Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
,
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 ...
) is a
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 wri ...
, and documentary film maker who was an important initiator of the movement known as the
British Poetry Revival
"The British Poetry Revival" is the general name given to a loose poetry movement in Britain that took place in the 1960s and 1970s. The revival was a modernist-inspired reaction to the Movement's more conservative approach to British poetry. T ...
Cowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne
Cowgate is a locality in the north-west of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It lies 2.8 miles Northwest of the City Centre. Initially it was in the Kenton ward up until 2018 which it was in the Blakelaw
Blakelaw is an electoral ward situated ...
, and Blakelaw and left school at the age of 14. Three years later he met
Basil Bunting
Basil Cheesman Bunting (1 March 1900 – 17 April 1985) was a British modernist poet whose reputation was established with the publication of '' Briggflatts'' in 1966, generally regarded as one of the major achievements of the modernist traditio ...
and was instrumental in the older poet's return to writing in the early 1960s, leading to the latter's most acclaimed poem, the long, autobiographical ''Briggflatts'', published in 1966. The association also produced Bunting's scathing "What the Chairman told Tom" ("I want to wash when I meet a poet.... my twelve-year-old can do it - AND rhyme!")
In 1963, with his first wife Connie, Pickard founded and ran the
Morden Tower
The Morden Tower in Back Stowell Street on the West Walls of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade 1 listed building. Since June 1964, Connie Pickard has been custodian of Morden Tower, and has made it a key f ...
Book Room, where he organised a series of readings by
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
tradition poets, including Bunting. He also set up the Ultima Thule Bookshop - specialising in poetry, music and alternative counter-culture publications - between 1969 and 1973. During this period he also travelled 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 territori ...
to give performances and renew friendships with some of the American Morden Tower readers, including
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
Ed Dorn
Edward Merton Dorn (April 2, 1929 – December 10, 1999, aged 70) was an American poet and teacher often associated with the Black Mountain poets. His most famous work is '' ''Gunslinger'.
Overview
Dorn was born in Villa Grove, Illinois. ...
. Allen Ginsberg said of him: "I am an old admirer of Tom Pickard's poetry and believe as does Basil Bunting that he is one of the most live and true poetic voices in Great Britain."
With his wife Connie he organised a benefit to find love during a long weekend in Newcastle in 1972 for the miners during their first strike since 1926. Performers at the event included the poets
Christopher Logue
Christopher Logue, CBE (23 November 1926 – 2 December 2011)Mark EspineObituary: Christopher Logue ''The Guardian'', 2 December 2011 was an English poet associated with the British Poetry Revival, and a pacifist.
Life
Born in Portsmouth, ...
,
Hamish Henderson
Hamish Scott Henderson (11 November 1919 – 9 March 2002) was a Scottish poet, songwriter, communist, intellectual and soldier.
He was a catalyst for the folk revival in Scotland. He was also an accomplished folk song collector and dis ...
Eric Mottram
Eric Mottram (29 December 1924 – 16 January 1995) was a British teacher, critic, editor and poet who was one of the central figures in the British Poetry Revival.
Early life and education
Mottram was born in London and educated at Purley Gramm ...
Victor Bockris
Victor Bockris (born 1949) is an English-born, U.S.-based author, primarily biographies of artists, writers, and musicians.
He has written about Lou Reed (and The Velvet Underground), Andy Warhol, Keith Richards, William S. Burroughs, Terry Sou ...
,
Jon Silkin
Jon Silkin (2 December 1930 – 25 November 1997) was a British poet.
Early life
Jon Silkin was born in London, in a Litvak Jewish family, his parents were Joseph Silkin and Doris Rubenstein. His grandparents were all from the Lithuanian- par ...
Alan Hull
James Alan Hull (20 February 1945 – 17 November 1995) was an English singer-songwriter and founding member of the Tyneside folk rock band Lindisfarne.
Career
Hull was born at 68 Sutton's Dwellings, Adelaide Terrace, Benwell, Newcastle upon ...
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
''Squire'' was broadcast by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and starred his friend, the singer songwriter Alan Hull—who wrote music for the play. The two friends also worked together on Pickard's BBC radio documentary, ''The Jarrow March'' (1976).
Unable to find work in the North-East, Pickard moved to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 1973 and started writing and directing radio and
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
scripts. His film credits include ''We Make Ships'' (1988), Channel 4; ''Tell Them in Gdansk'' (1989), Channel 4 - "The end of shipbuilding on the River Wear was announced in December 1988, but many shipyard workers refused to give up the fight. This film centres on a party held for the redundant shop stewards and their families and combines the music of the Flying Pickets and the humour of comedian Mike Elliott to illustrate the ironies of the closure. The title highlights Mrs Thatcher's support for the striking shipyard workers in Gdańsk while shutting down UK yards; ''Birmingham Is What I Think With'' (1991), Arts Council England--about the poet Roy Fisher; ''The Shadow and the Substance'' (1994), Channel 4. ''The Shadow and the Substance'' (the title is a quote from
John Clare
John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet. The son of a farm labourer, he became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20th ce ...
