Roger McGough
Born in Liverpool, Roger McGough is the author of over a hundred books of poetry for both adults and children as well as editing numerous anthologies.
During the sixties he was part of The Scaffold, whose song 'Lily the Pink' was a hit worldwide, and the ground-breaking collection 'The Mersey Sound' (with Brian Patten and the late Adrian Henri) which has sold over one million copies, has been republished in the Penguin Modern Classic series. The winner of two Baftas for his film work and a Royal Television Society award, he helped write the script for The Yellow Submarine animation film.
A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he is an Honorary Professor of Thames Valley University, and a Fellow of John Moores University, Liverpool. He has been awarded D.Litts from the universities of Hull, Liverpool, Nottingham, Roehampton and the Open University.
He was made a Freeman of the City of Liverpool in 2001, and received a CBE from the Queen in 2004 for services to literature. He is President of the Poetry Society and currently presents Poetry Please on BBC Radio 4.
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Books
Poetry
Publication Details | Notes |
|---|---|
THE COLLECTED POEMS: 1959-2024 2024 Viking | 'The patron saint of poetry' - Carol Ann Duffy For sixty years, Roger McGough has thrilled and delighted generations of readers with his irreverent, intimate and ever-original poetry. The Collected Poems presents the definitive selection of his very best work, from the Mersey-soaked sound of his quintessential Sixties start, through to tender meditations on fatherhood and family, and on to political sendups, pandemic playfulness and brilliant new writing. Here, then, is an unmatched store of warmth, wisdom and feeling from Britain's most beloved poet. 'McGough has done for poetry what champagne does for weddings' - Time Out |
SAFETY IN NUMBERS 2021 Viking | 'This is not the time for adultery. Your lover will fail to be impressed, not so much by the face mask and stale musk of sanitizing gel, but your flouting of the rules.' At once funny and moving, Safety in Numbers is the new collection from the nation's favourite poet. Traversing new yet timeless terrain with his signature wit and intimacy, Roger McGough brings to life the very strangeness of our times From lost tongues and violins to rising oceans, from adulterers in lockdown to ghosts in line, we may live in dark times and yet find ourselves laughing. From surprising angles and with unexpected voices, McGough, 'a trickster you can trust', reveals the telling moments of our lives. _______________ PRAISE FOR ROGER MCGOUGH 'A witty and ingenious chronicler of British life with a deftness and agility that is hard to beat' Poetry Society 'The patron saint of poetry' Carol Ann Duffy 'McGough has done for poetry what champagne does for weddings' Time Out |
JOINEDUPWRITING 2019 Penguin | For more than fifty years, Roger McGough has entranced generations of readers with poetry which is at once playful and poignant, intimate and ambitious in its scope. Joinedupwriting delivers on all the wry observation, warmth and subtle heartache that readers have come to expect from his collections. From forgotten friendships to the idiosyncrasies of family life, to the trauma of war right through to contemporary global politics - these poems explore the human experience in all its shades of light and dark, but always with McGough's signature wit, irreverence and vivacity. This is the nation's favourite poet at his very finest. 'The patron saint of poetry' Carol Ann Duffy |
IT NEVER RAINS 2014 PENGUIN | It Never Rains by Roger McGough - an expanded edition of comic verse and free line drawings, from the nation's favourite poet. 'Oxford Blues' is one of the many new poems in this expanded and revised edition of The State of Poetry, Roger McGough's book of short humorous verse which was published in 2005 as part of Penguin's 70s series celebrating its 70th anniversary. From a poem commissioned to commemorate Dylan Thomas in just 140 characters, which unfortunately comes to an end mid-word, to a pre-emptive erratum notice, these poems show McGough at his inventive, hilarious best - and there are also new line drawings by the author offered at no extra cost. |
