Brendan Hawthorne, Wednesbury Poet Laureate

Its 2002 and I am in Wednesbury Library.  I haven`t written or performed any poetry for years because I felt I had nothing left to say: besides which, I had been concentrating on my legal career, raising kids and learning the dubious joys of gardening, DIY and paying off a mortgage.

Wednesbury was having an "arts festival" (which sounded like an oxymoron) and I decided to go along and have a laugh.  I am no stranger to Wednesbury: my Grandad used to work in the Co-Op that was at the  bottom of Union Street, I attended college in the town and, as a child, my parents used to take me for "traditional Black Country fare" - grey peas, chips and faggots.  At school and university my Black Country roots were beaten out of me and if anybody asked where I came from (horror!  I had an accent!) I would simply say " Birmingham".  In the right-on, politically correct years of the late 1980s the word s "Black Country" sounded racist - a bit like "Baa Baa Black Sheep".

One wonders whether people just had too much time on their hands to find nothing better to worry about.

I saw a sign that proclaimed "poetry workshops" and booked myself in with a couple of middle aged men that looked like a nephew and uncle combination: they said their names were "Bren and Geoff" and my challenge was to describe, in words, the scene of Bob Dylan standing in the rain (in his sunglasses) in 1966 on his way to the Anglesey Ferry.  Right.

Brendan Hawthorne I had never heard of before but Geoff turned out to be none other than Geoff Stevens, Editor and Publisher of Purple Patch Magazine, described by The Times as "a national treasure".  Before his death earlier this year, geoff had run Purple Patch for 36 years, hosted the Purple Patch Awards and Convention at The Barlow Theatre and encouraged a generation of young poets to follow careers in poetry and publish their own work.  In turn, Purple Patch had spawned a wide array of other small presses - and it is estimated that, before his death, Geoff was this country`s most published poet with an output of 250 poems being published around the world a year.

And here he was, sitting opposite me, asking me to write about Bob Dylan in the rain. 

He was also used to submit poems to the Wolverhampton University Student Union Newspaper, Sheepsclothing when I was Poetry Editor (1992 - 1994) under the pen name of Arthur Person (after a song by The Smiths - Half A Person).  I initially thought he might be a mature student (another oxymoron) but carried on publishing them anyway because they were good.

Fast forward 10 years.  The legacy Geoff left when he died this year is immense.  His work has touched the lives of many poets and his light shines brightly in us all, including Brendan Hawthorne.  Jae Alexander Linsey and I are nominating him for Wednesbury`s first Poet Laureate.  Why?

1. Brendan lives and works in Wednesbury
2. He ran Poetry Wednesbury for many years
3. He was commissioned  by Sandwell Council to write a series of poems about the towns within Sandwell in 2005 called The Sandwell Partnership;
4. He is poet in residence of the Crystal Tea Rooms in Stourbridge and Wightwick Manor in Wolverhampton;
5. He was commissioned by Morrisons to write poetry for the opening of their new store in Wednesbury;
6. He writes and performs in Black Country dialect;
7. He was Poet Laureate of The Stirrer for a year and wrote about issues on the internet that affected Black Country folk.

Brendan performs at Wednesbury Town Hall on 8th August with his song writing partner Kerry for their new CD, So It Goes and the Leader of Wednesbury Council, Councillor Elaine Costigan has been invited, plus former Sandwell Mayor Bill Archer.

Brendan performs with Kerry tomorrow night at Bloxwich Library Theatre (alongside Krissy Griffiths, Jae Alexander Linsey and Colin Bird) for the regular adult open mic night.  I will be MC.

So what`s all this got to do with Scouting4FUNds?

1. Brendan performed with 6th Walsall Scouits for their final performance of the play Harvest Home (World Citizen) on 12th May at the Salvation Army Chapel in Willenhall - all proceeds to the orphanage in Tanzania (Forver Angels);
2. Brendan performed at the after-show party at 6th Walsall HQ in Walsall to raise funds for 6th Walsall;
3. Brendan performed on the Willenhall Olympic Stage on 30th June as the Torch came through the town;
4. Brendan contributed towards the poetry workshops on 30th June;
5. Brendan has kindly agreed to write a review of Jae`s new poetry book.