The Poetry Detective broadcast on BBC Radio 4 is about “the poems we carry with us. The poems that speak to us so strongly that we return to them in times of confusion, fear, loneliness or joy. Some of us might choose to scribble a couple of lines on a Post It and stick it to the mirror. Some of us mutter them under our breath like a mantra. Some of us ink them permanently into our skin. Some of us find that lines come back to us, unbidden, across the decades - and transport us to another time and place.”

The Poetry Detective is writer Vanessa Kisuule, who meets people with a poem that is precious to them, and unfolds the history of the poem. Why does it mean so much to them? Who wrote it and how? What's the story behind how it came to be written? How does it work on us?

Michael Longley: Where Poems Come From sees the award-winning poet writer discuss his work in a documentary for BBC Northern Ireland. It reflects the inspiration that Longley has taken from the landscape and wildlife of Carrigskeewaun in County Mayo, which he regularly visits.

The documentary captures the important moments in his life, including meeting his wife Edna, an author and literary critic, while studying together at Trinity College Dublin and his close friendship with Seamus and Marie Heaney. Longley says that when he finishes a poem he celebrates with a dance - "whoopee, whoopee" - before calling his wife Edna to cast her critical gaze over his work for a bit of constructive feedback, adding: "Nine times out of 10 they're good suggestions."