Roger McGough

Roger McGough, the ‘living proof of himself’ and President of the Poetry Society, not only helped kickstart the musical careers of Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, but inspired hundreds, if not thousands, of young poets (well, quite a few) on their poetic journeys.

86 years old and at that awkward age now between birth and death, he puts on a brave face and takes to the stage with a show featuring new poems as well as old favourites.

The show takes audiences on a journey back to key moments of Roger’s life, as he reflects on his Liverpool childhood before World War II, with memories and poems including The Overall Winner and Learning to Read and a throw-back to the 60s and poems of the Mersey Beat. New verses have been added for Lily the Pink which takes a playful update on the Scaffold’s 1968 classic.

As well as laughs, there will be poems about growing old… A Joy to be Old, A Cure for Ageing and Let me Die an Old Man’s Death, which aptly round up the new show, plus the chance to ask questions and a book-signing.

With the gift of many tongues, playful, surreal and tender, McGough ‘a trickster you can trust’ reveals the telling moments of our times.

He has been honoured with a CBE for services to literature and the Freedom of the City of Liverpool. After Lily The Pink, the Aintree Iron, Scaffold, GRIMMS, The Mersey Sound with Adrian Henri & Brian Patten and his Molière adaptations with English Touring Theatre, Roger presents the long-running Poetry Please. The beat goes on.

"The godfather of modern British poetry" Metro
"Brilliantly entertaining, a legend" Chris Hawkins, BBC Radio 6 Music Presenter
"A voice of calm in a world of madness" Nick Dalton, Record Collector
"The patron saint of poetry" Carol Ann Duffy 
"Liverpool's own Poet Laureate" Daily Post