296 thoughts on “About me”

1. 

   Dear Brian,
   As everyone else says, thank you for your amazingly insightful poetry. My son’s primary school is putting a display into the local flower show, themed on sustainability and bio-diversity. May we please display your poem, The Last Bee? With suitable acknowledgement, of course!
   Many thanks,
   Steve
   Froxfield, Hampshire

   1. 

      Thank you, Steve. I’d be honoured for your son’s school to use the poem in their display so please feel free to do so.

2. 

   I produce an online magazine every month for our local u3a. One of my readers has submitted a short piece on the ‘I before e’ rule, which I would like to publish followed by your brilliant poem on the same subject. Could I have your permission to do so, with a suitable acknowledgment of course and a bit about your poetry, which by the way I really enjoy?

   1. 

      Thanks for your kind comments. Yes, please feel free to reproduce it in your magazine.

      1. 

         Thank you, that’s very kind. Please come to Cornwall on your next tour, we would love to come to hear you read your poetry.

3. 

   Hi Brian. Just wanted to say I hope you’re doing well. Good luck on your upcoming tour. Tell your publicist to look into some readings in the States in 2024 perhaps. Wish you the best. Cheers – Amanda

   1. 

      Hello you! Hope you and the family are well. I’d really love to do that – although whether my publisher could afford that is another matter. I’m sure it will happen one day. All the best to you! x

4. 

   I’ve come across a real fine poet
   I’ve read his work but didn’t know it
   It’s good to see this day and age
   A writer worth the printed page
   I had thought them all extinct
   But now I found one quite distinct

   1. 

      Ha ha! Thank you, Amber!

   2. 

      Has Brian started a trend? Never thought I was into poetry till I discovered his.

      1. 

         In which case, I think it will be the first trend I’ve ever started.

5. 

   Maybe at 91 perhaps I am your oldest fan.I actually checked the emoji “stop all the clocks”against Auden’s original poem,brilliant.
   Your books are such good presents for younger friends and relatives,just bought 3 more.

   1. 

      Thank you so much, Christine. One thing about my Auden emoji poem: I actually had to pay Auden’s estate to ‘translate’ that poem into emojis. I felt rather grumpy about it at the time but your response to it has made me feel a lot better. Thank you so much!

6. 

   Discovering Brian Bilston is the most exciting discovery I’ve made in years! He’s a genius of the written, rhymed, and un-rhymed word! My life is much better with Bilston!

   1. 

      Thank you, Laurel. I will let him know!

7. 

   Hi Brian.
   I’ve followed you and your insightful poems for a long time now. I teach English A-levels at a sixth form college in Denmark, and at the same time I do voluntary work as a co-editor of Anglo Files, the quarterly of the Danish Association for Teachers of English. In November we’ll be doing a number on poetry, and this is where I’m hoping for your contribution. Unfortunately, we’re non-profit so I can only offer you a few complimentary copies of the printed magazine but hopefully, that won’t dissuade you. You can get an idea of our journal here https://www.engelskforeningen.dk/fagbladet-anglo-files/om-fagbladet-anglo-files
   Our circulation is 1,500.
   I do hope you’ll give it a thought and write back to me.
   Kind regards from Eva Høeg

   1. 

      Hello Eva, thanks very much for getting in touch and your kind offer to contribute. I’m afraid I won’t be able to write anything new for Anglo Files but if there are any existing poems of mine which you feel might be appropriate to reproduce then please feel free to do so. With best wishes, Brian

8. 

   I liked your cheese poem. You know your cheeses !

   1. 

      Thank you!

9. 

   Dear Brian,
   I recently stumbled on to your book of poetry—I’m not on Twitter (or X or whatever its current name is) , but when I read something recommending your books to those of us who love Jasper Fforde, it was a no-brainer to order “You Took the Last Bus Home” for myself. But before I could even open the book, it was seized by my kids (9 and 15)…and so now you have not one but three new fans. Thank you for adding intelligent silliness to our lives!
   A quick point my daughter (age 15) wanted to share/ask about. She caught what we *think* is an unintentional typo in one of your poems. She wondered if it was only in our copy: on page 51, in the poem “A Brok n Po m”, in the seventh line, in addition to the missing “e” , the “s” is missing as well. Was this an accident? I was very impressed that she caught it as I myself had delightedly read the poem and didn’t catch a thing! Anyway. my daughter would be thrilled to hear back. Thanks so much and please come visit Boston so we can attend a reading! 😊-Shira

   1. 

