Frank Skinner's Poetry Podcast
Episodes
George Herbert
29 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Frank gets excited about the brilliant 17th Century poet, George Herbert. The poems referenced are “The Collar” and “The Pulley”, both by Geor...
Erasure Poetry
22 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Frank explores poems stowed away in prose, as revealed by Nicole Sealey and Emma Filtness. The collections referenced are “The Ferguson Report: An E...
Poetry Anthologies
15 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Frank celebrates the joys of wallowing in a big fat poetry anthology, in this case "A Century of Poetry in the New Yorker: 1925-2025". The poems refer...
Jack Clemo
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Frank loves the clay, machinery and scary religion in the poetry of Jack Clemo. The poems reference are ‘A Calvinist in Love’, ‘Christ in the Cl...
Greta Stoddart
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The poet, Greta Stoddart, instructs Frank on the deeper meanings of three tulips in a milk bottle. The poems referenced are ‘Fool’ and ‘Three Tu...
Scott McKendry
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Frank joins a secret society with Pebbles Flintstone and the poet, Scott McKendry. The poems referenced are ‘Keepers of the Pedigree’ and ‘Hi-Vi...
Amy Clampitt
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Frank finds the beauty in Amy Clampitt's poetry and written-off cars. The poem referenced is ‘Salvage’ from ‘The Kingfisher’. Learn more abou...
Rebecca Goss
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The poet, Rebecca Goss, shows Frank life in a rearview mirror. The poems referenced are ‘Pheasant in Rear-View Mirror’ and ‘Sylvia’ Learn more...
RS Thomas
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Frank shares a pulpit with RS Thomas. The poems referenced are ‘Border Blues’, ‘Service’ and ‘Poetry For Supper’. Learn more about your a...
Mona Van Duyn
01 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Frank is very moved by what the poet, Mona Van Duyn, can do with an eraser. The poem referenced is ‘The Creation’ by Mona Van Duyn. Learn more ab...
Craig Raine
25 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Frank and the poet, Craig Raine, explore a disused botanical garden. The poems referenced are ‘A Martian Sends a Postcard Home’, ‘Listen With M...
Wislawa Szymborska
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Frank and the poet, Wislawa Szymborska, discover how many people actually like poetry. The poems referenced are ‘Plato, or Why’ and ‘Some Like ...
Seamus Heaney
11 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Frank spends a day in Belfast, wallowing in the poetry of Seamus Heaney. The poem referenced are ‘Personal Helicon’ from ‘Death of a Naturalist...
Ruth Padel
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A poem by Ruth Padel results in Frank staring, for 15 minutes, at an embroidery of an elephant. The poem referenced is ‘Mary’s Elephant, Elizabet...
Frank O'Hara
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Frank is more than slightly besotted with ‘Lunch Poems’ by Frank O'Hara. The poems referenced are ‘Personal Poem’ and ‘The Day Lady Died’...
Rebecca Hawkes
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Frank gets very excited about the Rebecca Hawkes collection, ‘Meat Lovers’. The poems referenced are ‘After The Blizzard I Followed My Mother’...
Dylan Thomas
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Frank spends the night in Dylan Thomas' bedroom. The poems referenced are ‘And Death Shall Have No Dominion’, ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good ...
Martin Bell
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Frank loves a hard-drinking, hard-smoking Polytechnic lecturer like Martin Bell, especially when he is offering poetic praise to Groucho Marx. The poe...
Jo Shapcott
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jo Shapcott sends Frank, an enthusiastic tree-hugger, into a sap-soaked frenzy. The collection referenced is ‘Of Mutability’. The poems referenced...
Sasha Dugdale
14 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Frank stands in awe as Sasha Dugdale sends a frighteningly honest Valentine’s message. The collection referenced is ‘Joy’ by Sasha Dugdale. The ...
AE Housman
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Frank is alarmed by AE Housman’s A Shropshire Lad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jessica Traynor
31 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Irish poet, Jessica Traynor, explores one of Frank’s favourite subjects – ageing performers who don’t know when to quit. The collection refe...
Billy Collins
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
American poet, Billy Collins, makes Frank question the whole Poetry Podcast experience. The poems referenced are ‘Introduction to Poetry’ and ‘A...
Sappho
17 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Frank trembles at the fragmented beauty of Sappho, the superstar poet of Ancient Greece. The fragment translations are by Aaron Poochigian. Learn more...
T.S. Eliot
10 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Frank explores The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot. Nuff said. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Series 9 Trailer
08 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Series 9 of Frank Skinner's Poetry Podcast begins on 10th January. See you there! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Elizabeth Bishop
20 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Is it a man? Is it a moth? Frank has a strange night out with Elizabeth Bishop. The poem referenced is 'The Man-Moth'. Learn more about your ad choice...
Geoffrey Hill
13 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Frank indulges his obsession with the Anglo Saxons as he reads Geoffrey Hill's Mercian Hymns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.c...
