Daljit Nagra: the Lungs

Five writers choose an organ of the body on which to essay. In his piece, poet Daljit Nagra describes how the lungs are an exchange system, similar to poetry.

In a compelling synthesis of biology and literature, we'll hear the 'dark continent' of our inner body, scrutinised through its hidden constituents - the organs. In this series, five writers, Mark Ravenhill, Christina Patterson, Daljit Nagra, Naomi Alderman and Ned Beauman, take on one of the body's mysterious organs. They write an essay on the intestines, skin, lungs, gall bladder and appendix. In each case they've met an expert in their chosen organ who has regaled them with its medical function, but ultimately they express what the organ's significance is to them, linking to history, culture and personal experience