BRASS part of Black Dyke Arts Festival with cartoonist Tony Husband. Photo courtesy of John Stirzaker
more photos - see gallery

ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA
POET IN RESIDENCE
"I’m as pleased as punch, or rather Falstaff, to report that I’ve just been appointed Poet In Residence for English National Opera, perhaps due to my love of words and music and perhaps due to the fact that from the side I look like the kind of chap who should be singing tenor in something Wagnerian."

Of course Opera is poetry with tunes;
A language as bright as two moons
I’ll rhyme like a birdy
Of my love of Verdi
Whose notes rise like soaring balloons.

Of course Opera is weighty or light;
Broken hearts on a Saturday night.
So I’ll spout to commission
Twixt act one, intermission:
It’s not over till the fat poet writes!

Ian hosts hit weekly show The Verb on BBC R3, dedicated to investigating spoken words around the globe.  

‘The John Peel of poetry’ Alec Finlay
‘Jovial Poetic Troll’ Mark Radcliffe  

He’s been a regular on Newsnight Review, The Mark Radcliffe Show, The Today Programme, You & Yours, Any Questions, Quote Unquote, Have I Got News For You? and now Just A Minute. Other radio includes comedy series Street and Lane written with Dave Sheasby  -  ‘just the right amount of playfulness to take the quotidian into the comic’ The Guardian. He’s the 22nd Most Powerful Person in Radio. It says so here in The Radio Times. 

'It was a terrific performance and you went down a storm. People loved it and you pitched it absolutely perfectly for the audience...' Steve Minby, Chief Exec, National College for Leadership of Schools and Children's Services

'Last year's Speech Day went on and on and on. Relentless. Woke up from a boredom doze and it was still going... Today I laughed so much I was crying.' Amanda

He is Poet in Residence for The Academy of Urbanism, a cutting edge group devoted to defining & driving our urban environments.  

'an inspiring figure, an encouraging & democratic spirit, a strong & popular poet and one of the funniest people in Britain’ Poetry News
'The man’s a genius! We had a great time and the client was more than satisfied’ David Burnby Associates
'It cleared me chest something wonderful' Theatre By The Lake, Kendal
‘I think everyone there truly, madly and deeply loved the contribution you made to our event today, Ian. I’ve seldom seen over 100 people crying with laughter, and never in the context of a leaders’ conference. And woven into it were some really clear messages about the importance of place, the importance of people, and the need to see the Nobel prize winner in everyone we meet.' Peter Stott, Executive Director, HOME Group

Ian is poet-in-residence for The Academy of Urbanism and Barnsley FC. He’s UK Trade & Investment’s Poet, Yorkshire TV’s Investigative Poet and Humberside Police’s Beat Poet. Ian is Visiting Professor at Bolton University . He’s an honorary doctor of Sheffield Hallam University , North Staffs Polytechnic and most recently University Centre Barnsley  -  Huddersfield University . ‘You can call me Doctor, Doctor…’  

He has been a poet, broadcaster, commentator and programme maker for over 20 years. The last 12 months have seen him exploring language & communication with students, teachers, education policy makers, local authority officers, politicians and business communities.  

The Ian McMillan Orchestra was featured on The South Bank Show and at BBC Proms Plus. www.theianmcmillanorchestra.com  
'verbal wit and brilliant musicianship makes it a kind of Flanders and Swann with the subject matter firmly uprooted from London to Yorkshire. I love Flanders and Swann so that’s quite a compliment.’ www.thejazzmann.co.uk 
'‘I’ve laughed so much, my face hurts’ Coventry Young Writers' Festival

His verse autobiography is Talking Myself Home (John Murray Publishing).

In 2007, Ian McMillan was appointed Yorkshire Planetarium’s Poet in Space and National Poetry Day Poet-in-Residence.  

‘I’ve been going to business dinners for forty years and you’re the best speaker I’ve ever heard!’ CBI Yorkshire & Humberside  

‘Easily the funniest and most entertaining awards presentation I have photographed in over 27 years of professional photography…’ Giles Rocholl, Former Picture Editor, Yorkshire Post. www.gilesrocholl.com