Talking myself home : my life in verses

A regular on Radio 4, he had been described by the Observer as the funniest, quirkiest, sharpest poet, comedian and broadcaster in the business.

Born in Yorkshire in 1956, he still lives there today and is poet-in-residence at Barnsley FC. With signature down-to-earth charm, Talking Myself Home tells Ian's life story in poems.

Hilarious memories blend with acute observations: from his formation of Barnsleys first folk-rock band Oscar and the Frog and his stint working at a tennis-ball factory, to raising his three children and coming to terms with his parents' deaths.

It is the story of a place where coal-pits once dominated the skyline.

With its milk floats and jumble sales, municipal library and church halls, it is a small corner of the world.

Yet its a corner that sings. Talking Myself Home is also Ian's personal homage to the power of words in shaping his life. And these playful, haunting poems are, themselves, testaments to the imaginative delights of words.