Matt Harvey is a British humourist and performance poet who has published a number of books and makes regular contributions to radio broadcasts. In his youth he moved around Britain, staying in Cheshire, Scotland and Ireland; he settled in

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

, London aged 15. As a teenager he was influenced by the Mersey Poets, including

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 ...

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

Brian Patten Brian Patten (born 7 February 1946) is an English poet and author. He came to prominence in the 1960s as one of the Liverpool poets, and writes primarily lyrical poetry about human relationships. His famous works include "Little Johnny's Confessi ...

. He had a troubled childhood before in his early 20s attending the Self Heal Association, a psychotherapeutic centre in Devon. He later became a helper at the centre and continues to speak and perform at mental health conferences. He began his career as a performer in 1992, giving live performances to audiences in the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He has since performed across the country at conferences, cabarets, colleges and literary festivals. He is the President of the Exeter and East Devon branch of the charity Mind, and lives in

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and abo ...

. Harvey was appointed Official

Wimbledon Championship The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is play ...

Poet 2010. The job entailed coming out with a poem each day of the championship to entertain the spectators. The poems would also be available online and in podcast.

Publications

*Here We Are Then *Songs Sung Sideways *Standing Up To Be Counted Out *Curtains and Other Material *The Hole In The Sum Of My Parts *Where Earwigs Dare *Mindless Body Spineless Mind *The Element in the Room

Notes and references

External links

Matt Harvey official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Matt People from Totnes Humorous poets Living people Year of birth missing (living people)