Time to take Stock of a punk poetry icon

The veteran campaigning wordsmith will appear at The Hungry Monk Ale House & Kitchen in Southport, the legendary poet’s first visit to the town.

The sharp-tongued, high energy social surrealist poet and songwriter Attila came to fame 35 years ago on Radio One’s John Peel show as a ‘punk poet’.

Since then he has performed upwards of 3,000 gigs in 24 countries and released more than 20 albums and seven books of poetry.

Manic Street Preachers, Julian Clary, Angelic Upstarts, John Otway, New Model Army, John Cale and Billy Bragg are among the artists who have appeared as his support acts.

Attila is a regular at the Glastonbury Festival and organises his own beer/music extravaganza, Glastonwick. He is also resident poet at Brighton and Hove Albion football club.

A regular contributor to The Independent, The Guardian, Time Out, the NME and the Morning Star, he has been at the centre of many political campaigns, including Rock Against Racism, the Miners’ Strike, Red Wedge, the Anti-Nazi League, and against the two Gulf Wars.

The UK Gin Dependence Party is the title of Attila’s latest book, and that will be available on the night along with his other books and records.

Attila will sing songs and reading poetry from across his vast repertoire.

Commenting on his lengthy career, he said: “You don’t need to be a celebrity to have a wonderful life earning your living doing what you love.

“You just have to have a way with words, the self confidence and organisational ability of Napoleon and a skin thicker than the armour of a Chieftain tank.”

Supporting Attila on the bill will be alternative poet and songwriter John G. Sutton and poet, crime writer and songwriter Ron Ellis.

An ex-cotton weaver and prison warder, John hails from Clayton-le-Woods and is the editor of online magazine Psychic World. He has written several books on psychic phenomena including the best-selling Psychic Pets.

John currently has his own show on American radio and operates a fortune telling puppet called Mr Stix.

John has written and recorded with ‘60s pop icon PJ Proby, and will be presenting poems from his new CD.

According to John Max Bygraves once described him as “psychologically damaged” which he took as a compliment.

Ron won the prestigious Sefton Poetry Competition in 1992 and has published two books of poetry Diary of a Discotheque and Last of the Lake Poets. He has written songs for PJ Proby and Judge Dread, and in 1979 his punk song Boys on the Dole reached number seven in the New Wave charts.

Ron is the author of crime novels set in Liverpool and around Lancashire featuring private eye Johnny Ace plus the DCI Glass mysteries.

The show begins at 8pm. Tickets £12 from The Hungry Monk, call 01704 809355 for more details.