In this episode, I had the great privilege of speaking to Paul Farley. Paul is a poet originally from Liverpool who has won multiple awards for his work, including the Sunday Times Young Writer of Year, is a member of the Royal Society of Literature and also had the esteemed honour of teaching me creative writing in his post as professor at Lancaster University. 

We discuss: 

• Poets he believes are most worthy of study in state educated classrooms
• The inspiration he takes from the Northamptonshire ‘peasant poet’, John Clare. 
• The IB’s decision to include musicians in their prescribed reading list as poets and whether this suggests poetry has a waning influence on newer generations.
• Paul’s views on the changing face of form in poetry. 
• His relationship with Liverpool now and the ways in which he includes the city or cadence of the accent in his work. 
• And finally, advice he would give to students who find it difficult to access poetry as an art form.

Thanks again to Paul for putting up with my questions so early in the morning and providing ideas that I’ve been considering ever since. 

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Links

Paul’s publications on Amazon