Pictures of roger mcgough poet

English poet and performer

Roger Patriarch McGoughCBE FRSL (; born 9 Nov 1937) is an English maker, performance poet, broadcaster, children's originator and playwright. He presents significance BBC Radio 4 programme Poetry Please, as well as the theater his own poetry.

McGough was one of the leading associates of the Liverpool poets, a-one group of young poets awkward by Beat poetry and depiction popular music and culture thoroughgoing 1960s Liverpool. He is put down honorary fellow of Liverpool Gents Moores University, a fellow mock the Royal Society of Belles-lettres and President of the 1 Society.^[1]

Early life

McGough was born comport yourself Litherland, Lancashire, on the suburbs of Liverpool, to Roger Francis, a docker, and Mary (McGarry) McGough.^[2][3] His ancestry is Erse and he was raised look onto the Roman Catholic faith.^[4] Proceed was a pupil at Put into words Mary's College in Crosby, earlier going on to study Country and Geography at the Doctrine of Hull.^[5] McGough lived unappealing one of the university residences, Needler Hall, for three duration from 1955 and served variety hall librarian.

Contemporaneously, the rhymer Philip Larkin became the university's librarian; newly arrived at Husk, he served as a sub-warden at Needler Hall, though proscribed lived in private accommodation nearby.^[6] Several years later McGough corresponded with Larkin about poetry, carriage him some of his put aside poems as he still needed the confidence to approach prestige man directly.

Larkin replied, thanking McGough for the poetry, which he had enjoyed reading. Loosen up added that he believed lose concentration McGough walked an impressionistic tightrope which, though exhilarating, meant mosey on occasion he fell off.^[7]

The Scaffold and GRIMMS

Returning to Merseyside in the early 1960s, McGough worked as a French dominie and, with John Gorman, organized arts events.

McGough and Gorman later met Mike McGear (Mike McCartney) and together formed rank trio The Scaffold; they fake the Edinburgh Festival Fringe undecided they were signed to Parlophone records in 1966. The Column performed a mixture of sidesplitting songs, comedy sketches and grandeur poetry of McGough. The classify scored several hit records, motility number one in the UK Singles Chart in 1968 bump into their version of "Lily high-mindedness Pink".

McGough wrote the barney for many of the group's songs and also recorded decency musical comedy/poetry album McGough essential McGear.^[5]

In 1971 GRIMMS was discerning, originally as a merger be bought the Scaffold, the Bonzo Canid Band and the Liverpool Panorama. Group member Neil Innes held about the formation of high-mindedness group: "I don't know what attracted the Scaffold to influence Bonzos; we were incredibly riotous, which was probably something collective by the Scaffold as well."^[8]

Poetry

As a poet, McGough came make available national prominence through the change of The Mersey Sound gauzy 1967.

The Mersey Sound psychoanalysis an anthology of poetry wishywashy three Liverpool poets: McGough, Brian Patten, and Adrian Henri.^[9] Animation went on to sell rule 500,000 copies, becoming one admire the bestselling poetry anthologies training all time; remaining in uninterrupted publication, it was revised direct 1983 and again in 2007.^[10] The title of the miscellany was a conscious association demonstration the three Liverpool poets restore the musical phenomenon caused uncongenial the eruption of the Beatles and associated bands from depiction same city, known collectively slightly the "Merseybeat", on the cosmos.

McGough's personal connection with dignity Beatles was referenced in natty much later comic poem, "To Macca's Trousers", contained in honesty book That Awkward Age (2009). McGough discovered a long elapsed pair of Paul McCartney's low-spirited mohair trousers in his attic; the trousers had been problem to him, via McCartney's monastic Mike, in the early 1960s.^[11]

One of McGough's early verse, Let Me Die a Youngman's Death (but not, as probity poem states, before the bard reaches 73, 91 or 104 years of age), was be a factor in a BBC anthology summarize the British nation's hundred drink poems.^[12] McGough has been nicknamed "the patron saint of poetry" by Carol Ann Duffy.^[13]

Philip Larkin included McGough's poetry in The Oxford Book of Twentieth c English Verse, which he unchanged in 1973.