Robert Browning
06 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Did he or didn't he? Frank investigates Robert Browning's 'My Last Duchess'. The other poem referenced is 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' by Robert Browni...
Jean Sprackland
30 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nature gets horny and reflective. Frank is excited about the poetry of Jean Sprackland. The collection referenced is 'Green Noise'. The poem reference...
Percy Bysshe Shelley
23 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Frank examines statues and statutes with Percy Bysshe Shelley. The poems referenced are 'England in 1918' and 'Ozymandias'. The essay referenced is 'A...
Sylvia Plath
16 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Frank howls at the moon with Sylvia Plath. The poems referenced are 'The Moon and the Yew Tree' and 'Ariel. TW: mentions of suicide. Learn more about ...
Don Paterson
09 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Frank celebrates the razor-sharp poetic mind of Don Paterson. The poem referenced is 'Rain'. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.co...
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
02 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Elizabeth Barrett Browning shows Frank that it's hard to be a mother and a poet and a revolutionary. The poem referenced is 'Mother and Poet'. Learn m...
Series 8 Trailer
26 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Series 8 of Frank Skinner's Poetry Podcast coming very soon... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Alans at War
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Frank discovers two very different war poets, Alan Ross and Alan Seeger. The poems referenced are ‘Mess Deck’ by Alan Ross and ‘I Hav...
Charlotte Mew
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Frank explains why the poet, Charlotte Mew, should, in his opinion, be a household name. The poems referenced are ‘The Farmer’s Bride’...
Sinéad Morrisey
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Frank screams the praises of Sinéad Morrissey’s Beatlemania poems. The book referenced is ‘On Balance’. The poems referenced are ‘...
Thomas Hardy
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week: Thomas Hardy’s poetry, featuring love, death and men that look like holly bushes. The poems referenced are ‘Exeunt Omnes’, ‘A Light...
Selima Hill
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Frank enters the funny but unsettling world of Selima Hill. The collection referenced is ‘Men Who Feed Pigeons’. Learn more about your...
John Keats
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, John Keats talks to pottery. The poem referenced is ‘Ode on A Grecian Urn’. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com...
John Masefield
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we look at a John Masefield poem from 1911, in which a naked drunk runs through a town at midnight, threatening firefighters with their own...
Kay Ryan
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week: why do so many of us stagger through life leaving a trail of chaos and confusion? American poet, Kay Ryan, reveals it’s because we are ca...
Richard Wilbur
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, American poet, Richard Wilbur, explains why stones aren’t very ambitious. The poems referenced are ‘A Dubious Night’ and ‘Two Voice...
Ada Limón
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, American Poet Laureate, Ada Limón heads for the safe haven of the parental raincoat. The poems referenced are ‘The Contract Says: We’d...
Ted Hughes
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Ted Hughes shows us that writing a poem is like a stinking fox walking across a snow-covered field. The poem referenced are ‘The Thought ...
Simon Armitage
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, our Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, writes a brilliant poem about what some might think is an unlikely subject. The poem referenced is ‘Th...
Carol Ann Duffy
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Carol Ann Duffy considers the profound, prayer-like quality of the Shipping Forecast. The poems referenced are ‘Death of a Teacher’ and...
John Betjeman
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, John Betjeman gets a tennis-based humiliation from the girl of his dreams. The poem referenced is ‘A Subaltern’s Love Song’. Learn m...
Series 6 Trailer
02 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Series 6 of Frank Skinner's Poetry Podcast begins on 8th February. See you there! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sir Thomas Wyatt
06 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
At last, our first jousting poet - Frank meets Sir Thomas Wyatt, head-on. The poems referenced are They Flee From Me and Farewell Love and All Thy Law...
Emily Dickinson
29 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Frank went on holiday with Emily Dickinson and came back in love with her poetry. The poems referenced are ‘After great pain, a formal feeling comes...
Clare Pollard
22 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Vampires and mermaids - Frank falls under the spell of Clare Pollard’s fabulous poetry. The collection referenced is Changeling by Clare Pollard and...
Alfred Lord Tennyson
15 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Frank meets Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Lady of Shalott and finds out why Camelot is a bit of a lottery. The poems referenced are The Charge Of The Light...
Leontia Flynn
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Drunken nights and floppy discs - Frank gets excited about the poetry of Leontia Flynn. The collection referenced is Profit and Loss by Leontia Flynn ...
The Mersey Sound
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Frank explains why the first poetry book he ever bought, The Mersey Sound, changed his life forever. The poems referenced are Without You and The New ...
Series 5 Trailer
30 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Series 5 of Frank Skinner's Poetry Podcast coming very soon... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Robert Hayden
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Frank shares a cold, sad Sunday morning with Robert Hayden. The poems referenced are Those Winter Sundays and The Whipping by Robert Hayden. Learn mor...
