The Sound of Paint Drying
John Hegley
The magnificent new collection from one of Britain's most popular poets, published to coincide with his new tour of the same name
John Hegley, poet, comedian and performer extraordinaire, is one of Britain's best-loved poets, presenting his work sell-out shows in major venues around the country. His new collection brings together many of his trademark themes - dogs, glasses, Luton - and joins them with a remarkable, moving and funny series of meditations, poems and stories on the parent child-relationship, from John's response to his father to John's daughter's response to him. With a striking cover - a painting by John's father that also forms the stage backdrop to his new tour - and a host of brilliant illustrations, The Sound of Paint Drying marks a new maturity of achievement, and is guaranteed to be another bestseller for writer who is one of our national treasures and pleasures. John describes the book thus: A collection of poems, sketches, songs, stories and diary entries which date back to my days in a Luton bungalow. More recently documented are my travels to Australia, Cyprus, Columbia, Thailand and France. The French trip, which was recorded for BBC Radio 4, was stimulated by a painting of old Nice made by my father in 1931. It was my self-appointed task to find the scene and paint my own version.
The travels are littered with ordinary things painted large: potatoes, facecloths, blancmange, throat sweets, and litter.
"Comedy's poet laureate" (Independent); "Hegley is that literary rarity - a successful poet" (Guardian); "John Hegley is a joy, technically deft and delightfully silly" (Daily Telegraph); "Guerrilla wordsmith to the bold and beautiful, John Hegley crafts poetry which is deceptively simple; wisely foolish; funnily particular, and peculiarly funny" (Glasgow Herald)
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About John Hegley John Hegley performs live in venues all over Britain, including London's Hackney and Bloomsbury Theatres and the Edinburgh Festival, and recently in New Zealand and Australia. He appears on television and radio and his poems are featured regularly in the Weekend Guardian. He has published five volumes of poetry.His various media appearances include Wogan, Ross, Anderson, a mention on Brookside, two John Peel sessions with musical outfit The Popticians, They Think It's All Over and a host of others. He has also been the subject of a BBC Radio 4 series Hearing With Hegley and his poems are featured regularly in the Weekend Guardian.
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