Poem

Stream ‘Sounds Made by Humans’

News

Sounds Made by Humans – an album of my poetry put to music by the fabulous Catenary Wires – can now be listened to on Spotify, iTunes and those other streaming platforms.

“A contender for album of the year.” Backseat Mafia
“An instant cult classic. 5/5” Louder Than War

And if you like what you hear, you can hear it played live this autumn when we’re heading off on a UK tour. There will be music, poems, mugs, tea towels, and somewhere to sit down (should you want to). We can be found in the following places …

12 Sep: RAMSGATE: Music Hall
30 Oct: BANBURY: Mill Arts Centre
1 Nov: LONDON: Bloomsbury Theatre
3 Nov: NORWICH: Norwich Arts Centre
4 Nov: STAMFORD: Corn Exchange
5 Nov: MILTON KEYNES: The Stables
6 Nov: BRIGHTON: Komedia
12 Nov: WORCESTER: Huntingdon Hall
13 Nov: NOTTINGHAM: Metronome
14 Nov: SWANSEA: Grand Theatre
15 Nov: BRISTOL: John Wesley’s Chapel
21 Nov: MANCHESTER: Halle St Peters
22 Nov: OTLEY: Courthouse
23 Nov: CHORLEY: Chorley Theatre
24 Nov: LIVERPOOL: Royal Philharmonic
25 Nov: SHEFFIELD: The Foundry
26 Nov: GLASGOW: Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA)
27 Nov: NEWCASTLE: The Pilgrim
28 Nov: POCKLINGTON: Arts Centre
4 Dec: HERNE BAY: King’s Hall

Hope to see some of you along the way.

Sounds Made by Humans – out now!

News

Last week saw the release of ‘Sounds Made by Humans’, an album of ‘poem songs’ I’ve made with the brilliant Catenary Wires.

Sounds Made by Humans

The album is out now on vinyl and CD; it’s also available for streaming on Spotify and elsewhere, and can be downloaded.

Some places where you can find it…

BANDCAMP

SHOPIFY

ROUGH TRADE (including limited edition ‘white vinyl’ edition):

We’re really proud of it and we’ll be taking it on the road with us in the UK in November, for some evenings of music and poetry. More on that in a few weeks.

Happy listening x

Brian Bilston & The Catenary Wires

Every Song on the Radio

News

A new ‘poem song’ with the fab Catenary Wires is out today: Every Song on the Radio Reminds Me of You. We’ve even made an accompanying video, in which I do some very good walking around with a radio, plus knob twiddling.

Caravan of love

It’s from our forthcoming album, ‘Sounds Made by Humans’ which comes out on 9 May and is available to pre-order on vinyl and CD from all good record stores. You’ll find it up on the various music streaming sites, too.

More info here: https://skepwax.myshopify.com/products/brian-bilston-and-the-catenary-wires-sounds-made-by-humans-album

Top of the pops to you.

Index of Poems I Shall Never Write

Assorted Poems, Selected poems

I’ve been having a bit of a sort out over the summer. I’m throwing out some old titles for poems which I shall never write. Free to a good home.

Let Sleeping Cats Lie

Assorted Poems

Some news! I have a new book of poems for children coming out in a couple of months – Let Sleeping Cats Lie.


It’s a collection of poems about pets (dogs, cats, goldfish, chinchilla, guinea pigs, snakes, budgies, rabbits, blue whales etc). I say it’s for children but it’s also suitable for grandchildren and, who knows, some grown-ups might enjoy it, too; I don’t like to be too prescriptive.


It publishes on 26th September in the UK. If you fancied pre-ordering a copy, you can do so through your local bookshop or visiting this page with links to some online booksellers:
https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/brian-bilston/let-sleeping-cats-lie-pet-poems/9781035050550

Here’s a poem from the collection:

Wilf the Labracadabrador

Wilf the Labracadabrador
(who in dog years is seventy-six)

is a magician, a conjurer
and a hypnotist.

He saws teddies in half.
He pulls rabbits from hats.

He makes all his food vanish,
just like that.

Renowned for his showdogship
and smooth sleight of paw,

Wilf’s about to em-bark
on a nationwide tour.

Last week, I showed him
how to juggle with sticks.

Whoever said you can’t teach
an old dog new tricks?

Solo shows for 2024

News

I’m doing a few solo poetry shows this year, starting this month with Chester, Lincoln & Scarborough.

I’ll be in Falmouth, Totnes & Launceston in April. And Belfast & Dublin in October.

If you fancy coming along to a show, you can get tickets here: https://brianbilston.com/events/

Mnemonic

Assorted Poems, Selected poems

Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November.
Unless a leap year is its fate,
February hath twenty-eight.
All the rest hath three days more,
excepting January,
which hath six thousand,
one hundred and eighty-four.

2024 Shows (warning: may contain poetry)

News

Well done, everybody, for making it to January 569th.

I’ve been grateful for those extra days this month, as it’s given me time to get my head together for my 2024 shows, which begin in just over two weeks’ time with a run of dates with the fabulous poet (and human) Henry Normal. We start on 16th February in Bexhill-on-Sea on the south coast.

Places and dates

Shows in Nottingham and Monmouth have now sold out – alongside Salford, Leeds, Exeter, Bath, Stroud and Leek.

There are only a handful of tickets remaining for London, Oxford, Bury St Edmunds, Coventry and Ilkley.

Tickets are also on sale for Sunderland, Barrow, Wolverhampton, Norwich, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Stirling, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, plus two new shows announced last week: Bristol and Southampton.

And a small reminder that I’m doing a few solo shows this year in fancy coming along to one: Chester, Lincoln, Scarborough, Falmouth, Totnes, Launceston, Belfast and Dublin.

More places and dates

If you came to see me last year and for some strange reason are considering coming along again, then you might be reassured to know I’ll be reading a bunch of new poems (alongside a few older ones). There’s a guarantee of a least two new jokes or your money back (terms and conditions apply*).

Links to more information and tickets can be found on this page: 2024 shows and ticket info

* Brian Bilston reserves the right to define what constitutes a joke. A joke may not always be dependent on laughter.

 

 

Warning: this post contains the C word

News

Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas?

Almost certainly, yes.

Is this year going to be THE year in which you get all your shopping sorted way ahead of time?

Probably not, no.

Is there a book publishing today which could solve many of your Christmas shopping headaches?

No idea, tbh.

Regardless, I thought I should probably let you know that I have a new book coming out today. It’s a collection of Christmas poems called And So This is Christmas.

Poems cover most of the festive basics, such as: the likelihood of snow; secret Santa shopping; family tensions; the voting habits of turkeys; the difficulty of getting hold of some myrrh; disruptions to the regular bin schedule; bloody robins.

Oh, and the commercialization of Christmas, of course.

If it wasn’t too early to be thinking about Christmas, I would tell you that the book is available through all bookshops – online stores and proper ones. I’d probably also share this link, which provides links to some of the bookshops through which you can order it online:

https://linktr.ee/brianbilston

I might also mention that the paperback of Days Like These will be publishing in just under a month and that also might serve as a Christmas gift for someone for whom you don’t want to go to much effort.

But given it’s only 12th October, I probably shouldn’t. In fact, best just to disregard all of the above; I wish I hadn’t mentioned it now.