’s poem on enclosure) examined the nature of work in an increasingly high-tech environment. In the film Rosemary Cramp, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at Durham, discusses the basic human need and dignity in "labour" in prehistoric times as do redundant shipyard workers from Sunderland and
Tyneside
Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt.
The population of Tyneside as publishe ...
. This was contrasted with the "psychic need" to work as seen by the
Adam Smith Institute
The Adam Smith Institute (ASI) is a neoliberal UK-based think tank and lobbying group, named after Adam Smith, a Scottish moral philosopher and classical economist. The libertarian label was officially changed to neoliberal on 10 October 201 ...
justifying the paying of slave labour wages. It also featured the
Bishop of Durham
The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...
, David Jenkins, on the morality of the poor stealing food. The Durham Miners’ Gala featured
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...
speaking about privatisation eroding morality and citizenship. Young women working at a new Fujitsu semiconductor plant situated in a former mining area are asked if they feel secure in their jobs. This was to be the future, replacing mining and heavy industry. Their manager admits "humans contaminate the product". (The factory later closed with a loss of 600 jobs during
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
’s premiership.) The film concludes with a visit to the philosopher Andre Gorz who predicts the collapse of "work" and posits a radical alternative for trade unionist and socialists.
Pickard was series editor and director of film inserts on ''Word Of Mouth'', a series of ten 30-minute TV programs for Border TV/Arts Council England. ''Word of Mouth'' won a gold medal in 1990, at the New York International Film And TV Festival, for the best performing arts series, and was a runner-up for a Royal Television Society award.
In London he collaborated with Moira Kelly of Air Gallery to run an international poetry series (which later transferred to the
Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.
Having closed for redevelopment i ...
under David Gotthard), as well as running a book-stall in Camden Lock market.
From 1976 to 1981 Pickard lived most of the time in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
with his Polish wife and witnessed the rise of the
Solidarność
Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subseq ...
movement.
Pickard's poetry owes much to his reading of Bunting, the Objectivist poets and of the
Black Mountain poets
The Black Mountain poets, sometimes called projectivist poets, were a group of mid-20th-century American ''avant-garde'' or postmodern poets centered on Black Mountain College in North Carolina.
Background
Although it lasted only twenty-three ...
, but is also rooted in his own urban working-class Tyneside background. His publications include ''High on the Walls'' (1968), ''The Order of Chance'' (1971), ''Hero Dust: New and Selected Poems'' (1979), ''Tiepin Eros: New and Selected Poems'' (1994), ''fuckwind'' (1999) ''Hole in the Wall: New and Selected Poems'' (2002), ''The Dark Months of May'' (2004) and ''Ballad of Jamie Allan'' (2007); the last three published in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
by Flood Editions. ''Ballad of Jamie Allan'' was a finalist for the 2007
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".2007 NBCC Winners Announced ''Critical Mass'', 7 March 2008. His part-autobiographical ''More Pricks Than Prizes'' was published in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
by Pressed Wafer in 2010. His poem sequence "Lark and Merlin", published in ''Poetry'' in 2010, won the Bess Hokin Prize in 2011.
In 2004 Pickard was commissioned by Sage Gateshead and Folkworks to write a libretto, ''Ballad of Jamie Allan'', for the composer
John Harle
John Harle (born 20 September 1956) is an English saxophonist, composer, educator and record producer. He is an Ivor Novello Award winner and has been the recipient of two Royal Television Society awards.
Biography
Harle was born in Newcastl ...
. The opera was premiered in 2005. A CD of ''Ballad of Jamie Allan'' (with
Omar Ebrahim
Omar Ebrahim (born 6 September 1956 in Greasbrough, Rotherham, South Yorkshire) is an English baritone vocalist and actor. He specializes in the performance of contemporary classical music.
He studied voice at the Guildhall School of Music an ...
Kathryn Tickell
Kathryn Tickell, OBE, DL (born 8 June 1967) is an English musician, noted for playing the Northumbrian smallpipes and fiddle.
Music career Early life
Kathryn Tickell was born in Walsall, then in Staffordshire, to parents who originated fro ...
, Bill Paterson, the Northern Sinfonia with
Steve Lodder
Steve Lodder, born Stephen John Lodder (born 10 April 1951, St. Helier, Jersey), is a British keyboardist, composer, and organist. He played piano as a child and took up organ at age 14. He studied organ at Gonville and Caius College, and after c ...
and Neil MacColl).
