DESCRIBED by Carol Ann Duffy as “the patron saint of poetry”, Roger McGough CBE, will perform recent works at Nailsworth Festival on Saturday night.
McGough, who has last year published his 100th title, is arguably the most famous of the Liverpool poets - a trio who became famous in the 1960s, with their ground-breaking collection The Mersey Sound.
McGough, together with Brian Patten and Adrian Henri, wrote about down-to-earth subject matter, such as music, girls, and the welfare state. It was looked down upon by the poetry establishment, but readers loved it, and the trio’s anthology went on to sell more than a million copies.
McGough’s radio-familiar voice is instantly recognisable as that of the affable host of BBC Radio 4’s Poetry Please.
Thought provoking and charming, McGough’s poems tend to address everyday concerns through wordplay and rhyme. These compositions, he says, help him “put into words what I couldn’t and can’t say”.
McGough, alongside Mike McCartney (Paul McCartney’s brother) and John Gorman, formed the comic group the Scaffold, which in 1968 reached No 1 with Lily the Pink.
The author of more than 50 books, McGough has also delighted generations of youngsters with his children’s poetry. He was awarded an OBE for services to poetry in 1997, a CBE in 2008 and has been honoured with the Freedom of the City of Liverpool.
He is appearing at Nailsworth Town Hall on Saturday at 7.30pm. Details of this and other festival events at www.nailsworthfestival.org.uk