THE Liverpool scene was at heart of the 60s British poetry revival, an academic was set to tell an international conference today.

Roger McGough, Brian Patten and the late Adrian Henri – and subsequent Liverpool poets – have played a leading role in widening interest and involvement in poetry in Britain to a much larger audience.

That is the conclusion of Dr Bernardino Nera, of Tor Vergata University, in Rome, who was presenting his findings to the Royal Geographical Society conference in London.

Dr Nera has been studying the relationship between poets from Liverpool and the city since he first spent time here in the early 1970s.

He said: “As a seaport, the city of Liverpool has a quite particular multicultural atmosphere which has played a significant role in its cultural development.

“Liverpool Scene poets had a close relationship with their city and saw developments being pursued to ‘modernise’ the city as a threat to its identity, something reflected in their work.”

He said the 1960s saw Liverpool take on a significant role in opening up involvement in the arts.