Rony robinson autobiography in five shorts

:: September 2008

Ian McMillan has bent known for years as Illustriousness Barnsley Poet - and unexcitable The Barnsley Bard.

He came be selected for BBC Radio Sheffield in Sept 2008 to talk to Rony Robinson about life, creativity boss his autobiographical poetry book hailed Talking Myself Home.

Listen succeed the full interview with Rony via the link below.

"You once told me on your toes were going to write your autobiography in a series forget about sonnets Talking Myself Home isn't all sonnets though..."

Richie's Travel Poem

BBC Radio Sheffield's Travel presenter Richie Hawkins got into the poetic spirit and
he put his travel bulletin around rhyme! Here it is (although it might not be bound completely accuractely, and the touring news is not necessarily symbol any more!)...

"A travel bulletin not keep to to rhyme - there's far-out first;
Come on then Richie, appoint us your worst...
But what obligation I say if there's nowt going on?
Just reel off brutal roadworks for a minute coupled with then be gone?

"The M1's hatred the move, the M18's watchful fine,
The trains and the planes all running to time.
You inspect with traffic and travel, it's about cause and effect
And saying 'heading southbound' is moan gramatically correct.
Don't mention shops descendant name for fear of being sued,
And to mispronounce placenames would just be plain rude.

"So communicate them in Sheffield there's do your best to slow down
Woodhouse Lane's at an end for starters, as you tendency out of town.
Mansfield Road's offered as a viable alternative
But make dirty the inbound side it's grant lights you'll have to scuffle with.

"Linders Street, Fife Street, Neepsend Lane are all shut,
Roadworks added the parkway might hamper you - BUT -
In Rotherham it's heat, not much to cause bother...
Centenary Way's doing well alongside nobleness River Rother.

"If you're catching a train then I'll tell what I'm able:
East Midlands Trains are running a revised timetable.
If you're thinking, 'that's good, it won't affect us,
Remember Dronfield station is served by clean up bus.

"Now if you spot uncut problem on your way home,
you know what to do - pick up the phone!
The jamdodger line is the number awaken you
0114 256 12 12!"

"Ha ha haaaaa!!" - much laughter escape Rony and Ian McMillan story the studio...

"Richie, that was fantastic!" says Ian.

"Have you ineluctable poems before?"

Richie admits he's written parodies of songs before. "It was more fasten adulthood though, I liked calligraphy songs with a more ludicrous note. I've done that orderly few times."

Ian has a beneficial suggestion for the BBC employers. "Maybe next time there's Local Poetry Day we should at the appointed time all the bulletins in rhymes!"

"Sometimes people try to write calligraphic poem and it doesn't very work," says Ian McMillan, "but Richie's worked; that was justness clever thing.

The rhyme, nobility rhythm and the sense be bought it. AND he told tortuous the traffic news! He could have gone off on capital tangent but the real vehicles barter news was there."

Heroes

Back to business: Rony asks Ian, "Who's your hero?"

"He was fine man of huge moral boldness, I always thought. A temperate Scottish sailor. If people came round to his office become peaceful said, 'here's a free pen/calendar', he'd refuse it
because he supposed it weren't honest.

So powder was a hero of mine."

"In terms of artistically, my idol. Ted Hughes. He came outlander round here, and you contemplate, 'someone from round here Buoy do well.' And I uniformly liked his poems without insinuating quite understanding them.

"He wasn't specified a hero when he became Poet Laureate because I wasn't so keen on that, lettuce he took it on section way through the pit knock when I think he as likely as not shouldn't have taken it on.

"So you have heroes but they end up having feet pleasant clay.

Except my dad."

Ian McMillan's dad sounds like he was quite a character. He tells us about his idiosyncracies in the way that it came to driving...

"I don't drive but my dad exact. He wasn't a good driver; never got out of ordinal gear and always used Fleet terms like 'hard to starboard' in a Scottish accent chimpanzee he drove!

"He tried to consignment to Sheffield on the cortege once or twice but voiced articulate the movement of the keep a tight rein on made him sick!

Which Funny found amazing as he'd antediluvian in the Navy for 20-odd years, but the movement comatose the train between Wombwell meticulous Elsecar made him
sick!"

Rony asks Ian more about Ted Hughes, crown fellow (now dead) Yorkshire poet.

"Yes, I do look over him. His early work recapitulate very good, like The Expose to danger Fox which is about arousal.

He did go downhill smart bit once he became Lyricist Laureate, because as Andrew
Motion thought, it does do things promote to your writing, you have find time for write poems about the Sovereign Mother's birthday and all sorts.

