AN eccentric poet confined to a lunatic asylum was the subject of a radio drama documentary co-produced by a Worcester man which grabbed second place at an Eastern European festival.

Peter Leslie Wild's BBC Radio 4 programme The Language of Flowers beat 31 other shows at the Prix Marulic Festival in Croatia.

The second of three drama documentaries in the Making Space series, which takes a fresh look at the places where great works of art were created, it featured Christopher Smart, a celebrated poet of religious themes whose eccentricities led to his incarceration in a private asylum.

Diary

It was there that he wrote a diary in the form of a long poem, called Jubilate Agno.

The programme hears biographer Dr Chris Mouncey tell Smart's story, while the events which saw him finally escape the madhouse are dramatised by Tim Jackson.

Mr Wild, who attended the festival, said it was a wonderful honour to receive this award, especially when competing against entries from around the world.

"The whole Making Space series was a true collaboration of two departments in Birmingham working together to make programmes with a difference," he said.