The show called Beyond Burns will air on January 7 and will travel through Scotland in a unique poetic travel guide.
The first episode will take place in a soon-to-be-demolished Dundee shopping centre.
Hosted by Alistair Heather born in Angus, he will bring listeners on a tour of Scotland’s modern poetry from Dundee to the Orkney Islands.
Heather records the show in his flat in Dundee and talks about Scottish poets and poems of each place he explores. Each text explored gives a flavour of the culture, the people, the landscape and Scots language dialects spoken around the country.
“Scottish people often don’t get a chance to poke around in our own back garden. Many of us seldom visit Aberdeen or have never been to Dundee. So many folks I meet couldnae find Angus on a map,” said Alistair Heather.
The first episode will open with Taylor Dyson, a poet raised in Scotland. She will read her own poem, Tae Dundee, live from the Scots Language performance night Blether, held monthly in the Keiller Centre.
She will also read the work of Mary Brooksbank, a poet who lived in Lochee in the 20th century and wrote poems and songs about the life and lot of the city millworkers.
“I love that Dundee is represented by two working-class female voices, Taylor Dyson and Mary Brooksbank,” said Heather.
“When I think of Dundee, I think of strong working-class women.
“Hopefully when Radio 4 listeners across the UK hear this programme, it’ll get them thinking of Dundee as a poetic city. And hopefully, it’ll let people know where Angus is on a map.”
READ MORE: Alistair Heather: How I came to change my toxic behaviour around women
The programme will then travel to Angus where Violet Jacob’s poetry, who lived at the House of Dun near Montrose, is explored and then continue north in Aberdeen and Orkney.
Heather will then be joined in his flat by Kathleen Jamie, a Fife-based poet and recent Makar, a national poet of Scotland.
The programme aims to expand and modernise Scotland’s own self-image as a powerfully poetic, multilingual country that can call Burns its own, and so much more beyond him.
“I wanted to introduce people to less familiar parts of their own country in a unique way. Poets have terrific insights into the places they live, so I thought travelling around listening to them would be an enjoyable way to learn about Scotland.
“The voices we hear in the programme are fun, interesting and rich in their use of Scots.
“I’m glad we got to showcase the north east of Scotland’s rich traditions and vibrant Scots present to Radio 4 audiences.”