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Exclusive Interview with Ian McMillan.
Ian McMillan. Poet? Author? Comedian? Who is he? What is he?
Underneath his many hats Ian is first and foremost a poet. An excellent poet.
However, Ian is also the recipient of one of the University Centre Barnsley's honorary awards, awarded the Doctor of Letters in November 2007. We chatted to him about Graduation Day and about his plans for the future.....
Ian, if I could draw your mind back to November and the University's graduation ceremony, how was the day for you?
It was great. I really enjoyed it. I never went to my own graduation when I graduated from North Staffordshire Polytechnic. I was a bit of a rebel so I didn't want to go. I wish I had now. I really enjoyed this one. Although this is my third honorary award, it's the first from my home town. It was a great day, a real sense of occasion. I loved the procession around the town. It's a good way of sealing the idea of a University into the consciousness of the people in Barnsley. We shouldn't hide away the fact that we've got a University, we should celebrate it.
Despite your two other honorary degrees, that I'm sure are both very special, how does it feel to be awarded in your home town?
It's an honour but also a responsibility because I think you can't have it and then just go away. You become part of the University fabric. The problem in Barnsley is that we can't quite fathom that we've got a University yet. It's going to take a long time for people to understand that. We still think that a University is something that happens elsewhere. I think that the more local people we can get involved in it, the better. So, I think to receive the award was fantastic but I also think it comes with a sense of honour and responsibility because you're representing Barnsley.
The University Centre has now been opened for almost 3 years meaning we'll see some of our first students who took advantage of being able to complete a degree on their doorstep graduate this year. A very proud moment. Are you proud of Barnsley having its own University?
I think it's a great idea. A university can really be the soul of a town. I'm only just beginning to understand what a university is in a way, what a university can do in terms of aspirations and becoming a centre of learning but also dispersing that learning into the community. That's why I like universities like the University Centre Barnsley and universities in places that didn't have one before, they are building it up so that the towns have a future. Like I always say, I want to see the University Centre Barnsley on University Challenge beating places like Oxford 800 - 0.
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council have really embraced the University and Dickie Bird, calls us 'My University'. We already know that universities bring lots of things to a town such as skills and a boost for the economy, but what do you think the University Centre personally means to the people of Barnsley? Do you think they need to get used to the idea that they do have a University in their town and that Barnsley can become a University Town?
I think for a start people who don't want to move away from home but live in Barnsley can go there to get Higher Education in their own town. I think it can be a place where people can do research, where people can go and see things and be part of the life-long learning process. I think in years to come they'll see it all. I think the model of someone moving away for 3 years is flaking away. So we will see community-led universities, like Barnsley, where people can be part of a life long process of learning from my grandson's age, who goes to nursery, right through to university. If people decide that that is what they want, they can now do it in their own town or city. It's a great idea.
I read your article 'Barnsley in the sun' in the Guardian when Barnsley FC were playing down at Wembley. You talk about a traditional Barnsley image. Do you think this image can be changed? Do we want it to change?
I went to a really interesting event recently where the Leader of the Council, Steve Houghton, was saying, 'You can only use the past as a springboard for the future', which is true, you can't look back. Of course we've got a great heritage in Barnsley, you can't forget it but you can't dwell on it either. Often one of Barnsley's problems is that it looked back and only looked forward in a kind of ramshackle way, which is why we ended up with a concrete market place. I think at the moment we've got some visionary people in Barnsley, with great ideas so I think we have to look forward and I think their vision of Barnsley as a 21st century market town is a great idea. The University can be part of that. It's nice when we do things like get to the semi-finals at Wembley because it raises people's ideas of Barnsley. The disappointing thing is that they'll show someone on the TV in a flat cap and what I want to happen, as I've always wanted to happen, is for people to move away if they want to, but then I want people to come back and stay.
And to have a reason to come back?
Yes, because there's employment, there's a nice environment and it's a healthy place. In fact I think Barnsley are winning the battle, I think we are going to see huge changes in Barnsley. We have got a big image to shake off and I think it'll take a while, probably a generation.
I think the one good thing is that although there is a 'flat cap and whippet' image, people do think very warmly of Barnsley.
Yes, I agree. I think it goes back to times like the miners strike when there was a sense of collectivism and community. A lot of people around the country used us as an emblem. And a lot of that has disappeared but a place like the University Centre can be a collective thing. It can embrace all kinds of people.
One of your recent projects, Made in Britain, is very Arts focused. I think this is an area that Barnsley is trying to develop. I know the University are very keen to engage youngsters in arts and culture. If you had a blank canvas, what would you love to do with young people in Barnsley to engage them in the Arts?
I think what I would do is get a pot of money so that each child could have a personal arts portfolio. You could say, ‘You can use this money under the supervision of an artist to decide what you want to do with it.’ So, you could do visual art, you could do words, or music, you could do dance. You could do so-called ‘lower forms’ of art like knitting or crocheting or making a wall. The only problem is with this, which I’ve thought about a lot over the past few years, is that people like me can say ‘Everyone can have a go at it’. Everyone can have a go at a painting or a mural or a book or a weblog, but then it’s my responsibility, and all our responsibilities, to read it. But when do we get the time to read them? Unfortunately I don’t know what the answer to this is. But thanks to places like the University Centre Barnsley the pool of people who are creating stuff is widening, and the audience is staying the same. It’s an interesting dilemma.
What projects have you got lined up over the next few months in between writing for the Chronicle, the Guardian and Barnsley FC?
Well, I’m writing a play at the moment that will be on Radio 4 in the Autumn. It’s quite an interesting one. It’s set in Barnsley and Wakefield and is called Frank. It’s a Barnsley version of Frankenstein. A guy is made redundant and so he goes to the Job Centre and signs on. In his spare time he does window cleaning on the sly and he’s a bit nervous that he’s going to be caught. Because of this, following the Frankenstein story, he makes somebody in his own image that can go down to the job centre and sign on for him. But then the monster gets very ambitious and starts his own window cleaning business and has an affair with the bloke’s wife. I’m also working on some new stuff with the Ian McMillan Orchestra, the band that I’ve got with my musician mates. And my autobiography also comes out in the autumn. It about me, Barnsley and my relationship with the town and the people in it.
Ian’s autobiography is on sale from Thursday 4 September 2008..
