Saturday 2nd June - John Cooper Clarke at Stoke Newington Literary Festival

On Monday 4th June, John Cooper Clarke is doing a gig at Stoke Newington Literary festival. JCC is brilliant. His poem TWAT is one of my favourite pieces of work. Last night I was picking up my daughter from swimming and she mentioned her disdain for poetry. I asked if she'd ever heard the works of John Cooper Clarke and she sneered. When we arrived home, I got her to watch this YouTube clip of JCC (She's 16 and old enough)



There is also a great interview in the Guardian:-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/may/29/john-cooper-clarke-punk-poet-interview?newsfeed=true

Perhaps the finest quote from the article

Tony Blair or John Prescott? OK, take the piss out of John Prescott if you like, but who would you rather wake up next to: Pauline or Cherie? Pauline looks like Elizabeth Taylor at her peak. What a goddess. Beautiful!

The best thing about JCC is the fact he doesn't stand for bullshitters. I'm all for a punk rock mentality in such matters and am eternally grateful that I was a teenager in the late 1970's when these attitudes prevailed.

From the Festival Website

Saturday, June 2 at 7:30 PM
STOKE NEWINGTON LITERARY FESTIVAL 2012: John Cooper Clarke : Stoke Newington Literary Festival / with Simon Day
at Stoke Newington Town Hall

John Cooper Clarke’s biting, satirical, political and very funny verse delivered in his rapid-fire performance style has been influential from the days of the punk movement in the late 70s right through to today’s pop culture. Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys cites JCC as a huge inspiration and John’s work appears on the sleeve of one of their singles. 3 of his poems are now in the GCSE syllabus. John will be on stage at 9pm, following the support act.