      Dear Shira, thank you for your delightful message. That’s very kind of you all. And your daughter is quite right! I keep meaning to ask for that mistake to get corrected so that in future reprints all is well, but I keep forgetting. Fortunately, only the most eagle-eyes spot it! Best wishes, Brian

10. 

    Hello Brian
    Sorry to write to you here, but I’ve been in contact with your agent Jo Unwin (Nisha Bailey) about reprinting one of your poems in a Danish textbook for secondary students learning English. However, for some reason they don’t reply to my emails anymore after we’d agreed on a quote for the usage. The book is about to go to the printer’s soon. Would you be able to push a button or two at your agent’s? Thank you so much!
    Best wishes,
    Katrine Cohen

    1. 

       Thanks for getting in touch, Katrine. I’ll sorry to hear you’ve had trouble getting a response. Nisha left a while ago so let me pass this on to her replacement and I’m sure this will be resolved speedily.

11. 

    Hi Brian. Your poem “Refugees” is up on the Python installation website.
    It is powerful and touching, Thank you!!

    I’m Israeli, and we have a serious problem. The Palestinians (who call the Israelis “The Jews”) are the ones who wish to have a territory that is empty of Israelis (who call the Palestinians “Arabs”). The Israelis wish to have a territory in which they are the majority, thus ruling that area in a democracy.

    As stated in the 1988 Declaration of Palestinian Independence, and since 1967, when we finally re-captured all the British mandate of “Palestine” except for the area designated as “Trans-Jordan”, there has been a sad consensus between most (non-religious) Jews and most (Muslim to some extent) Arabs that the 1948 lines will be accepted as a temporary border, so that they can have independence. One small fact was not taken into consideration, and that is the explicitly stated will of the Arabs for the destruction of Israel and the annihilation of all its Jewish residents, designated as Settlers or Zionists.

    In this situation, the walls cannot be taken down, and at the same time cannot be left up.
    To paraphrase your poem:
    With bombs up their sleeves
    Cut-throats and thieves
    They are …
    We are…

    Help!!! What can be done?

    1. 

       Thanks. As for that question, I wish I knew the answer, I really do.

12. 

    Hi Brian,
    Have you ever read aloud poetry whilst eating yoghurt?

    I’m coming to see you in Liverpool on Wednesday 29 November and I wondered if you might have time for a quick podcast chat before or after the gig?

    My podcast is called Poetry Corner, which involves guests trying to read a poem whilst eating a Müller corner yoghurt. I have 4 episodes released including Ian McMillan, Ben Norris, Ennio the Little Brother and Emily Wilkinson and you are top of my list for fun yoghurt-mouthed poetry chat!

    I chat to guests about why they started writing – I began as a kind of therapy; teenage angst / heartbreak… the classics.
    I also want it to be fun and silly, so whilst some of those catalysts might be deeply personal / passionate – the yoghurty-poem challenge balances that out.

    Please let me know if this sounds fun and I can get in touch with the Philharmonic to see if there’s a room we can take over for 20 mins.

    Big thanks,
    Crayg

    1. 

       Hi Crayg, that does sound fun and thanks for the very generous invitation to come on your podcast. I’m afraid, though, that I’ll have to decline on this occasion; I took the decision a while back not to do any podcasts, as I was getting quite a few invitations while trying to juggle various other deadlines and commitments. I’m wary of reopening that door for a while. I do hope you understand and it won’t lead you to pelt me with yoghurt when I’m on stage in Liverpool. Would be great to say hello. All the best, Brian

13. 

    Oh Brian, do not fear the yoghurt pelting for there will be no such thing!

    I’m sure you’re inundated with podcast requests, so I completely understand and respect your decision not to. I appreciate the reply on here 😊

    Really looking forward to the gig in Liverpool. I’ll probably be wearing a Poetry Corner t-shirt (I’m sure we’ve got a similar audience and I’m an opportunist) – so if there’s a chance for it, it’d be lovely to say hello.
    Big thanks,
    Crayg

    1. 