Pickard collaborated with John Harle again in 2009, writing the words for ''A Song for London Bridge'', a piece for saxophone and choir and organ. It had its premiere on 22 June at
Southwark Cathedral
Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwar ...
Stephen Cleobury
Sir Stephen John Cleobury ( ; 31 December 1948 – 22 November 2019)Alan Hull
James Alan Hull (20 February 1945 – 17 November 1995) was an English singer-songwriter and founding member of the Tyneside folk rock band Lindisfarne.
Career
Hull was born at 68 Sutton's Dwellings, Adelaide Terrace, Benwell, Newcastle upon ...
Liane Carroll
Liane Carroll (born 9 February 1964, London) is an English vocalist, pianist and keyboardist.
Jazz critic Dave Gelly of ''The Observer'' has described her as "one of the most stylistically flexible pianists around, with a marvellous, slightl ...
, Jed Grimes, Ben Murray and—Rosie Doonan and the folk band Tarras among others. Pickard worked with
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
editing his long poem, "Standing Stone". McCartney said of Pickard's ''Fuckwind'' (Etruscan Books 1999): "This collection of poems and songs soars over the fells, screetching truth, sex, humour, anger and love. With sharp vision Tom dissects his gut reaction and reminds us to appreciate the cool clear beauty of our own situation."
The singer Annie Lennox wrote of his collection ''Dark Months of May'' (Flood Editions 2004):
"In these days of technological wizardry it might be a safe guess to say poets have become rather thin on the ground. I mean to say that there seems to be a surplus of estate agents, bankers, media people, technocrats, lawyers, accountants etc...but the POET...the noble BARD appears to have almost slipped off the map. This is one reason why I'm terribly glad that Tom Pickard is alive and kicking, because in fact he is the living embodiment of 'poetdom'. Poetry for me is like trying to capture the essence of life experience. Through the heart and mind and a concoction of senses, the poet attempts to distil everything down to WORD— visually, rhythmically and sonically. In this way the poem SPEAKS a new language of the soul, allowing us to enter through a new portal of consciousness perhaps, or at least, giving us a moment¹s pause for reflection. To try to describe Tom¹s poems would be pointless. They speak for themselves....and for him, in the most powerful and uniquely personal way. So without much ado I would like to introduce you to a collection of poems by Mr Tom Pickard...otherwise known as Tam O’ Red Shirt."
His work has appeared recently in the '' London Review of Books'' and in
Alan Moore
Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...
's '' Dodgem Logic''.
In August 2015, Pickard was one of 20 authors of ''Poets for Corbyn'', an anthology of poems endorsing
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
's
campaign
Campaign or The Campaign may refer to:
Types of campaigns
* Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed
*Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme
* Bl ...
Fulcrum Press
Fulcrum Press (1965 – 1974) quoting Rathna Ramanathan, "English little presses, book desig ...
, London
* 1971: ''The Order of Chance'', Fulcrum Press, London
* 1973: ''Dancing Under Fire'', Middle Earth Books, Philadelphia
* 1979: ''Hero Dust, New and Selected,''
Allison and Busby
Allison & Busby (A & B) is a publishing house based in London established by Clive Allison and Margaret Busby in 1967. The company has built up a reputation as a leading independent publisher.
Background
Launching as a publishing company in May ...
, London
* 1980: ''Ok Tree'', Pig Press, Durham
* 1985: ''Custom & Exile'', Allison and Busby, London
* 1994: ''Tiepin Eros'', Bloodaxe Books, Newcastle upon Tyne
* 1994 ''Hidden Agenda: My Manifesto for the leadership of the Labour Party'', InFolio, Cambridge
* 1999: ''fuckwind'', etruscan books, Buckfastliegh
* 2002: ''Hole In The Wall'', New and Selected, Flood Editions, Chicago
* 2004: ''Tyne Txts'' with Bill Griffiths, Amara Imprint, Seaham
* 2004: ''The Dark Months of May'', Flood Editions, Chicago
* 2008: ''The Ballad of Jamie Allan'', Flood Editions, Chicago
* 2014: ''hoyoot: Collected Poems and Songs'', Carcanet, Manchester
* 2016: ''Winter Migrants'', Carcanet, Manchester
* 2017: ''Fiends Fell'', Flood Editions, Chicago
Oral history, memoir, fiction
* 1971: ''Guttersnipe'', City Lights, San Francisco
* 1982: ''Jarrow March'', Allison & Busby, London
* 1989: ''We Make Ships'', Secker & Warburg, London
* 2009: ''Work Conchy'', The Beat Scene Press, Coventry
* 2010: ''More Pricks Than Prizes'', Pressed Wafer, Boston