Poet’s Notebook | 21 February 2019

At the end of January, I had the honour and pleasure of being on Desert Island Discs. I liked Lauren Laverne and enjoyed talking with her. Afterwards I wondered if I’d been careful enough about what I said. Had I made a fool of myself? As the transmission date approached I was anxious. I told hardly anyone about the programme, in the totally unrealistic hope that people wouldn’t notice it was on. But it was OK. A few things I was worried about had been cut in the edit. The post-broadcast feedback has been amazing. I’ve been on the radio quite a lot over the years. Sometimes I’ve had a couple of messages from friends, sometimes nothing at all. This time I’ve received dozens of nice letters and emails from friends, acquaintances, ex-colleagues and a few people I’ve never met. I assume this happens to most people who are on Desert Island Discs.