       Thanks, Crayg. I’ll be looking out for you!

14. 

    Hi Brian
    Today I read your poem ‘Neither Rhyme nor Reason’ with a Shared Reading Group in a Care Home. Shared Reading is run by The Reader based in Liverpool. There were 10 residents taking part, some with dementia, some not. We had great fun reading and discussing. Such a great afternoon and such a clever poem.
    By the way I have booked tickets for Cadogan Hall, London in March 2024.

    1. 

       Thank you for sharing this poem, Dorothy. I’m so pleased to hear it was well-received. See you in London next March!

15. 

    Hi Brian.

    Thoroughly enjoyed your readings in Edinburgh yesterday. It inspired me to attempt my own Christmas poem. Merry Christmas!

    Christmas Dinner

    The turkey was stuffed
    The goose was cooked
    The chestnuts were roasted
    The rum was punched
    And the drinks were on the rocks.
    But the wine took its time,
    Mulled it over,
    And the dessert made it very clear
    It was not to be trifled with.
    So at least some of the Christmas meal was salvaged.

    1. 

       I love it! Thanks for sharing that with me, Lynne.

       1. 

          Thanks! So glad you like it!

16. 

    Hi Mr. Bilston,

     Thank you for sharing your lovely poems and making us a small part of your poetry world. My son is 9 and has an upcoming poetry day at his school. He loves anything and everything about animals and would like to read out a poem on them. Would it be alright please if he reads out one of your poems – either “Job Interview with a Cat” or “Animals” published for world animal day.

    With kind regards

    Sundeep

    1. 

       Thank you for your kind words, Sundeep. I’d be delighted if your son were to read one of my poems. In fact, I would be honoured! With best wishes,
       Brian

17. 

    Hi Brian, can we tempt you to come to Shoreham Wordfest this October, preferably National Poetry Day on 5 October? Maybe another double bill with Henry Normal who came to our festival in 2022 but a solo Brian would be delightful. We are based in Shoreham-by-Sea with a sizable audience drawn from across Sussex. Best wishes, Rosalind Turner, Programme Director Shoreham Wordfest

    1. 

       Hi Rosalind, thank you very much for your kind invitation. That’s so nice of you to think of me. I’m afraid, though, that I’m not adding any more dates to my 2024 schedule, as I need a break from events to concentrate on some other things for while. I do hope you understand. With best wishes – Brian

       1. 

          Thanks for replying Brian. Sorry you can’t come to Shoreham Wordfest but quite understand you have other things to do and poems to write! Best wishes, Rosalind

18. 

    I dig that pipe, daddy-O !

19. 

    Hi Brian,

    Hope all is well with you.

    My wife Ling HUANG and me Jianmin GUO are retired professors of Lanzhou University of Economics and Finance in Lanzhou City Gansu Province, China. We are writing a book entitled “Shape Poetry in the English and Chinese Languages — A Preliminary and Comparative Study”, hopefully to be published later this year or next. We were just wondering if we could include some of your beautiful poems in our book? If you give us the permission we will give your name as the poet. The book is just for academic research, definitely not for commercial purposes.

    Very sorry to bother you. We wrote an email a few minutes ago to Jo Unwin at info@jounwin.co.uk through my email address: jimmyguo9@gmail.com, but we are afraid he might miss our email or the email might go into spam.

    Thank you very much for your attention.

    Best regards,

    Jimmy GUO

    1. 

       Dear Jimmy, thanks very much for getting in touch and please feel free to use some of my poems. Good luck with your book. Best wishes – Brian

20. 

    Many thanks for the prompt reply Brian. That’s very kind of you. With best wishes – Ling and Jimmy

21. 

    Dear Brian Bilston, Did you get my email? I don’t see it on this thread and I must reach you to let you know of my adoration of your poetry, your wit and your talent.

    Thank you

    Susan Rose Simms

    Freelance Author

    1. 

       Hello Susan, what a lovely message. Thank you so much! I don’t think I received your email as I don’t tend to give out my address. But thanks for your kind words, and for taking the time to write them. With best wishes – Brian

22. 

    Hello really enjoyed your poem refugees!

    1. 

