THE “John Peel of poetry” is bringing his blend of humour and verse to Liverpool’s Poetry Cafe next week.
The event is just one stop on Yorkshire poet Ian McMillan’s tour, Talking Myself Home.
His talk covers growing up in Darfield, near Barnsley, a town trying to reinvent itself after the closure of the mining industry, and touches on his parents, the Scottish sailor Lt Cdr J McMillan and Yorkshire girl Olive Wood.
His childhood memories include Oscar the Frog, Barnsley’s first folk-rock band, and Jaws, the town’s first folk-poetry duo.
“In some ways, it’s a tiny life – a few ripples in a pond far from the centre of things, a few lines written in celebration and commemoration of places and times that deserve better,” explains McMillan.
“In another way, it’s a shout of hope, that we can find the centre anywhere and celebrate it.”
Since becoming a freelance writer in 1981, McMillan has enjoyed a successful career as a poet, with regular TV appearances and his own national radio show. He is the official poet for government body UK Trade & Investment, Humberside Police’s Beat Poet and poet in residence at Barnsley FC.
IAN McMILLAN is appearing at the Liverpool Poetry Cafe, held at The Bluecoat on Thursday, May 28.
