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Early Life
He was born in November 9, 1937 in Litherland. It is a part of north Liverpool, a city with which he is firmly associated in most people's minds. -
Period: to
Education
He was a pupil at St Mary's College in Crosby. Then he studied French and Geography at the University of Hull.The poet lived in one of the university residences, Needler Hall, for three years from 1955 and worked as a hall librarian. -
Poetry
As a poet, he came to national prominence through the publication of The Mersey Sound in 1967. The Mersey Sound is an anthology of poetry by three Liverpool poets: Brian Patten, Adrian Henri and himself. The title of the anthology was a conscious association of the three Liverpool poets with the musical phenomenon caused by the eruption of the Beatles. -
The Scaffold and Grimms
1963 - 1973
He was a member of the pop music/poetry group 'The Scaffold'. The Scaffold performed a mixture of comic songs and comedy sketches. In 1971 Grimms was formed, originally as a merger of the Scaffold, the Bonzo Dog Band and the Liverpool Scene. -
Television
Poet appeared in All You Need Is Cash, a mockumentary detailing the career of a Beatles-like group called The Rutles. -
Other activities
One of his most unusual compositions was created in 1981, when he co-wrote an "electronic poem" called Now Press Return with the programmer Richard Warner. -
Other activities
He wrote the lyrics for an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows , first staged in Washington, DC, in 1984. -
Other activities
In 1991 he made a programme called Equinox: The Elements for Channel 4 -
Awards
He won a Cholmondeley Award in 1998. -
Awards
He has won the Signal Poetry Award twice: first in 1984 with Sky in the Pie, then with Bad, Bad Cats in 1999 . -
Awards
He held a D.Litt from the University of Hull, and was honoured The Freedom of the City of Liverpool in 2003. The same year his Collected Poems was published. -
Recent awards
In 2005 he was awarded the CBE of the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to poetry. -
As Far As I Know
In 2012 his latest poetry collection is As Far As I Know was published.
