|
"There are famous poets of my generation and younger who have no idea of the debt they owe to Pete Morgan. His poems are dramatic, formally superb, funny, toughly tender, lyrical and never less than entertaining. Ted Hughes was a fan of his." CAROL ANN DUFFY |
|
|
Pete Morgan - POET
Pete Morgan
Biography | Poetry | Readings and Workshops | Literary Agent
"Morgan is a kind of sophisticated camera himself....taking extraordinary untouristy pictures of places round the world" George Mackay Brown
Pete Morgan, a Lancastrian by birth and Yorkshireman by adoption, is a professional poet. At 16 he was living alone in London - pinning his anonymous poems to the trees on Hampstead Heath. Two years later he was serving as an Infantry platoon commander in West Germany. In 1964 he became a confirmed pacifist and resigned his commission. He moved to Edinburgh. There, encouraged by events at the Traverse Theatre, he began to publish his poems and give public readings for the first time. His first two pamphlets were published in Scotland.
In 1971 he returned to the North of England, to live and work in the Yorkshire fishing village of Robin Hood's Bay. In the same year a selection of his work was published in London by Faber & Faber. His first full-length collection, 'The Grey Mare Being The Better Steed', appeared from Secker & Warburg in 1973. This was followed by 'The Spring Collection' (1979), 'One Greek Alphabet' (1980). Morgan's most recent collection of poems, 'A Winter Visitor', celebrated the Robin Hood's Bay area of North Yorkshire and was hailed by The Observer as 'something of a triumph... the rhythmical energy is a delight, but much else derives from the spare Northern realism which Morgan sets down so accurately.'
The same Northern realism also led to the success of his BBC Television series - 'A Voyage Between Two Seas', a water-borne journey across Northern England, and 'The Grain Run', a retracing of the Roman supply route from East Anglia to the Yorkshire town of Aldborough. (Isurium Brigantum). One of Morgan's main interests lies in the oral tradition of poetry and song and his poems have been set to music and recorded by numerous artists including Al Stewart, The McCalmans and most recently The Levellers.
In performance Morgan has few rivals. His command of his craft and his extraordinary delivery transfix his audience - 'The first lines of his poems seem to set off a chain of hidden explosions within him. He twitches. He sways. He stomps. He burns. He looks genuinely relieved and exhausted when it is all over, like a man who has climbed an emotional mountain.' He lives near York with his wife Kate.
"Morgan is not a prolific poet, and more's the pity, for he is one of the best social poets writing in this country...." Martin Booth, Tribune
'I met her quite by accident
-
the good friend of a friend who went
to market in the market hall
the day I went. That's all, that's all.'
'There was some faint affection
when
I saw him stand among the men
that friday afternoon. His style
was different, at least. That smile!'
All that was years and years
ago
before both man and wife could know
how one harsh voice would say 'goodnight',
and one hand clatter out the light.
© Pete Morgan 2000
Late Fire
The fire won't spit. It will
only glow.
The lamp throws a shadow to the wall.
The whole of the world is this one room
Where someone yawns. The clock's impatience
Throws a loud voice to the round world's rim.
Somebody sleeps, a head grows
heavy.
The unknown dream is disconnected
By that quick cut: to fact from fiction.
Somebody wakes and arises, shifts
The unknown world to the next known world.
© Pete Morgan 1998
August
Light by Pete Morgan
If you are interested in learning more about Pete Morgan, or would like to check availability for readings and/or workshops, please telephone: 01482 887537.
Pete Morgan is represented by David Higham Associates - one of the UK's leading literary agencies.
David Higham Associates
5-8 Lower John Street
Golden Square
London W1F 9HA
Switchboard: 020 7434 5900
Fax: 020 7437 1072
Email: dha@davidhigham.co.uk
Pete Morgan photo © Simon Thackray
The Shed's Special Projects
"Weird and wonderful" Daily Telegraph
| Simon Thackray - "performs miracles from his eyrie" Yorkshire Post |
| The Shed Gigs Booking Now - "The smallest show on earth" Guardian |
| Lol Coxhill in a skip - "His latest scheme is rubbish." Guardian |
| Knitted Elvis Wigs - Vogue Knitting and No.1 on Google! |
| The Fish & Chip Van Tour - on the Richard and Judy Show |
| The Yorkshire Pudding Boat Race - Big Breakfast to Sky News |
| North Yorkshire Elvis Bus Tour - Afternoon Play on Radio 4 |
| Mrs Boyes' Bingo - featuring Mark Sanders |
| The Shed Comes To Town - and Malton comes to life! |
| Hat - the original knitting performance |
Trademarks
and Copyright TOP
The Shed® and The Yorkshire
Pudding Boat Race® are registered trademarks
of Simon Thackray T/A The Shed. © Simon Thackray 1992 -
2007.
Yorkshire Pudding Boat™ is a trademark © Simon Thackray.
Address,
Telephone
The Shed, Brawby, Malton,
North Yorkshire YO17 6PY
Telephone +44 (0) 1653 668494
The Shed is supported by Arts
Council England, Yorkshire
and Ryedale District Council.