Category Archives: Blog

Lonely Boy – Steve Jones, the biography

Posted on June 6, 2018 by garylongden

I was there when punk broke. It was exciting. There was a sense that music, and the way that young people saw the world around them, was changing. The Boomtown Rats, Buzzcocks, Magazine, and Jam first tours, the Clash complete … Continue reading →

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Cacophony of Stardust – Al Barz

Posted on April 17, 2018 by garylongden

A poetry collection review: I have known Al Barz for several years, and seen him perform innumerable times. Live, he has a reputation for quirky, engaging, performance, an appearance is always an event. His first collection, Cacophony of Stardust, draws … Continue reading →

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Football Grounds – memories

Posted on April 10, 2018 by garylongden

I attended my first football game in 1968, Doncaster Rovers v  Barnsley, as a nipper. I was instantly hooked, not simply on the game, but on the ground, on the atmosphere. What follows is a series of recollections of grounds … Continue reading →

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Rosliston Retreat Writing

Posted on April 5, 2018 by garylongden
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Joanna Skelt

Posted on March 27, 2018 by garylongden

    One of the unattractive aspects of growing older is that increasing numbers of people whom you know die. I was saddened today to learn of the death of a past Birmingham Poet Laureate, Joanna Skelt. I did not … Continue reading →

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My Ten Favourite Albums

Posted on March 19, 2018 by garylongden

Mal Dewhirst has been promoting “My ten favourite albums of all time”, along with Gary Carr and Jayne Stanton. Just ten was agonising. Favourite? But there are so many. How coud I leave out David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” and “Low”, … Continue reading →

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Trump, Brexit & Beyond – Paul Francis

Posted on March 18, 2018 by garylongden

Paul Francis is an inveterate, irrepressible, poet. His content and preferred topics are contemporary, his choice of form traditional. His poems are conversational in style, it is as though you are sitting down in a pub with him. “So Paul, … Continue reading →

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Inspired in Caersws FESTIVAL – Mid Wales, 21/22nd April 2018

Posted on March 15, 2018 by garylongden

I want to do a feature on this forthcoming wonderful festival. Gregory Leadbetter was one of the star turns of Lichfield’s Poetry Alight in 2017, David Calcutt and Keith Chandler, who are appearing on July 2nd and May 22nd respectively, … Continue reading →

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World of Sport Wrestling

Posted on March 12, 2018 by garylongden

I was in Derby market, sitting down for a cup of tea when I Iooked up at the walls. To my surprise and delight, they were covered in framed posters of wrestling bouts at the Derby Assembly Rooms in the … Continue reading →

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An Audience With Martin Kemp – Derby Theatre

Posted on March 12, 2018 by garylongden

I was a punk fan. I was also a music fan. As punk splintered into New Wave, which in turn spawned the New Romantic movement, Spandau Ballet stood out alongside Duran Duran. They were cool, they looked different, borrowing the … Continue reading →

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