BBC Radio 4's Poetry Please is the longest-running broadcast of verse anywhere in the world. This book presents a treasure trove for our most requested and most listened to poems of all time.
BBC Radio 4's Poetry Please is the longest-running broadcast of verse anywhere in the world. First aired in 1979, the programme, a request show which broadcasts to two million listeners a week, has become a unique record of the country's best-loved poems over the decades since its inception. The BBC has looked back through its rich archive of recordings to produce a poll of the most asked for and most broadcast pieces ever: it is those poems that this anthology brings together here. A showcase, in effect, for the nation's favourite verse, Poetry Please is a treasure trove for our most requested and most listened to poems of all time. It is a compelling invitation for readers of all ages and backgrounds to celebrate the verse that we care so much about: from new readers to old, from schools to reading groups, this a book for giving, a book for cherishing.
Roger McGough was born in Liverpool and educated at St Mary's College and the University of Hull. He has been a writer for many years, and his numerous collections have established him as one of the most distinctive and powerful voices in contemporary poetry. Among his most popular titles are Summer with Monika, Blazing Fruit and Defying Gravity, all published by Penguin, and for children An Imaginary Menagerie, Pillow Talk and Bad, Bad Cats. He is an international ambassador for poetry and in 1997 was awarded an OBE, and in 2004 he was awarded a CBE. His most recent books include 'All the Best' and 'Slapstick' and for adults, 'Collected Poems' and 'Selected Poems.'
