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 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

programme '' Poetry Please'', as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one of the leading members of the

Liverpool poets The Liverpool poets are a number of influential 1960s poets from Liverpool, England, influenced by 1950s Beat poetry. They were involved in the 1960s Liverpool scene that gave rise to The Beatles. Their work is characterised by its directness of e ...

, a group of young poets influenced by

Beat poetry The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generatione ...

and the popular

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

of 1960s

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. He is an honorary fellow of

Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This lat ...

, fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...

and President of the

Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

Early life

McGough was born in Litherland,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, on the outskirts of

, to Roger Francis, a docker, and Mary (McGarry) McGough. His ancestry is Irish and he was raised in the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

faith. He was a pupil at St Mary's College in

Crosby Crosby may refer to: Places ;Canada *Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario *Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario ;England *Crosby, Cumbria *Crosby, Lincolnshire *Crosby, Merseyside ** Crosby (U ...

with Laurie Taylor, future sociologist and criminologist, before going on to study French and Geography at the

University of Hull , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...

.Emma Brockes interview: Roger McGough
''The Guardian'' 14 November 2005 McGough lived in one of the university residences, Needler Hall, for three years from 1955 and served as hall librarian. Contemporaneously, the poet

Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, ''The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, ''Jill'' (1946) and ''A Girl in Winter'' (1947 ...

became the university's librarian; newly arrived at Hull, he served as a sub-warden at Needler Hall, though he lived in private accommodation nearby. Several years later McGough corresponded with Larkin about poetry, sending him some of his own poems as he still lacked the confidence to approach the man directly. Larkin replied, thanking McGough for the poetry, which he had enjoyed reading. He added that he believed that McGough walked an impressionistic tightrope which, though exhilarating, meant that on occasion he fell off.

The Scaffold and Grimms

Returning to Merseyside in the early 1960s, he worked as a French teacher and, with

John Gorman John Gorman may refer to: *John Gorman (director) (1884–1936), American movie director * John Gorman (entertainer) (born 1936), English vocalist and musician *John Gorman (politician) (1923–2014), Northern Ireland politician *John Gorman (footb ...

, organised arts events. McGough and Gorman later met Mike McGear (Mike McCartney) and together formed the trio The Scaffold; they worked the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

until they were signed to

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

records in 1966. The Scaffold performed a mixture of comic songs, comedy sketches and the poetry of McGough. The group scored several hit records, reaching

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1968 with their version of " Lily the Pink". McGough wrote the lyrics for many of the group's songs and also recorded the musical comedy/poetry album ''McGough and McGear''. In 1971 '' Grimms'' was formed, originally as a merger of the Scaffold, the

Bonzo Dog Band The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as The Bonzo Dog Band or The Bonzos) was created by a group of British art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelia with surreal humour and avant-garde art, ...

and the Liverpool Scene. Group member

Neil Innes Neil James Innes (; 9 December 1944 – 29 December 2019) was an English writer, comedian and musician. He first came to prominence in the pioneering comedy rock group Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the M ...

said about the formation of the group: "I don't know what attracted the Scaffold to the Bonzos; we were incredibly anarchic, which was probably something shared by the Scaffold as well."Bowen, Phil. (2008) ''A Gallery to Play to: The Story of the Mersey Poets.'' Liverpool University Press. pp.104–106.

Poetry

As a poet, McGough came to national prominence through the publication of '' The Mersey Sound'' in 1967. ''The Mersey Sound'' is an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

of poetry by three Liverpool poets: McGough,

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 Confessio ...

, and Adrian Henri."XIV Modern Literature, section 5", John Brannigan
Accessed 9 April 2006 It went on to sell over 500,000 copies, becoming one of the bestselling poetry anthologies of all time; remaining in continuous publication, it was revised in 1983 and again in 2007. The title of the anthology was a conscious association of the three Liverpool poets with the musical phenomenon caused by the eruption of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and associated bands from the same city, known collectively as the "

Merseybeat Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music genre that developed, particularly in and around Liverpool, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from American rock and roll, rhythm and blues, skiffle ...

", on the world. McGough's personal connection with the Beatles was referenced in a much later comic poem, "To Macca's Trousers", contained in the book ''That Awkward Age'' (2009). McGough discovered a long forgotten pair of

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 ...

's blue mohair trousers in his attic; the trousers had been given to him, via McCartney's brother Mike, in the early 1960s. One of McGough's early poems, ''Let Me Die a Youngman's Death'' (but not, as the poem states, before the poet reaches 73, 91 or 104 years of age), was included in a BBC anthology of the British nation's hundred favourite poems. McGough has been nicknamed "the patron saint of poetry" by

Carol Ann Duffy Dame Carol Ann Duffy (born 23 December 1955) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, resigning in 2019. She was the first ...

