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Synopsis
A Week is a Long Time in Drinking Lost my job Lost my wife Lost my wallet Lost my licence Lost my sanity and got my head kicked in. When most people are ill they get flowers, alcoholics get black eyes. Too Close to Call Life’s better than dust, but only just. Paul Birtill’s rough, tough poems reflect the terrifying ordeal of physical and metaphysical life in British cities with uncompromising humour and unimposing insight. The critic Michael Horovitz, even suggested that Birtill’s poems ought to be issued to patients in hospitals instead of pills or medicine. His poetry has often been compared to Philip Larkin’s except it makes Philip Larkin’s poetry more life affirming. Bleak is beautiful – Time Out Bleedin’ fabulous – John Cooper Clarke, performance poet His stark and hard hitting verse skilfully echoes the neuroses of life – Irish Post Paul Birtill was born in Liverpool in 1960 and moved to London in his early twenties, where he has lived ever since. His poems appear regularly in national newspapers and literary magazines, and have been read on national radio and at poetry venues nationwide. Paul has published a number of collections with Hearing Eye including Collected Poems 1987–2003 and Odd Behaviour (2005). He also writes plays, including Squalor, which was short-listed for the prestigious Verity Bargate Award and The Lodger, which was Time Out Critic’s Choice.
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