A Gallery to Play To
The Story of the Mersey Poets
Distributed for Liverpool University Press
256 pages
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10 halftones
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6.1 x 9.3
In the summer of 1967, Tony Richardson of Penguin Books took a chance. Then Penguin’s poetry editor, Richardson devoted the tenth volume of the highly prestigious Penguin Modern Poets series to three unknown writers from Liverpool: Adrian Henri, Roger McGough, and Brian Patten. Little did anyone anticipate that the book produced, The Mersey Sound, would become one of the best-selling poetry anthologies of all time. A Gallery to Play To is an intimate account of the lives and careers of the three poets featured in that 1967 volume—and with unparalleled access to the lives of Henri, McGough, and Patten, the author has produced an indispensable volume for anyone interested in British poetry, popular culture, and literary society over the last forty years. Originally published in 1999, this revised edition includes new interviews with Patten and McGough, as well as a fully updated text and introduction.
"A warm, well-written and unpretentious account of three good men…" --Adrian Mitchell
"Highly enjoyable, accurately descriptive and very well researched…" --George Melly
"Gives a real sense of real people and their and our real and recent poetic roots. Also it’s a good gossipy read."
-- Matt Holland, Poetry Review
"Written with verve, style and great personal insight – a poet writing about poets…" --D. M. Thomas
Contents
Author's Note
Acknowledgements
Introduction
The Fifties and the Beginning of the Liverpool Scene
Roger McGough 1937-1958
Adrian Henri 1932-1956
Liverpool 1957-1961
Brian Patten 1946-1961
1961-1968
The End of the Sixties
The Seventies
The Eighties
The Nineties
The Noughties
Bibliography
Index
For more information, or to order this book, please visit http://www.press.uchicago.edu
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History: General History
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