. Philip Larkin included McGough's poetry in '' The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse'', which he edited in 1973. Writing to McGough in 1980, Larkin congratulated him on the well-thumbed state of the copies of his books in Hull University's library, when compared to Larkin's own. Possibly his shortest, most memorable and overtly political poem, was entitled "Conservative Government Unemployment Figures". The text of poem repeats the words of the title, with layout and punctuation resulting in an arch critique. The poem was referenced in a parliamentary debate in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

in 2004. The poetry of McGough has been the subject of academic study. It has been characterised, at least from its early examples, as being reliant on play with words and their meanings. It has also been noted to exhibit a stylised wit, and, at times, a sadness based on themes of lost youth, unfulfilled relationships, and the downside of city life. The form of some of his verse, it has been claimed, has been influenced by his experience of writing song lyrics. A major critical examination of McGough's poetry, by American academic Ben Wright, was published in 2006. The author's stated aim was "to examine and evaluate the accessibility of Roger McGough's message to a wide, general readership, as well as appraising it by the most rigorous literary standards". McGough's popularity, commercial success, use of humour, and the lack of pretension of his verse has tended to restrict appreciation of his work as "serious poetry". Wright's study challenges this under-appreciation.

Other activities

McGough was responsible for much of the humorous dialogue in the Beatles' animated film '' Yellow Submarine'', although he did not receive an on-screen credit. On 2 March 1978, McGough appeared in '' All You Need Is Cash'', a mockumentary detailing the career of a Beatles-like group called

the Rutles The Rutles () were a rock band that performed visual and aural pastiches and parodies of the Beatles. This originally fictional band, created by Eric Idle and Neil Innes for a sketch in Idle's mid-1970s BBC television comedy series ''Rutland We ...

. Interviewed by

Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broad ...

, the introduction of McGough takes so long that he is only asked one question, "Did you know the Rutles?" to which McGough cheerfully responds "Oh yes", before the documentary is forced to move along to other events. In 1980 he recited a high-speed one-minute version of

Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

's poem "

The Wreck of the Hesperus "The Wreck of the Hesperus" is a narrative poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, first published in ''Ballads and Other Poems'' in 1842. It is a story that presents the tragic consequences of a skipper's pride. On an ill-fated voyag ...

", complete with sound effects, on the album ''Miniatures'' produced by

Morgan Fisher Stephen Morgan Fisher (born 1 January 1950) is an English keyboard player and composer, and is most known as a member of Mott the Hoople in the early 1970s. However, his career has covered a wide range of musical activities, and he is still ac ...

. One of McGough's more unusual compositions was created in 1981, when he co-wrote an "electronic poem" called ''Now Press Return'' with the programmer Richard Warner for inclusion with the ''Welcome Tape'' of the

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...

home computer. ''Now Press Return'' incorporated several novel themes, including user-defined elements to the poem, lines which changed their order (and meaning) every few seconds, and text which wrote itself in a spiral around the screen. He made a programme in 1991 for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

called ''Equinox: The Elements'' about the elements. He made a guest appearance on quiz panel show '' QI'' in 2006. Three plays written by the 17th-century French playwright

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

have been translated by McGough and directed by Gemma Bodinetz. ''

Tartuffe ''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; french: Tartuffe, ou l'Imposteur, ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical thea ...

'' premièred at the

Liverpool Playhouse The Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, England. It originated in 1866 as a music hall, and in 1911 developed into a repertory theatre. As such it nurtured the early careers of many actors and actres ...

in May 2008 and transferred subsequently to the Rose Theatre, Kingston. ''The Hypochondriac'' (''

The Imaginary Invalid ''The Imaginary Invalid'', ''The Hypochondriac'', or ''The Would-Be Invalid'' (French title ''Le Malade imaginaire'', ) is a three- act '' comédie-ballet'' by the French playwright Molière with dance sequences and musical interludes (H.495, H.4 ...

'') was staged at the Liverpool Playhouse in July 2009. ''

The Misanthrope ''The Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover'' (french: Le Misanthrope ou l'Atrabilaire amoureux; ) is a 17th-century comedy of manners in verse written by Molière. It was first performed on 4 June 1666 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris ...

'' was staged at the Liverpool Playhouse in February–March 2013 before touring with the English Touring Theatre. McGough has also done some

voiceover Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...

work narrating '' The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Stories'' by

Eric Carle Eric Carle (June 25, 1929 – May 23, 2021) was an American author, designer and illustrator of children's books. His picture book '' The Very Hungry Caterpillar'', first published in 1969, has been translated into more than 66 languages and sol ...