       Thank you!

23. 

    Hello bro I love your refugee poem and just wanted to say thank you

    1. 

       Thanks very much.

24. 

    I love how your poem can be read in to different ways

    1. 

       Thank you, Scarlett.

25. 

    Brian – I have a joke I would like to share with you.

    What do you call poetry that never does anything dangerous?

    Risk averse.

    love your work

    James Birtwistle

    1. 

       Ha ha! Love it.

       1. 

          Dear Brian,

          My Muse came up with this recently:

          The Poet Laureate came today

          He’d come to read my metre

          He said my scansion was OK

          But writing could be neater

          Then I failed to find a word –

          A word that rhymes with “bisons”

          So this officious pompous turd

          Took my poetic license

          Thanks for Being Brian!

          Shaughan

       2. 

          And I love that, too. Thanks for sharing!

26. 

    I am so grateful my granddaughter gave me a copy of Days Like These for my birthday! I LOVE it. I especially enjoyed the poems about the orange alien in the White House from 2017 to 2021 (I live in the USA). Unfortunately, we have been sentenced to another term from 2025 to 2029 (which will probably be much worse). It is good to know that people (like you) from other countries can sympathize with our sad fate.

    1. 

       Thank you, Judith. What wonderful taste in books your granddaughter has! And yes, there are a lot of us here who sympathise with you – hope you can find some effective coping strategies for the next four years.

27. 

    Just to let you know I enjoyed your cheese poem, which inspired me to write these P.S. lines:

    P.S. to “Brie Encounter”

    “Tuesday’s lament’s gone dry and stale? –
    Then let me tell my Wensleydale.”

    Dieter Müller from Germany

    1. 

       That’s fantastic. Thanks for that poetic postscript, Dieter.

28. 

    Dear Brian,

    I just have read your poem “America is a Gun”.
    Three sunny, nice, harmless verses in which one bathes, and then the lash of the whip, a shiver, the horror that runs down my spine – with every fourth stop verse.
    It’s not only what the poem – what you say, but also how you do it: the metric, the rhythm.

    I would really like to quote you on FB – of course with your name.
    Would you please allow me to do so?
    Thank you in advance!

    Best greetings from (good old, not some of the new ones) Vienna,
    Tajana

    1. 

       Thank you for your kind words, Tajana. Please feel free to do so.

29. 

    Hello Brian, Am a newbie to your work and enjoy your quirky sense of fun, infect i love it, and what an inspiration you are! , your poam about a little chameleon resonated with me.

    Your at the Liverpool Philharmonic this evening just wondering if you are doing a Q and A ?

    Kind Regards

    Trish Macdonald

    1. 

       Hi Trish, thanks very much for your kind comments. There’s no Q&A at the shows, they comprise one hour of Henry Normal reading his poems and then an hour of me, plus then a book signing afterwards.

30. 

    Hi Brian ………. what a night!! Full to the brim of human emotions, (words art speech and poetry [WASP] ) loved every page. Was fantastic to met you both and spend a moment in time with you, 🌟💥⭐ what a love 💚 Thank you for you kind words, Sending lots of love to you very soon 🌎🎨 Trish

    1. 

       Ah, thank you, Trish. It was a delight to meet you and I was bowled over to see the amazing work you’d created around my poem. Thanks so much for sharing that with me x

31. 

    Hi Brian……my name’s Eric Bogle, I’m a songwriter living in Australia. I’ve read your poems on Facebook and like them very much. Witty, thought provoking and mostly short, three terrific prerequisites for great poetry. I recently came across your poem “America is a Gun“, sadly very evocative, and I set it to a simple tune, simple is melodically is about as creative as I can achieve. I would like to be able to sing it at some concerts I have coming up if you’re agreeable. I can get a phone video to you if you give me permission to do so. Let me know anyway. I’m not Ed Sheeran and am coming to the end of my musical journey rather than beginning it, but I do like this poem. If there is a deafening silence to this request I’ll take it as a no….

    1. 

       Hi Eric, please feel free to go ahead and use these words. No need to send me a video. Glad to hear you’re not Ed Sheeran.

32. 

    Loved your show at the Jersey Literary festival, refugee was both thought provoking and relevant as much today. Im sure you know but the answer is 43 caps for England. Please come back and entertain us again. Peter

    1. 

