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Slugs and Snails

The poet laureate, Simon Armitage, meets some molluscs, to help inspire a new animal poem.

Are slugs poetic? What can the poet laureate learn from a giant snail, and from the experience of being slimed on?

Simon Armitage has written a lot about animals in the past, but always at a distance. He wants that to change - to feel that he has captured the spirit of an animal, and done it justice in a brand new poem.

Molluscs present particular challenges for poets - though not for the award winning Sharon Olds, whose poem 'The Connoisseuse of Slugs' makes unusual and intimate connections between slugs and humans.

Contributors:
Sharon Olds ( her poem is 'The Connoisseuse of Slugs' )
Dr Isabel Galleymore - (her latest poetry collection is 'Baby Schema' ) poet and lecturer at the University of Birmingham
Sam Aberdeen - ZSL London Zoo
Lively worm - Blue Peter Garden, Mediacity
Relaxed worm - Blue Peter Garden, Mediacity
Giant Tiger Land Snail ( Sam the snail) at ZSL London Zoo

Produced by Faith Lawrence
Mixed by Sue Stonestreet

Release date:

14 minutes

On radio

Today 13:43

Broadcast

  • Today 13:43