Brian Bilston at Storyhouse, Chester
Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor
Maybe he’s the new Pam Ayres, but Brian Bilston has been described as the Banksy of poetry and Twitter’s unofficial Poet Laureate – with over 400,000 followers on social media, Brian has become truly beloved by the online community. His website homepage says “poet, philosopher, failure” and his About Brian, simply “I write poems”.
Brian Bilston has had several collections of poetry published, including You Took the Last Bus Home and Alexa, what is there to know about love?, described by one reviewer as “the funniest collection of humorous verse I have seen in a long time”. His novel, Diary of a Somebody, was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. He has also written poetry for children, including a collection of football poems, 50 Ways to Score a Goal, while his acclaimed poem ‘Refugees’ was set to music by composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and turned into a picture book.
His latest book is Days Like These: An Alternative Guide to the Year in 366 Poems is described as “a brilliant collection of poems that will take the blues out of Monday, flatten the Wednesday hump and amplify that Friday feeling, from January through to December”. With 366 poems, it’s pretty much a poem for every day of the year, even if it’s a leap year like 2024. Here’s a bit from the blurb: “Each poem is inspired by an event associated with that day – from the invention of television to World Bee Day; from Ada Lovelace Day to the appearance of the first Barbie; from the death of Agatha Christie to the beheading of Charles I.”
