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Eimear McBride’s second novel ‘The Lesser Bohemians’ (Faber) takes us into the internal monologue of Eily, who has just moved to London to attend drama school. Eimear sees her writing as part of a proud tradition of Irish writing which plays ‘the game of language’. Eimear’s text is studded with gaps and changes of font - the latter representing what actors call ‘the secondary thought’. For Eimear, the self is like a prism, receiving and giving it out light, and she aims to reflect this in her writing.

Seventeen years ago, while his wife Nicola was pregnant with their second child, Tom Ray contracted sepsis and had to have parts of his limbs and face amputated. Their story has just been made into a film, ‘Starfish’. Tom and Nicola explain their involvement with the writing of the script and consider how it made them feel to see their intimate conversations dramatised. Tom is a writer himself and writing became integral to his recovery process. His daughter was only two when he was recovering from his operations, and although it wasn’t feasible for her to visit him, Tom wrote her stories to maintain their close relationship. He has also been writing a book about his experiences.

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Rachael Allen is the latest emerging poet to present new commissioned work to celebrate Radio 3’s 70 birthday. Her poems are a way of presenting theatrical ideas of herself. Her poems ‘Many Bird Roast’ and ‘Beef Cubes’ examine ideas of anxiety around eating and the historical relationship of animals to society. Rachael’s work is published by Faber.

Rachael Allen has recorded an extra poem for the Radio 3 website. You can listen to ‘The Museum’ .

The comedian Ross Noble likens his comedic improvisation to meditation. Ross tells Ian that he thinks visually rather than in language and that ‘words are a way of delivering the pictures’. As well as explaining how he creates links within his stand-up sets, Ross discusses his Comedy Horror short ‘The Catchment’ which is filled with references to Buster Keaton and Jackie Chan as well as classic horror. ‘The Catchment’ will be screened on Saturday 22nd October as part of Frightfest ( Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Square), and Ìýis available from Sky on Demand. Ross’s tour dates are .