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Full name:
Age: Family:
Where do you live?
Where is Retford?
Have you always lived in Retford?
CLAIMS TO FAME …The following have all written introductions for books by
Paul Cookson: I have been the compere at several Slade Fan Club Conventions I have performed with Mike Peters (ex-Alarm). The Housemartins once stayed at our house – the week before “Happy Hour” went into the charts. I have regularly performed with the likes of Roger McGough, Michael Rosen, Jacqueline Wilson, Quentin Blake, Colin McNaughton etc. at festivals and World Book Day events. A long time ago, I ran a small poetry press with Henry Normal – The Amazing Colossal Press. One of the publications was The Live Poets Society and featured work from Dave Gorman. I once performed in 25 libraries on one day – thanks to a motorcycle side car! I was once a substitute poet for John Cooper Clarke (and I did very well!) What is your definition of poetry? Here are a few I like said by other people…
Poetry is …
Performance
poetry is like ordinary language but turned up a bit. I like the idea that
anyone can write poems and that often the best ideas are the simplest
ones. Poetry is about words that you like – for whatever reason. The great
thing about poetry is that it can be everything you want in writing
covering every emotion. I love it! |
When did you do your first book? When I was 18, I did a little pamphlet type of thing called Growing Older Soon, which I sold to people for 40p. Shortly after that, I did a couple of books with a school friend – Cliff Woodcock, who did some fantastic artwork. Whose poetry do you read most now? I actually read 1000’s of poems by loads of different poets – especially when I’m editing for a book, but my current favourite poets are people like Gareth Owen, Val Bloom, David Harmer, Ian McMillan, Roger Stevens, Lindsay MacRae, Mike Harding … When and where do you write your poems? If I am not working in schools, I spend time at home writing. Usually though, I write in trains, hotel rooms, staff rooms – here, there and everywhere and often in short bursts, adding to ideas over time. Once I’ve drafted them and tried them out a few times with kids to get the feel of the poem, I’ll type them up and test drive them in performances, sometimes changing bits here and there. How many poems have you written? Thousands – but not all of them good! What does happen though is that the good ones filter through and have a life of their own. When did you start editing books? I had a few poems accepted by David Orme for his first football book – Ere We Go! – and then for his monster anthology – Dracula’s Auntie Ruthless – and thought that I must be doing something right, so I came up with a few ideas for anthologies and sent them to David – he sent them back and suggested that I send them to Macmillans. I did just that and eventually had one accepted … then another … and a few others. It’s just snowballed … and long may it continue to do so! What is editing an anthology like? It’s a bit like setting poetry homework! Each selection has to be balanced – short, long, rhyming, non-rhyming, funny, thoughtful, male and female poets, male and female voices – all these aspects play a part in the making of a good anthology. First of all, I send a request letter out to lots of poets (I have about 400 names and addresses) asking them to submit poems about the subject and send them to me by a certain date. Then I work with my editor at the publishers and we finalise the selection. Then it is a case of writing to the poets and offering them a fee for their work. After that, I hand it over to the publisher who then commissions artwork etc. and wait for it all to come together. Which has been the most successful anthology? The Works has sold more than any of the other books I‘ve worked on. Which is your favourite book or anthology? Usually the one that has just come out! At the moment, Ordinary Words, In Two Minds, 42 and Pants On Fire!
If you
could have one wish about your writing, what would it be? I would like
the time to develop all the ideas I have, so I suppose my wish would be to
get a large advance of money, which would mean that I could have the time
and security to write. |
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What about favourite poems of your own? There are about 25 poems that I regularly perform in primary schools, and the same again for secondary schools and these have stood the test of time. I do go back to old poems and it is like discovering an old friend, or new poems come along and jostle for attention. Also, it depends what sort of mood I’m in! Mum Used Prittstick, Captain Concorde, The toilet seat has teeth!, The Salmon with a hat on …, Father’s Hands … are all firm favourites that I will always perform. Are there any poems you wish you had written? David Harmer’s Mr. Moore - great chorus, very simple but superbly effective; Henry Normal’s Drinker’s Prayer; John Cooper Clarke’s Beezley Street, and Haiku … mind you, I have adopted them and regularly perform the first two. Every time I read a poem that I like there’s part of me that thinks I wish I’d thought of that! |
What advice would you give to any aspiring poets? Read as much poetry as you can, even stuff you don’t think you’ll like, and write as much poetry as you can – copy styles and genres, set yourself targets – write a funny poem, a sad poem, a rhyming or non rhyming poem… experiment with different styles and voices. Read out your poems – to yourself, to friends, to your class… get the feel of the words. The sound of the words will often give you ideas regarding repetition, rhythm etc., poems are made for the voice and the ears – learn them, get to know them. Also you will know as you read them out loud whether they work or not. If they don’t, don’t be precious, be honest – go back and rework them, and keep going – let no-one steal your dreams! Do you write other things? I write many poems that are more adult – about things that happened to me when I was growing up so that the reference points are more appropriate to people of my own age. In fact I have at least two collections of adult stuff that has been consistently rejected (18 times so far). The working title for one of them is THE GLAM ROCK FOOTBALL LOVE POEMS – all about Slade, football, growing up etc.
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