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The Verb’s Eartoonist is back. Peter Blegvad has written ‘Kew. Rhone’ (Uniform), a book that expands and reflects on the ideas that underpin his 1977 concept album of the same name. He tells Ian that a non-hierarchical spirit pervades the book, and that it is an ‘exegesis of the mysteries of the record’. Peter’s brand new Eartoon is based on a chapter from ‘Kew. Rhone’ which explores international proverbs.

Paul Gubbins is the editor of ‘Star in a Night Sky (Frances Boutle) an anthology of Esperanto literature. For Paul, Esperanto acts as a bridge between cultures, and he celebrates its rich literary history. He explains that its lack of a fixed word order makes it attractive to poets and other writers. Paul examines Esperanto proverbs, and the language rivalry between the speakers of Esperanto and those who learned an earlier constructed language called ‘Volapuk’

Performance artists and theatre makers Rachel Mars and Nat Tarrab take on images of powerful women from the 1980s in their show ‘The Lady’s Not for Walking Like an Egyptian’. Mixing Margaret Thatcher’s most famous speeches with lyrics from the hits of that decade, Rachel and Nat discover surprising parallels between the rhetoric of pop and the rhetoric of power. The Lady Is Not For Walking Like An Egyptian is touring in April.

The singer-songwriter Duke Garwood has worked with artists as diverse as The Orb and Mark Lanegan. His latest solo album is ‘Heavy Love’ (Heavenly). Duke treats us to a rare performance of a song from the album, ‘Sweet Wine’, which he rarely plays live. Duke explains why he finds the song so difficult to perform, as well as his attraction to music and lyrics that appear to ‘hang together by a thread’