Announcing Roger McGough to support our poetry prize

With the closing date for entries to our poetry competition just a few weeks away, we are busily making plans for the poetry celebration and prize giving event. We are delighted that the wonderful poet, performer and Radio 4 presenter Roger McGough has agreed to present the prizes and read some of his own poetry at the event, which will take place in St Margaret's Church, Warnham on 14th October 2023.

Poet Roger McGough, credit Allan Mellia

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, and had several top 20 singles including the hit song ‘Lily the Pink’. 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.

With the attendance of one of Britain's best loved poets and plans for music and poetry performances it's bound to be a wonderful evening. Look out for details of ticket sales closer to the date. Meanwhile, there is still time to take part in the competition, and full details of how to enter can be found on the competition page of our website. We are very pleased to have the support of our prize sponsors, The Radical Tea Towel company and The Steyning Bookshop.

We always welcome offers of sponsorship for our events. If you would like to support our project in this way, please get in touch via our email address shelleymemorialproject@btinternet.com .