Ian McMillan – Contemporary Poet

Ian McMillan is an English author of contemporary poetry, as well as being a journalist, broadcaster and playwright.

Born in Darfield within the Barnsley area of South Yorkshire, he is famous for his accent, which is very specific to this part of England.

As a writer of poetry, he has been quite prolific, and below are just a few of his books:

  • Against the Grain Nelson, 1990
  • An Anthology from Versewagon (with Martyn Wiley & John Turner) Versewagon Press, 1982
  • Batteries Not Included: 36 Poems Poetry Leeds, 1980
  • Breathless (as editor) Write Around, 1994
  • The Changing Problem Carcanet, 1980
  • Chelp and Chunter: How to Talk Tyke (illustrated by Alex Collier) Collins, 2007
  • Dad, the Donkey’s On Fire Carcanet, 1994
  • How the Hornpipe Failed and Other Poems Rivelin Grapheme, 1984
  • More Poems Please, Waiter, and Quickly! Sow’s Ear, 1988
  • Primary Colours (as editor with Elizabeth Carter) Swaledale Festival, 1996
  • Radio 5 Poems Twist In The Tale, 1993
  • Six: The Versewagon Poetry Manual (editor) Rivelin Grapheme, 1985
  • Talking Myself Home: My Life in Verses John Murray, 2008
  • Tall In The Saddle Doorstop Books, 1986
  • Unselected Poems Wide Skirt Press, 1988
  • Yakety-Yakety-Yakety-Yak! : Poems (with Martyn Wiley) Twist In The Tale, 1993

As well as being an active broadcaster, Ian McMillan is a regular judge of poetry competitions across the UK.

You can learn more about his poetry and listen to some of Ian McMillan’s work at Poetry Archive.