Poetry: Roger McGough
Popular poet Roger McGough talks to The Guide ahead of his appearance at the Oundle Festival of Literature
Popular poet Roger McGough talks to The Guide ahead of his appearance at the Oundle Festival of LiteraturePOET Roger McGough turned down trips to Columbia and Dubai this year – but there was no way he was going to snub a visit to the Oundle Festival of Literature.
Roger is one of the highlights of the 2007 festival, which starts in earnest, in the town near Peterborough, this weekend.
One of Britain's best loved poets, Roger's voice has been a familiar sound on both the television and radio since the '60s.
As the presenter of BBC Radio 4 programme Poetry Please, Roger still immerses himself in modern poetry as well as digging out the odd gem from the past.
At the moment, he is promoting his autobiography, Said And Done, which includes fascinating insights into his encounters with Bob Dylan, Salman Rushdie and John Lennon.
Speaking to The Guide ahead of his prose evening reading at the Great Hall, in New Street, next Thursday evening, Roger said he was looking forward to his first visit to Oundle.
He said: "You get more and more invites the more books you get out. This year alone I have turned down visits to Columbia, Borneo and Dubai, but I am getting too old to be travelling all that way.
"I still love visiting English towns, especially for the festivals. I will be reading some new poems and prose, but will stick a few old bits in as well.
"Some people say that poetry is dying out, but there are a lot of young poets around. It is a making a comeback, but it also has to compete against popular music, which makes it tough to shine through."
Roger was born in Litherland, Liverpool, a city with which he is firmly associated.
In the early '60s he met Mike McGear and John Gorman, both multi-talented entertainers, and together they formed a comedy group called The Scaffold.
The group reached number one in the singles chart in 1968 with their version of Lily The Pink.
Roger was also responsible for much of the humorous dialogue in The Beatles' animated film, Yellow Submarine.
He will not be alone when he performs at The Great Hall, as he will be joined by bestselling poet and novelist Sophie Hannah.
And the pair are among 30 or so literature names who are gracing this year's festival.
Political columnist Roy Hattersley, masterful raconteur Sir John Mortimer, Al Jazeera presenter Rageh Omaar and environmentalist and author of Deep Jungle, Fred Pearce, are four of the bigger names set to appear over the next 10 days.
Festival organisers are also pleased to welcome popular historian Alison Weir, humorist Simon Hoggart and biographer Kate Williams.
Festival patron Margaret Drabble will be talking to
Victoria Hislop, whose book, The Island, was voted a Richard and Judy bestseller, and the former general manager of the hotel featured in Hotel Rwanda Paul
Rusesabagina will reflect on his struggle to find safety and sanity after the madness of the Rwandan genocide.
There will be a real treat for the green-fingered, with the gardening editor of Country Living, Stephanie Donaldson, talking about the book she has co-written with Prince Charles on organic gardening, and, for flower lovers, demonstrations by internationally- acclaimed flower designer Judith Blacklock, who has supplied blooms to many celebrity clients.
The Times travel editor, Cath Urquart, will share her practical tips, tricks and inside knowledge learned from more than 20 years of travelling the world, and Jonathon Kaplan will give a deeply personal account of his work as a wartime surgeon in the most extreme environments of the battlefields, as depicted in his book Contact Wounds.
For full details of all events, dates, times, venues and ticket prices, go to www.oundlelitfest.org.uk.
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