I imagine that Dudley in the 1950s and 60s wasn’t more or less poetic than any other industrial town, so it’s hard to say where or when I started my lifelong relationship with poetry.

So let me direct you, inevitably, to the year 1967. Being a young radical – stop sniggering, that boy – I was looking for something to challenge the status quo, the kind of poetry we knew then. And then I discovered it: the book that changed my life – Penguin Modern Poets 10, The Mersey Sound, Adrian Henri, Roger McGough, Brian Patten. Here was poetry that was by turns funny, witty, clever, serious; sense and nonsense – but above all modern. Here was poetry that was made out of everyday words and language and talked about The Beatles, Batman, Woolworth’s, CND, etc.

I knew I had to try to write poetry like these gods. Of course it never happened, but at least teaching English in local schools for 36 years gave me the opportunity to continue to enjoy poetry and to try to enthuse others. And to keep dabbling, writing stuff kept safely out of sight in books and folders. Now, who’d have thought in recent years I have had the chance to present my work alongside many others at the excellent open mic events that can be found in Walsall and beyond. I have been member of Worcester Poets for many years.

This is a group that meets four times a year in the Chapter House of Worcester Cathedral on a Saturday morning. Led by one of the group, we spend three hours thinking about and writing poems. Anybody is welcome to join us. Have a look at our blog “Chapter and Verse” at www.chapterandversesite.wordpress.com.

I am also a regular contributor to Walsall Poets when we meet at The Fountain in Walsall, and also an occasional contributor to Yes We Cant at The Pretty Bricks. Throw in Caffe Grande Slam in Dudley and On The Mic at the BMI in Birmingham, and you can see there’s no lack of opportunity to get out there and give your poetry an airing.

You can see some of my work on my blog at www.thepoetryloom.wordpress.com. I’ve also published some poems in a collection called “Handmade Poems”. I’m really looking forward to performing at the Freeverse event in July which will bring together many local poets. Hope to see you there.