in the pages of The Sunday Post over the past several weeks.
Following the success of The Frank Skinner Show on Absolute Radio, the new series brings the comic’s wry observations and relatable wit to the fore as he explores his favourite poems.
Reading extracts and analysing works, Frank will share and dissect the best verses of familiar and lesser-known poets in weekly segments.
Frank said:“I plan to talk about poems the way I talk about football. I’m passionate about both and believe there is a real space for something that brings listeners on board a literary journey, stepping stone to stepping stone, never stranded behind.
“I’ll be like that guy who sits at an adjoining table in the bar at Euston Station, leaning across to tell you something amazing before leaving to get his train.
“It’ll be direct, personal, urgent, funny and passionate, with me holding the listener’s forearm until I’ve said my piece.”