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The Sentence Special

Do we really need 'The Sentence'? Why are sentences in the writing of Americans like John Cheever so evocative?
And how does the sentences get on with its poetic cousin 'the line'? To find out, Ian McMillan is joined by guests A.M. Homes, Glyn Maxwell, Ronnie Cann and Martin Creed.

Martin Creed is a British artist and musician. He won the Turner Prize in 2001 for Work No. 227: the lights going on and off - an empty room in which the lights went on and off. His artwork for the Olympics was Work No 1197, 'All the Bells in a Country Rung as Quickly and Loudly as Possible for Three Minutes'. He performs two songs from his album 'Love to You' (Moshi Moshi) and explains that his songs rarely contain 'proper' sentences.

Professor Ronnie Cann holds the Chair in Linguistic Semantics at Edinburgh University - he takes the role of 'sentence doctor' in the programme, and explores whether sentences really exist in natural speech.

Glyn Maxwell is an award-winning poet and playwright, whose new book 'On Poetry' (Oberon) invites would-be poets to consider the importance of the breath and the contribution of the white space on the page during the writing process. It's been described by one reviewer as the 'best book about poetry that he's ever read'.

A.M. Homes is the acclaimed author of the novels, 'This Book Will Save Your Life', 'Music For Torching', 'The End of Alice', 'In a Country of Mothers', and 'Jack', as well as the short-story collections, 'Things You Should Know' and 'The Safety of Objects'. She reads from her new book 'May We Be Forgiven' and discusses the character of the 'American sentence'.