, and TV advertisements for the supermarket chain

Waitrose Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...

. He is a patron of Barnes Literary Society. In 2019 he became the President of Arts Richmond for one year.

Awards

McGough won a

Cholmondeley Award The Cholmondeley Awards () are annual awards for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966. Since 1991 the award has be ...

in 1998, and was appointed an Officer (OBE) in 1997, and later, in 2004, Commander (CBE) of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

.CBE for Liverpool poet McGough
''BBC News'' 12 June 2004 He holds an honorary MA from Nene College of Further Education, and honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

(D.Litt.) degrees from the

(2004),

Roehampton University The University of Roehampton, London, formerly Roehampton Institute of Higher Education, is a public university in the United Kingdom, situated on three major sites in Roehampton, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. Roehampton was formerly an e ...

(2006), and 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 ...

(2006). He was made a Fellow of the

in 2004.

Academic posts

McGough was Fellow of Poetry at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when ...

(1973–75), Honorary Fellow at John Moores University, and Honorary Professor at Thames Valley University (1993).

Personal life

In 1970, McGough married Thelma Monaghan, and they had two children; they divorced in 1980. He married Hilary Clough in December 1986, with whom he has two children. He lives in Barnes, south west London; he and Clough previously lived on

Portobello Road Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is ...

Notting Hill Gate Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name. Location At Ossington Street/Ke ...

Books

Poetry collections

*''Young Commonwealth Poets '65'', Heinemann, 1965 * '' The Mersey Sound'' (with Adrian Henri and Brian Patten), Penguin, 1967 *''Frinck, A Life in the Day of, and Summer with Monika: Poems'', Joseph, 1967 *''Watchwords'', Cape, 1969 *''After the Merrymaking'', Cape, 1971 *''Out of Sequence'', Turret Books, 1972 *''Gig'', Cape, 1973 *''Sporting Relations'', Eyre Methuen, 1974 *''In the Glassroom'', Cape, 1976 *''Mr Noselighter'', André Deutsch, 1976 *''Holiday on Death Row'', Cape, 1979 *''Unlucky for Some'', Bernard Stone, 1980 *''Waving at Trains'', Cape, 1982 *''Crocodile Puddles'', New Pyramid Press, 1984 *''Sky in the Pie'', Puffin, 1985 (children's) *''Melting into the Foreground'', Viking, 1986 *''Noah's Ark'', Dinosaur, 1986 *''Worry'', Toni Savage, 1987 *''Nailing the Shadow'', Viking Kestrel, 1987 *''Counting by Numbers'', Viking Kestrel, 1989 *''Selected Poems, 1967–1987'', Cape, 1989 *''You at the Back: Selected Poems, 1967–87'', Cape, 1991 *''Defying Gravity'', Viking, 1992 *''Pen Pals: A New Poem'', Prospero Poets, 1994 *''Ferens, the Gallery Cat'', Ferens Art Gallery, 1997 *''Todays Yodal'', Over years ago, 1999 *''Until I Met Dudley'', Frances Lincoln, 1997 *''The Way Things Are'', Viking, 1999 *''Dotty Inventions'', Francis Lincoln, 2002 *''Everyday Eclipses'', Viking, 2002 *''Collected Poems'', Viking, 2003 *''That Awkward Age'', Penguin, 2009 *''As Far As I Know'', Penguin, 2012 *''Joinedupwriting'', Viking, 2019 *"Safety In Numbers", Viking, 2021

Plays

* ''

'' (English adaptation of

's play) * ''The Hypochondriac'' (English adaption of

's play) * ''The Misanthrope'' (English adaptation of

's play)

Autobiography

*''Said And Done'', Random House, 2005

References

External links

* *
Profile and poems written and audio
at Poetry Archive *
Interview with Roger McGough about 40 years of the Mersey Poets

BBC Radio 4 archive
4 October 1981 (Audio, 12 minutes)
BBC profile

James Campbell, "A life in poetry: Roger McGough", ''The Guardian'', 22 August 2009

National Portrait gallery

Shahesta Shaitly, ''Roger McGough: This much I know,'' The Observer, 4 November 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGough, Roger People from Litherland Alumni of the University of Hull Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People associated with Loughborough University 20th-century English poets 20th-century British poets 1937 births Living people Poets from Liverpool People educated at St Mary's College, Crosby English people of Irish descent The Scaffold members Grimms members English autobiographers Presidents of the Poetry Society