Poet, performer and broadcaster, Roger McGough has published over 100 poetry books for adults and children and has been called ‘the patron saint of poetry’ and ‘the godfather of modern poetry’. He was one of the Liverpool poets, alongside Adrian Henri and Brian Patten who influenced popular culture in the Sixties. The Mersey Sound published in 1967 is one of the bestselling poetry anthologies of all time, selling over a million copies. In the 1960’s with John Gorman, and Mike McGear he formed The Scaffold, performing a combination of comic songs, poetry and sketches who had several top 20 singles including the hit song ‘Lily the Pink’.
He has won numerous awards including The Cholmondeley Award in 1988, received the Freedom of the City of Liverpool in 2001, and was awarded a CBE in 2004. A Fellow of The Royal Society and President of The Poetry Society he presents the popular Radio 4 Poetry Please series. His most recent books include ‘Safety in Numbers’ written during the covid pandemic, as well as books for children, including ‘Over to You’, ‘Crocodile Tears’ and ‘Money Go Round’. Collected Poems of Roger McGough 1959 to 2024 was published in June 2024.
Supported by Penny Pepper
Penny Pepper is an award-winning author, poet, and activist whose stories explore the disability narrative through provocation and humour. Her memoir, ‘First in The World Somewhere’, was published in 2017; her poetry collection, Come Home Alive, in 2018. Her work features in, Elemental (2024), Hemingway Shorts (2021), Poet Town (2025), Mslexia and Litro. Besides her column for Byline Times, Penny’s articles have also featured in The Guardian and, more recently, The Bookseller, in which she highlights the lack of disability representation in fiction. Last autumn, she finished her latest novel, The Widow of Rock-a-Nore, which is currently out on submission. In Penny’s role as a writer, she recently met Queen Camilla, but that is entirely another story… She lives in St Leonards-on-Sea and is represented by Abi Fellows of DHH.
An all-afternoon ticket is available for £35 enabling you to see Parts 1, 2 and 3, or come and go as you please