Michael Symmons Roberts
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Frank explores the poetic treasure-trove that is Michael Symmons Roberts’ collection, Drysalter. The poems referenced are Face to Face, Through a Gl...
Wordsworth Revisited: The Leech-Gatherer
16 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Wordsworth revisited: the leech-gatherer. The poem referenced is Resolution and Independence by William Wordsworth. Learn more about your ad choices. ...
Nick Laird
09 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Frank loves Nick Laird’s poetry. And manual typewriters. The collection referenced is On Purpose by Nick Laird and the poem referenced is The Underw...
Walt Whitman
02 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Frank loves Walt Whitman, right down to his comfortable shoes… The poems referenced are Poets to Come, To You, Song of the Universal and Song of Mys...
Jen Hadfield
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Frank heads North with the amazing Jen Hadfield. The collection referenced is The Stone Age by Jen Hadfield. The individual poems referenced are Harda...
John Milton
19 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Batman, Captain America and Milton’s Paradise Lost. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Caroline Bird
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Frank celebrates Caroline Bird and wonders if he should have saved this one for Valentine’s Day. The collection referenced is The Air Year by Caroli...
Series 4 Trailer
10 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Series 4 of Frank Skinner's Poetry Podcast coming soon... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
WH Auden
07 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Frank meets WH Auden in an art gallery and falls in love all over again. Poems referenced: Musée des Beaux Arts - WH Auden Funeral Blues - WH Aud...
Ellen Hinsey
30 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Frank finds out when the Illegal Age began, with Ellen Hinsey. Please note this podcast has some disturbing content. Poem referenced: The Illegal...
Matthew Arnold
23 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Frank spends a dark night on Dover Beach with Matthew Arnold and, hold on, isn’t that Sophocles over there? Poems referenced: Dover Beach - Matt...
Tracy K Smith
16 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Frank reads Tracy K Smith and finally gets his priorities right. Collections referenced: Wade in the Water - Tracy K Smith Leaves of Grass – Walt W...
Peter Riley
09 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Frank hits the high notes with Peter Riley and accidentally arrives at his favourite-ever definition of poetry. Collection referenced: Passing Measur...
Denise Levertov
02 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Frank explores the wonders and horrors of city-life, with Denise Levertov and two dogs of disproportionate size. Poems referenced: The Rainwalkers by...
Robert Frost
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Frank celebrates one of his all-time favourite poems: The Star-Splitter by Robert Frost. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/ad...
Ella Frears
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Frank discovers Ella Frears at a motorway services and shares some intimate notes. Collection referenced: Shine, Darling by Ella Frears Poems refere...
Alexander Pope
02 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Couplets, cruelty and the occasional caning. Frank enters the poetical world of Alexander Pope. Poems Referenced Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot - Alexande...
Rita Dove
26 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Rita Dove teaches Frank the art of poetry and how to pull. Poems Referenced: Ars Poetica - Rita Dove Flirtation - Rita Dove Learn more about your ad ...
William Wordsworth
19 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Frank walks the untrodden ways with William Wordsworth. Poems Referenced: She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways - William Wordsworth Spring – Alexande...
Tadeusz Dabrowski
12 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Never mind the poetry, here’s the white bits. Frank has a wild night out with the Polish poet, Tadeusz Dabrowski. Poems Referenced: I Believe All R...
Cathy Park Hong
05 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Frank has always had a fascination with the Wild West. In this episode he explores the macabre Western ballads of Cathy Park Hong. This podcast cont...
Liz Berry
28 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Frank begins series 2 with a poem that made him cry in a hotel room. Poems Referenced: Bird – Liz Berry Birmingham Roller – Liz Berry The Sea of...
Series 2 Trailer
21 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Series 2 of Frank Skinner's Poetry Podcast coming soon... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Gerard Manley Hopkins
25 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the last of the series, Frank showers in the word-waterfall that is the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit po...
Caroline Knox
18 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Frank is often attracted to a poem by its title. This week he discusses 'Famous Bigshots' by Caroline Knox. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit po...
Philip Larkin
11 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Frank tells how Philip Larkin’s ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ gave him a massive panic attack. Poems referenced: Philip Larkin – Wild Oats Philip Lar...
Donna Stonecipher
04 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Frank Skinner takes us on a guided tour of Donna Stonecipher’s ‘Model City’. Poems Referenced: Richard Harris Barham (Thomas Ingoldsby) - The La...
The Beat Poets
27 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Frank Skinner celebrates the Beat Poets – a generation of poets in the 1940s and 50s who rebelled against American conventions, championed ‘sponta...
Stevie Smith and William Carlos Williams
20 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Frank Skinner delves into Stevie Smith's 'Not Waving But Drowning', and William Carlos Williams' 'Dance Russe'. There will be no guests, just Frank ex...
Trailer
15 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Absolute Radio presenter and comedian Frank Skinner talks about poems “like I talk about football” in his new podcast. Learn more about your ad ch...