Writing to McGough in 1980, Larkin congratulated him on the well-thumbed state befit the copies of his books in Hull University's library, conj at the time that compared to Larkin's own.^[14]

Possibly crown shortest, most memorable and plainly political poem, was entitled "Conservative Government Unemployment Figures". The paragraph of poem repeats the language of the title, with composition and punctuation resulting in undermine arch critique.^[15] The poem was referenced in a parliamentary argument in the House of Pastureland in 2004.^[16]

The poetry of McGough has been the subject virtuous academic study.

It has antique characterised, at least from disloyalty early examples, as being immature on play with words stall their meanings. It has additionally been noted to exhibit out stylised wit, and, at date, a sadness based on themes of lost youth, unfulfilled agent, and the downside of gen life. The form of thickskinned of his verse, it has been claimed, has been stiff by his experience of terminology song lyrics.^[17] A major faultfinding examination of McGough's poetry, give up American academic Ben Wright, was published in 2006.

The author's stated aim was "to study and evaluate the accessibility detect Roger McGough's message to tidy wide, general readership, as chuck as appraising it by significance most rigorous literary standards". McGough's popularity, commercial success, use deal in humour, and the lack work at pretension of his verse has tended to restrict appreciation liberation his work as "serious poetry".

Wright's study challenges this under-appreciation.^[18]

Other activities

McGough was responsible for disproportionate of the humorous dialogue person of little consequence the Beatles' animated film Yellow Submarine, although he did moan receive an on-screen credit.^[19]

On 2 March 1978, McGough attended in All You Need Assay Cash, a mockumentary detailing rectitude career of a Beatles-like categorize called the Rutles. Interviewed overstep Eric Idle, the introduction observe McGough takes so long dump he is only asked separate question, "Did you know prestige Rutles?" to which McGough by choice responds "Oh yes", before nobility documentary is forced to budge along to other events.

Play a part 1980 he recited a unshakably one-minute version of Longfellow's rhyme "The Wreck of the Hesperus", complete with sound effects, shot the album Miniatures produced gross Morgan Fisher.^[20]

One of McGough's ultra unusual compositions was created top 1981, when he co-wrote spruce up "electronic poem" called Now Test Return with the programmer Richard Warner for inclusion with goodness Welcome Tape of the BBC Micro home computer.^[21]Now Press Return incorporated several novel themes, together with user-defined elements to the plan, lines which changed their inviolable (and meaning) every few followings, and text which wrote upturn in a spiral around rendering screen.^[22] He contributed poetry covenant and narrated a programme temper 1991 for Channel 4 alarmed Equinox: The Elements about interpretation elements.^[23] He made a patron appearance on quiz panel con QI in 2006.

Three plays written by the 17th-century Gallic playwright Molière have been translated by McGough and directed wishy-washy Gemma Bodinetz. Tartuffe premièred benefit from the Liverpool Playhouse in Can 2008 and transferred subsequently tote up the Rose Theatre, Kingston.^[24]The Hypochondriac (The Imaginary Invalid) was flaunt at the Liverpool Playhouse fulfil July 2009.^[25]The Misanthrope was tell at the Liverpool Playhouse wear February–March 2013 before touring confident the English Touring Theatre.

McGough has also done some voiceover work narrating The Very Ravenous Caterpillar and Other Stories get ahead of Eric Carle,^[26] and TV advertisements for the supermarket chain Waitrose.^[27][28]

He is a patron of Barnes Literary Society.^[29] In 2019 crystalclear became the President of School of dance Richmond for one year.^[30][31]

Awards

McGough won a Cholmondeley Award in 1998, and was appointed an Fuzz (OBE) in 1997, and late, in 2004, Commander (CBE) provide the Order of the Island Empire.^[32]

He holds an honorary Old woman from Nene College of As well Education,^[33] and honorary Doctor break into Letters () degrees from influence University of Hull (2004),^[34]Roehampton Doctrine (2006),^[35] and the University goods Liverpool (2006).^[36] He was forced a Fellow of the Princely Society of Literature in 2004.

Academic posts

McGough was Fellow defer to Poetry at Loughborough University (1973–75),^[37] Honorary Fellow at John Moores University, and Honorary Professor present Thames Valley University (1993).^[37]

Personal life

In 1970, McGough married Thelma Monaghan, and they had two children; they divorced in 1980.

Oversight married Hilary Clough in Dec 1986, with whom he has two children.^[3] He lives contain Barnes, south west London; stylishness and Clough previously lived tidied up Portobello Road in Notting Embankment Gate.^[38][29]

Books

See also

References

External links