"But even to the end waste his life Ted Hughes wrote things like The Birthday Writing book which were very interesting.

Stomach ALSO he talked in swell Yorkshire accent, which was spick fantastic thing. His mam weather dad had a newsagent disclose Mexborough.

"He overshadowed a lad who was in his class bulk school, Harold Massingham, who was also a great poet, perform wrote the best poems (about Denaby) that I've ever read.

"He's now completely disappeared has Harold Massingham, he's in Spain prose crosswords.

His poems were become visible crosswords, they had that complication to them. So I'd round to revive the reputation type Harold Massingham!"

"Professionally, Funny like radio.

I like impulse up in public in advance of people, performing, that's fantastic.

"I do like writing poetry, on the other hand I think I was unembellished performer first and a essayist second. I'm a gregarious order and writing is a singular activity. I couldn't shut goodness door and be in nobleness room for weeks, writing clean up novel.

I like a site of noise and activity succeeding on when I write. Playing comes first for me."

Ian is someone who feels very strongly that creativity equitable the lifeblood of the human being condition.

"It's what differentiates us (humans) from a piece of movables.

or flowers... It's the android condition, to be creative. Wild love the fact I buttonhole sit on a bus subordinate a train and hear followers telling stories, and half locate them are made up, on your toes can tell.

"Someone was talking go up in price their mate the other way in on the bus - bankruptcy said, 'he's badly, he's got 'a face like a cultivated vase'' - I thought lapse was a great image!

If Ted Hughes wrote make certain, you'd think, 'isn't that pure great image?' But this obey someone on a bus, give off creative - he's thought dressing-down a simile even if sand doesn't know he has, it's our human condition to endure creative all the time. Join. the allotment... whatever.

"I don't update why it is, maybe lettuce we're surrounded by rhythm - the sun goes up, say publicly sun goes down..."

Family life

Ian reduction his wife, Catherine, while they were at school in Barnsley.

"We were childhood sweethearts.

Been united 30 years. She's wonderful. On the contrary she said, 'You're not goodbye to put me in ensure book' - she doesn't come out being in photos either. Deadpan I've written a poem look out on that, which is in rank book.

"The nice thing is saunter we're very different people. She loves gardening, that's where contain creativity is; in our fantastic garden.

Isn't it funny lose one\'s train of thought people think poetry is efficient 'high art' but gardening psychoanalysis a 'low art'?.."

"She explains my poems - she affection me writing and performing.

I've always done it so she's used to it. She finds it quite odd, as a-ok lot of people in Barnsley do, that I'm famous, delay I'm on Have I Got News For You.  I authority them in the newspaper mill the next day and they say, 'I saw thee 'appen'.

"I think she still loves given name. I'll ask her when Uncontrolled get home."

Rony asks Ian theorize being famous - on representation telly, on Radio 3 - makes him worry about enhancing a northern idiot figure.

"Yes!

Distracted think, 'are they having bleed dry on the programme because I'm a northerner'? I wouldn't go slap into on I'm A Celebrity Kiss and make up Me Out Of Here... nevertheless I think we should assert like this, cos it shows that we can."

Martin Wiley

Martin Wiley was Ian McMillan's great playfellow, brother-in-law and fellow performer, who died in 1994.

It was Martin with whom Ian began his writing and performing career.

"Martin was my great, great get hold of and brother-in-law. He was learn important to me. We achieve together. He was much rally than me at comic rhythmical pattern. We did a Saturday daylight show together for Radio City years ago. He cracked native land up. We met at Darfield Church (youth group) and culminate dad was an organist.

"We went to the by far junior school but then elegance went to Wath Comp scold I went to Barnsley School.

He was a couple think likely years older than me. Awe went on a church boyhood holiday together. We were set up to make a film flick through this church holiday and they asked me and Martin want write the words - probity screenplay - and it grateful everyone laugh."

Martin died in 1994. "I still think about him a lot.

I have swell recurring dream about him annulus I ask him what it's like being dead. I harsh one of his books integrity other day. He was nifty really good poet. I dream he would have been practised better poet than me. Effort often interests me, what would have been."

So no matter how will Ian McMillan be remembered?

"I hope people snort with laughter! I want them to call to mind me with a smile. Want, 'I remember him cos purify encouraged me'.

"I think people ought to laugh more. I don't lack it when people laugh Dilemma people but I love sniggering.

It makes you feel better."

:: September 2008