Main content

Instagram Poetry

The Verb on Instagram Poetry and writing for social media.

The Verb on Instagram Poetry, and the pleasures of writing on social media. Ian McMillan, and writer and cartoonist Moose Allain, explore the bittersweet language of the grapefruit, the 'oo' in festoon, and the 'bone' in trombone - for a brand new Twitter word game called 'The Word Service'. Poets Yrsa Daley-Ward, Mandy Kahn, and Johnathan Rice share poems of anxiety, joy in the everyday, and dark humour.

Available now

50 minutes

Last on

Fri 26 Oct 2018 22:00

Moose Allain

Moose Allain

鈥楧ogsbody, but human head. Peripheral visionary. Pest鈥 (according to his Twitter Bio, anyway), Moose Allain is a social media language powerhouse and for the past week he鈥檚 been playing The Verb鈥檚 鈥榃ord Service鈥 language game with Ian McMillan. Each 鈥榮erved鈥 the other a word to play with in the morning, and posted their results later in the day. Moose shares the wordplay that was inspired by the game, and also celebrates Twitter as a place of creative challenge.

Jonathan Rice

Jonathan Rice

Johnathan Rice鈥檚 Instagram account proudly displays the quote 鈥楾he beat-poet of the Instagram generation鈥 - W Magazine鈥. Johnathan describes how he puts together his Instagram haiku; funny, reactive poems that can mutate from funny to sad over a course of the day, as the news cycle turns. He also explains the pleasure he takes in choosing his poem titles, which are sourced from descriptions attached to images (geotags) how he has turned the location tool into an integral part of his poetry. Joanthan's book 'Farewell My Dudes: 69 Dystopian Haikus' is published by Hat & Beard.聽

You can find him on Instagram at: mrjohnathanrice

Yrsa Daley-Ward

Yrsa Daley-Ward

Yrsa Daley-Ward鈥檚 Instagram bio reads 鈥業 Tell Stories. Some tall, some dark.鈥 One of the brightest stars of the Instagram Poetry world,Yrsa is also a model and actor and the author of the poetry collection 鈥楤one鈥 - 聽her new memoir is called 鈥楾he Terrible鈥 (Penguin). For Ysra, the early morning is her most creative time, and she takes inspiration from being close to her 鈥榙reamspace鈥.

Yrsa鈥檚 on Instagram at yrsadaleyward

Ira Lightman

Ira Lightman

Facebook is the platform of choice for Verb regular Ira Lightman. According to his Facebook page he studies 鈥榩oetry at Poetland High School鈥, after previously spending time at 鈥楢utodidacticism鈥. Ira鈥檚 invented a whole new poetic form, for a special Verb commission, which we鈥檙e calling 鈥楾he Lightman鈥. For this for, Ira draws on his reading of 1000 Instagram poems, and the images that accompany them. 鈥楾he Lightman鈥 combines literal descriptions of these images (e.g. 鈥榩ressed leaves鈥, 鈥榯ypewriter in background鈥) with collaging techniques.

Mandy Kahn

Mandy Kahn

Mandy Kahn is the author of two poetry collections 鈥楪len Gould鈥檚 Chair鈥 and 鈥楳ath. Heaven. Time鈥 (Eyewear). She joins us down the line from early morning LA to discuss the creative challenges of social media poetry and the importance of the art of compression. Mandy also shares 17th century haiku, and delights in the possibilities of new media. She has left her Twitter bio blank, which seems right given her celebration of the space that social media offers.

Broadcast

  • Fri 26 Oct 2018 22:00

Featured in...

The Verb: Something New 鈥 The Poems

The Verb: Something New 鈥 The Poems

New poems commissioned by The Verb for the 91热爆 centenary.

35 Years of Spoken Word

35 Years of Spoken Word

A season of Poetry and Performance from Hull.

91热爆 Arts

Explore the 91热爆 Arts website and discover the best of British art and culture.

The Dylan Thomas Collection

Listen to programmes, poetry readings and commentary from Radio 3's Dylan Thomas Day.

Podcast