For the last 20 years Brendan Hawthorne has grown from a fledgling performance poet into a nationally published author. Throughout those years he has selflessly inspired, encouraged and enabled other writers through workshops, mentoring and faciliatating performance spaces to bring spoken word and acoustic music to audiences, culminating in a much-loved and well-attended free admission monthly showcase at Wednesbury Library, which will mark it’s 20th anniversary in 2020. He has empowered people with learning difficulties and barriers to work to embrace creative processes; used creative writing as a therapeutic tool for Young Carers, victims of domestic violence and refugees & assylum seekers and worked on projects of local or historical interest with The National Trust, English Heritage, MADE, the Universities of Birmingham and Worcester and the NHS.
In 2014, Brendan Hawthorne made history by becoming the first Poet Laureate of Wednesbury and in 2017, was voted Creative Master in Creative Black Country’s 100 Masters competition. As well as standard English, he relishes the rich dialect of his native Black Country, bringing vibrant sounds and words to a new audience with modern themes, as well as nostalgia. In 2018, he won the Bill o’ Bowes Prize for written dialect at the National Dialect Weekend in Blackpool.
Alongside producing several books of local interest for Bradwell Books, Brendan is also a playwright. His musical community play Hard Graft: All for 23 Bob encouraged those with no stage or singing experience to become part of a sell-out performance and his radio-style play Two Mothers of Distant Sons takes us from WW1 battlefield to homefront, featuring original songs.
It’s no surprise, then, that music plays a big part in Brendan’s life. He’s a singer/songwriter, performing solo and in the duo So It Goes. He also plays a mean harmonica!
Brendan is no stranger to the media either, being a regular on local radio and television and having had appearances on BBC1’s The One Show and a local interest segment on BBC’s Flog It! He has been interviewed by Adrian Chiles for a BBC documentary and became West Midlands Ambassador for Smooth Radio for a 2-year period. Brendan`s work has formed part of permanent public art displays and he has also appeared on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square as part of Anthony Gormley’s art installation, where he ‘broadcast’ work in his beloved Black Country dialect.
Brendan has headlined many spoken word events, opened the 2019 Blast! Festival Sandwell Pride of Place project and appeared with Poets against Racism at Wolverhampton Literature Festival and, most recently, the Rock the Beacon! Festival.
But throughout, he has maintained his own voice, forged by growing up, living and working in the industrial heartland of England. His work is hard-hitting, sometimes poignant, and frequently thought-provoking. “I write about what moves me, interests me and intrigues me,” says Brendan. “To me, poetry is a concentrate, a distillation, a way of sharing feelings, thoughts and moods in a succinct and accessible way.” His latest collection, Readings from the Dream Factory, is available directly from the author. He is currently working on a new collection and a series of flash fiction stories, as well as a commission for a further play.
For further Information on Brendan or to book performances, workshop facilitation or discuss commissions: http://www.brendanhawthorne.org
