Jim Bennett (born 1951 in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
) is a British
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
. He performed alongside
Roger McGough
Roger Joseph McGough (; born 9 November 1937) is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme '' Poetry Please'', as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one ...
and
Adrian Henri
Adrian Henri (10 April 1932 – 20 December 2000) was a British poet and painter best remembered as the founder of poetry-rock group the Liverpool Scene and as one of three poets in the best-selling anthology '' The Mersey Sound'', along with ...
in the late 1960s.
Early life
He was adopted into the Bennett family at 2 years of age. He began writing poetry and
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
in the 1960s and was performing his poetry in O'Connor's Tavern in Liverpool long before he was of age to go in legally. He had several jobs after leaving university but in 1976 gave up working in the conventional sense to pursue a life of writing, lecturing and performing his poetry. Bennett has written freelance journalism, short stories and poetry for the years since.
Career
Bennett left Liverpool in the early 1970s and went on to perform his poetry in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. After a period performing as
Richard Dripping, which included appearances at punk venues in Liverpool and
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. After returning to Liverpool he worked at the
University of Liverpool
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
, established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
. He used to perform regularly with the
Dead Good Poets in the Everyman Bistro.
His lecturing has included creating courses in Transport and Safety Studies, Creative Writing, Media, Journalism, Speculative Writing, Travel Writing and various Poetry Courses, for Universities and other educational organisations. He has written 64 (as of 2011) books ranging from Transport Studies, Children's and Poetry, and in addition has written many songs and had a CD of his poetry and songs released, and many booklets and brochures of his poetry have been produced to tie in with various performances.
Bennett's career as a performance poet has earned him many awards amongst which are three
DaDaFest
DaDaFest is a disability arts organisation based in Liverpool, UK. It delivers an international, biennial festival and organises other events to promote disability and deaf arts from a variety of cultural perspectives. Alongside the festival and e ...
awards, and a Silver Stake from the Manchester Slam. He has also won awards for his poetry including the 2006 Frost Award, and the Fante Award in 2002. In 2005 his book ''The Man Who Tried to Hug Clouds'' was voted Best Poetry Book in English at the
Berlin Book Festival. He has been nominated five times for a Pushcart Award and has twice won the performance award the San Francisco Beat Festival and was
Poetry Superhighway Favourite Poet of the Year 2000.
His poetry has been published widely and Bennett has grasped the internet as a tool for poets and helped create the most visited independent website in the world for poets and writers,
Poetry Kit. Poetry Kit was created in 1998 by Ted Slade and Bennett worked with him on developing and editing on-line Poetry magazines until Ted's death in 2004 when he took over as the sole owner and principal editor of the site and its spin off magazines.
In August 2010 Bennett contributed to an eBook collection of political poems entitled ''Emergency Verse - Poetry in Defence of the Welfare State'' edited by
Alan Morrison[http://www.therecusant.org.uk The Recusant eZine]
He continues to write, tour and lecture regularly and in recent years has produced a series of internet based poetry courses which receive wide acclaim.
Biographies
*Wade, Stephen (ed.); ''Gladsongs and Gatherings - Poetry in Liverpool.''
*Jaki Florek and Paul Whelan; ''Liverpool Eric's'' 2009 Feeedback (sic)
External links
Poetry Kit The Poets Encyclopedia
Bibliography
* ''Cartographer / Heswall'' - 2012 - Indigo Dreams
* ''Larkhill'' - 2009 - Searle Publishing
* ''The Man Who Tried to Hug Clouds'' - 1st 2005 reprint 2006 - Bluechrome
* ''Bold Street'' - 2008 - Mainstream
* ''56 A Life in Pieces - 2008'' - Starwood
* ''Down in Liverpool'' - 2001 CD spoken word and song - Long Neck Media
Other titles by Jim Bennett
Poetry books
Pen Pictures (Starwood - 1992)
Abercromby Anthology 1 (ed) (Liverpool University - 1997)
Abercromby Anthology 2 (ed) (Liverpool University - 1998)
Waiting For The Bone-yard... (allstar - 1985)
One More For The Bone-yard (allstar - 1988)
Abercromby Anthology 3 (Liverpool University - 1999)
Drums at New Brighton (Starwood 1996)
Chapbooks
Clocks (1997)
The Green Man of Bidston Moss (2002)
Elvis in Liverpool (2003)
Made in Liverpool (2004)
Never a Crossword (2005)
Other Than (2006)
56; A Life in Pieces (2008)
A Trip Down Jimgling Lane (2009)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Jim
1951 births
Living people
Poets from Liverpool
English male poets