This time, instead of doing my Radio 4 Saturday Live session from BBC Wales in Cardiff, I was up at Broadcasting House in London again. As always, two new topical poems had to be written to a tight deadline – my short top-of-the-show poem was triggered by China’s recognition, at last week’s UN Climate Change Conference, of the need to curb its greenhouse gas emissions, while my end-of-show longer poem focused on garden makeovers, inspired by this week’s main studio guest, Alan Titchmarsh.
It was quite a coincidence that he should have been this week’s guest, as I worked with him briefly earlier this year when I was asked to contribute some poetry to BBC2’s coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show back in May. (You can read about my Chelsea experience here).
As ever, I really enjoyed the Saturday Live poetry challenge and, as an added bonus, I made it to the Barbican Art Gallery in the afternoon to see Radical Nature – Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet, 1969-2009. This exhibition of artists’ responses to climate change and environmental degradation is on for another couple of weeks and I heartily recommend it.
Oh, and if you want to listen to my Saturday Live efforts, there’s a link to the show on BBC iplayer here.
Thanks, Sue – yes, the weather was lovely – so warm!
I'll go listen in now. So glad you got the chance to come up our way, and the weather was pretty good too, eh?