       Ha! Thanks, Peter. The only reason I know the answer to that is because Martin Keown keeps telling me.

33. 

    Dear Sir,

    My girlfriend loves your poetry. She is a pharmacist and you brighten her busy days. I used to write quite alot, but life got in the way. I wonder, if you could just say Hello to Trudi? She would fondly remember it forever, I am sure. I am 46. She is 60. We’ve been together for one year and a half.

    From NB Canada

    Tim

    1. 

       Hi Tim, lovely to hear from you. And that would be my pleasure … Hello, Trudi! Thanks very much for tolerating my poetry. Hope you find some days which are a little less busy from time to time. All the best – Brian x

34. 

    Hello Brian. We came to see you in Norwich.. Wondrous – thank you.

    Have you heard of Friends On The Shelf?

    It’s “…an independent literary magazine that publishes true, real-life stories from a wide variety of people. Friends On The Shelf’s authors range from completely new writers to well-known names. And their stories vary, too – some are funny, some tragic, some extraordinary, and some are simply a celebration of everyday life.”

    They ran a competition some years ago. I thought it might tickle you…

    Sent them this:

    I’ve had a quick go at your FOTS Acronyms Competition, challenging indeed…

    But I did get slightly carried away and ended up with over 50! Couldn’t stop..!

    Here’s a few, for now..

    • Flabbergasted Owls Turn Sideways
    • Found Out Too Soon
    • Farting Overwhelms Tender Sensitivity
    • Fonts Only Type Sans
    • Fez On The Syrup
    • Fended Off The Sasquatch
    • Follow Our Touring Studio
    • Fifty Oligarchs Tip Spendthrifts
    • Firstly Only Thirdly Secondly
    • Fragrantly Oiled Turtledoves Sing
    • Feel Ozymandias’ Tantric Sparkle
    • Fizzy Onomatopoeia Twangs Sizzles
    • Focus On Taunting Serendipity
    • Forever Only Takes Seconds

    and on, and on… Plenty more if required!

    Hope this hasn’t been too much: Fortitude Overcomes Trembling Synapses?

    (And I did win!)

    www.friendsontheshelf.co.uk/copy-of-contributors-to-issue-9 wrote a small piece for this issue. It got edited to pieces unfortunately, so ended up way too long and very lumpy.>

    Anyway. Have fun. Hope to see you again on your travels.

    Maddy

    1. 

       Fabulous Offering. Thanks So (much for sharing it with me, Maddy) x

35. 

    Hi Brian,

    I recently finished reading Diary of a Somebody, and also recently found out my wife is pregnant. I decided to write a poem in your style to commemorate the event.

    9 months, they say, is all that it takes

    a miracle of nature, new life incubates

    you rest, skip fun, no caffeine, no junk

    eat kale, and spinach, and whole wheat, yuck

    you read, and study, google baby enrichment

    and what’s this? The reward for all that commitment

    screaming, crying, demanding attention

    pooping, peeing, requiring affection

    does this hospital have a return policy?

    1. 

       Tremendous. I love it!

36. 

    Here’s a tribute to you, Mr Bilson . I tried to format it poetically but my comment couldn’t be sent. Season’s greetings from Mark Stocker (Christchurch, NZ) Poetry in Emotion (aka What the Dickinson?)

    Shelley go or Shelley stay?My boyfriend, he’s so fickle;Time was he’d yelp with lustful joyWhen his Jonson I would tickle.Our love affair, it seemed so Strong       [as in Patience]Our passions all alight But now there’s only Hughes of Gray And no more black and Whyte. Lo! Well, I sense a certain Frost His love, it Burns no Moore, We sleep in sep’rate beds, nay rooms, I think I know the score. Time was he’d just love Larkin’ around Tennyson a Sunday morn Love-love, oh what a lovely score, But apathy’s now the norm. I shouldn’t be so stupid But I think it’s pretty Rich For an Audenary, Poe-faced bloke To give this girl the ditch. I’ll try hard to manage anger And not to Nash my teeth But I fear I will surrender To unalloyèd grief…

    1. 

       Fabulous work, Mark. Thanks for sharing that with me.