for world clowning, but a definite bonus for our own poetry tradition, they turned him down. Brian said: ‘The best
clowns can tap-dance in a crematorium and get away with it – it’s a pity they never took me on.’ In 1967, along with Roger McGough and
Adrian Henri, he published his first book – the Mersey Sound – which took the literary world by storm. They became celebrities and also symbols (along with the Beatles) of Liverpool’s cultural importance during the 1960s. The book is now a Penguin Modern Classic. ‘My friend Adrian Mitchell said once that ‘most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people,’ said Brian. ‘I think that’s very important for young poets to take on board. You have to write to be understood, to communicate ideas in a way anyone can understand.’ Since then, his works have garnered praise from critics and he has remained relentlessly creative, producing novels, plays and anthologies of poems. His anthology for children, Gargling with Jelly, released in 1987, did for poetry with children what the Mersey Sound had done for adults – it made it accessible and ultimately more popular across the whole country. Brian’s career has seen him work with some true
greats – including actresses like Julie Walters, who had her first role in a children’s’ play he wrote, playing an elephant – and produce work which has been lauded far and wide. He and his colleagues have been credited with inspiring a whole generation of poets, including John Hegley and Benjamin Zephaniah. His latest book was inspired by a particularly bitter winter in the South Hams a couple of years ago. ‘It snowed one night and I just thought about all the animals outside coming in to snuggle up and get warm,’ he said. ‘I haven’t written very much poetry for very young children, but this seemed to be a perfect opportunity – it is simple, sweet and repeats so by the end I hope they will be singing along.’ An important part of any children’s book is its illustrations – and Brian had a very clear idea of the person he wanted. ‘When we discussed the illustrator, I was very keen to use Nicola Bayley - but we were worried she might not take it up as she hadn’t done any books for a while. I’m a huge fan of her work and was so delighted when she said yes. The book, because of its young readers, has to be friendly and her illustrations are just perfect.’ Nicola, who has worked with Michael Morpurgo and Quentin Blake, has brought her instantly recognisable style to the illustrations to the poem’s gentle story of an old scarecrow snuggling up with his friends – The Big
Snuggle Up is exactly what you need on a cold winter’s evening: warm, affectionate and perfectly formed. It was a book which needed a bit of tweaking however, not because of any mistakes or lack of quality on Brian’s part – but simply because is will be published in different languages
‘We had to discuss exactly which animals we
could use to make sure it contained animals people would recognise across the world,’ said Brian. ‘With my adult poetry I won’t change a word, but with this, I can have a stork living in the bathroom as easily as I can have a pig in the kitchen so we tried out a few versions until we were happy. The stork won over the pig because in some cultures pigs aren’t allowed in a house.’ Brian’s latest publication will certainly not be his last: ‘I’ll always want to articulate what’s in me. I could never give up being a writer. It’s an addiction. My advice to a young writer would be nothing arty, just cut up a pencil into three and put each bit in different pockets of different coats – then you can always write when you get inspiration because when inspiration comes you have to write it down, or it will go off and find someone else!’•
Words and Photo By Phil Scoble
ELECTRIC GATES
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mini-advert.indd 1 9/6/10 14:53:35
ISBN 9781849392082 Hardback £10.99 PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2011
PRAISE FOR NICOLA BAYLEY:
‘Bayley’s pictures are characteristically painstaking and gentle, softly lit, finely worked and pretty.’ THE SUNDAY TIMES
‘Nicola’s illustrations are exquisite.’ TIME OUT
‘Wonderfully vivd and rich illustrations.’ GUARDIAN
PRAISE FOR BRIAN PATTEN:
‘His poem’s are made with great skill and honesty.’ BRITISH BOOK NEWS
AN PATTEN AUTHOR NICOLA BAYLEY ILLUSTRATOR
Brian Patten is one of the most accessible and popular poets working today. He made his name in the 1960s as one of the Liverpool poets, alongside Adrian Henri and Roger McGough. He is the author of the all-time cult classivs Gargling With Jelly and Juggling With Gerbils.
Nicola Bayley has illustrated many bestselling and highly acclaimed picture books, including The Mousehole Cat, which was chosen as the British Book Awards Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year in 1991, and Katje the Windmill Cat, which was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2001. Nicola lives in London.
For more information please contact:
Clare Simms at ANDERSEN PRESS, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, SW1V 2SA. T 020 7840 8710 F 020 7233 6263 E
csimms@randomhouse.co.uk
NEW Postcards available on request
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