The teasing title poem of this book is about weather. Rain falls, wind cracks its cheeks as in Macbeth; the noises are drops like kisses falling, 'fallen into birdsong on Mars'. What would it sound like, be like, to hear it? The poem wants to know what it can't yet know. But as the book proceeds, the poet - on a human heath, tormented by loss - hears something like it, unearthly sounds on a planet without atmosphere, sound making quite another kind of sense. Jon Glover wrote most of the poems in this collection before his wife's sudden death from cancer in 2019. He developed the themes and fragmenting style of his previous book, Glass is Elastic (2012), where language was always quizzing itself and how it might relate to the actual and the historical world. Intense, playful, unpredictable, the poems surprised. Here, in the disturbing environments of Upstate New York, Calgary Bay or his Bolton front room the poet confronts illness (his own), hospitals (his visits) and wonderful ambulances (his transports). He resists attempts to see hints or destinies. Then bereavement throws up an actuality of a different order. The collection ends with a mock-sonnet sequence, written during the pandemic, in which the poet tries all the doors and windows to find her, to speak with her - love poems where love has not changed but its circumstances have. 'Will I want ever to get out of this place - the past of the poems in this book?' the poet asks. There are no answers, yet.

Bill Nighy stars as the suave thespian sleuth in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation Life is good for Charles Paris. He's moved back in with his estranged wife, and has landed a plum stage role as Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night. But it can't last. First his attempts to woo Frances fall flat, then the play's director is taken ill with gastric trouble. His replacement, Romanian wunderkind Alex Radelescu, is determined to take the play in a radical new direction - with or without Charles. When a second member of the company falls sick, Charles begins to suspect a poisoner is on the loose - and the next victim could be him. Can he unmask the culprit before this comedy turns into a tragedy? Adapted by Jeremy Front, this engaging dramatisation stars Bill Nighy as Charles Paris, with Suzanne Burden as Frances, Jon Glover as Maurice and Julian Rhind-Tutt as Alex Radelescu. 'Always a treat' Gillian Reynolds, Sunday Times Production credits Written by Simon Brett Adapted by Jeremy Front Produced and directed by Sally Avens First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 30 August-20 September 2006 Cast Charles Paris - Bill Nighy Frances - Suzanne Burden Maurice - Jon Glover Ken Carter - Peter Wight Alex Radelescu - Julian Rhind-Tutt Vivienne Marlin - Elizabeth Bell Gavin Scholes - Thomas Wheatley Jack Bradley - John Cummins Sally Luther - Tracy Wiles Ben Ritson - Tom Lawrence Vasile Bogdan/Scott - Ryan McCluskey Talya Northcott - Alex Tregear Inspector Dewar - Kim Wall (c) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. ? 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

A brand new full-cast BBC radio dramatisation, starring Bill Nighy as Charles Paris 'Charles Paris is Bill Nighy... It's the role he was born to play.' The Telegraph August in Edinburgh, and thousands of performers of all stripes have flocked to the Fringe Festival. Among them is Charles Paris filling in at the last minute after a student actress breaks a leg and has to drop out. Showcasing an earnest one-man show in a sea of stand-up comics is a bit of a gamble, but at least he's acting, and with a Charles Paris production, what could possibly go wrong? Charles is sharing a venue with a group of student actors, but when one of the performers dies in a freak stabbing, the actor-cum-amateur sleuth smells a murderous rat and decides to investigate. When the killer sets his sights on him, Charles realises that he must be getting close to the truth - despite not having a clue what's going on... Help arrives in the form of his agent, Maurice, in town scouting for talent, and Charles' 'semi-detached' wife, Frances, who inadvertently finds herself directing Charles' show. The three become drawn into the mystery, and find themselves playing detectives. This unlikely trio are way out of their depth, but when has that ever stopped Charles Paris? Jeremy Front's witty drama stars Bill Nighy as Charles Paris, with Suzanne Burden as Frances and Jon Glover as Maurice. Written by Jeremy Front Based on the novel by Simon Brett Produced and directed by Sally Avens Cast Charles Paris - Bill Nighy Frances - Suzanne Burden Maurice - Jon Glover James - Roger Ringrose Anna - Natasha K Stone Martin - Connor Curren Laura - Chloe Sommer Angus/Sam - Tom Kiteley Tessa - Joanna Monro Eilish - Catriona Stirling Sophie - Fiona Skinner First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9th-30th June 2023 ©2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd