bit more punk

Don’t get me wrong, I love my poetry. There’s something about getting up in front of an audience, spinning your words, and showing them that poetry isn’t the awful dead stuff they thought they learned at school (it’s just people saying words, folks!) which makes me incredibly happy. It can be in a pub or at a festival – like yesterday – or pretty much anywhere, but not many things beat someone saying I don’t like poetry, but that… that was OK.

Yeah, not much beats that.

But I also really enjoy finding untold stories and getting them into print. It’s not too great a stretch for a poet, if you think about it, and I’ve never been someone to settle for having just a single string to my bow. A few years ago I stumbled into working with Steve Ignorant on his autobiography. Then Ross Lomas of GBH and myself spent weeks recording his life story, which became the best-selling book City Baby.

Now, the manuscript for But after the gig… the life story of Tezz Roberts of Discharge, has gone to the printers. I can tell you it’s one hell of a rollercoaster ride. It’s on sale now at Ignite Books, and you can order a copy here. It’s well worth it.

Oh, and if you’re visiting Ignite, my books of poems are also on sale there. Just saying… 😉