Hollie McNish, Major General Tim Hodgetts, Julia Nemirovskaya, Robert Chandler

The poetry of war is the thread that runs through today's edition of The Verb, Radio 4's poetry performance and discussion programme led by Ian McMillan.

Hollie McNish talks about her new poetry collection, Virgin, which explores the damaging power of this word and asks for a broader understanding of its possibilities. Her readings on today's programme include her heartbreaking new poem "virgins, to the back" about the young soldiers of the First World War and their battle eve brothel visits.

Major General Tim Hodgetts was Surgeon General To the UK Armed Forces. He discusses his poetry collection, Frontlines and Lifelines, which features the poetry he wrote as an Army doctor to help him process the things he faced as he dealt with the human casualties of combat in theatres of war across the world.

Julia Nemirovskaya has been collecting poetry speaking out against Russia's invasion of Ukraine since February 2022. Her "Kopilka" (coin bank in Russian) archive has led to three collections including Disbelief: 100 Russian Anti-War Poems, and Dislocation: An Anthology of Poetic Response to Russia’s War in Ukraine. She's joined by the distinguished critic and translator of Russian literature, Robert Chandler to discuss why the war has proved to be a major moment for Russian poetry.

Presenter: Ian McMillan
Producer: Ekene Akalawu