AS FAR AS I KNOW 2013 PENGUIN | Roger McGough's new book of poems shows him writing as fluently and inventively as ever. There may be a stronger strain of melancholy than before (the death of a regular in the local pub; the news that a daughter might be moving abroad), as well as a distinct sense of menace, small but insistent, which inhabits many of the poems. But there is plenty of McGough's characteristic wit and wordplay too, including a scintillating series of haiku inspired by a London tube strike and a striking reworking of his famous 1960s poem 'Let Me Die a Youngman's Death', this time entitled 'Not For Me a Youngman's Death'. Who but McGough would characterize the butcher's window as 'the friendly face of the abattoir', or imagine the almost limitless ways in which we might go to bed? A new book of poems by Roger McGough is always an event. Published just ahead of his 75th birthday, As Far As I Know is truly cause for celebration. |
THAT AWKWARD AGE 2009 Penguin | |
THE MERSEY SOUND 2007 Penguin | First published in 1967, The Mersey Sound has sold over half a million copies, making it the bestselling poetry anthology of all time. |
SELECTED POEMS 2006 Penguin | |
THE COLLECTED POEMS 2003 Penguin | Collected for the first time in one volume, McGough`s poems remain as potent as they ever were. |
EVERYDAY ECLIPSES 2002 Viking (Penguin) | |
THE WAY THINGS ARE 1999 Penguin | |
DEFYING GRAVITY 1993 Penguin | |
YOU AT THE BACK: SELECTED POEMS 1967-1987 1992 Cape | |
SELECTED POEMS 1967-1987 1989 Cape | |
WORRY 1987 Toni Savage | |
MELTING INTO THE FOREGROUND 1986 Viking | |
WAVING AT TRAINS 1982 Cape | |
HOLIDAY ON DEATH ROW 1979 Cape | |
SUMMER WITH MONIKA 1978 Whizzard Press | Republished Penguin 2017 |
IN THE GLASSROOM 1976 Cape | |
GIG 1973 Cape | |
OUT OF SEQUENCE 1972 Turret Books | |
AFTER THE MERRYMAKING 1970 Cape | |
WATCHWORDS 1968 Cape |
Children's
Publication Details | Notes |
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HAPPY POEMS 2018 Macmillan Children's Books | Poems to make you smile! Critically acclaimed poet Roger McGough has drawn together a fantastic collection of upbeat poems to bring happiness into your day with this uplifting collection Happy Poems. He reminds us that happiness can be found all around us in the everyday, in family, in books in nature and, of course, in our pets! Includes gems from the very best classic and contemporary poets, such as John Agard, Adrian Henri, Brian Patten, Carol Ann Duffy, Joseph Coelho, William Wordsworth and William Blake. |
SLAPSTICK 2008 Puffin | |
THE MONSTERS' GUIDE TO CHOOSING A PET 2005 Puffin | |
DOTTY INVENTIONS 2005 Frances Lincoln | |
ALL THE BEST 2004 Puffin | |
THE BEE'S KNEES 2003 Puffin | |
WHAT ON EARTH CAN IT BE? 2003 Viking (Penguin) | |
MOONTHIEF 2002 Kingfisher | |
GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT 2002 Puffin | |
BAD BAD CATS 1997 Penguin | |
PILLOW TALK 1992 |
Non-Fiction
Publication Details | Notes |
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SAID AND DONE 2005 Random House |
Other
Publication Details | Notes |
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THE HYPOCHONDRIAC (Moliere) 2009 Methuen Drama | New adaptation of Moliere's THE HYPOCHONDRIAC |
TARTUFFE (Moliere) 2008 Methuen | New adaptation of TARTUFFE by Moliere |
Film, TV & Theatre
Roger is also a celebrated author (see separate CV). Born in Liverpool, Roger McGough is the author of over fifty books of poetry for both adults and children, as well as editing numerous anthologies. During the sixties he was part of The Scaffold, whose song 'Lily the Pink' was a hit worldwide, and the ground-breaking collection 'The Mersey Sound' (with Brian Patten and the late Adrian Henri) has recently been republished in the Penguin Modern Classic series. The winner of two Baftas for his film work and a Royal Television Society award, he helped write the script for The Yellow Submarine animation film. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he has a Cholmondeley award and is twice winner of both the Signal and CLPE Awards for the best book of poetry for children. He is an Honorary Professor of Thames Valley University and a Fellow of John Moores University, Liverpool. He was made a Freeman of the City of Liverpool in 2001, and received a CBE from the Queen in 2004 for services to literature. Currently he presents Poetry Please on BBC Radio 4 and lives in Barnes, south-west London with his wife and two of his four children.
Awards:
Fellow of John Moores University, Liverpool
1999 Cholmendelay Award
1999 Signal Award - Bad, Bad Cats (Puffin)
1998 Honorary M.A. - Nene College of Further Education
1997 O.B.E. - Awarded for services to poetry
1993 Honorary Professor - Thames Valley University
1993 BAFTA for The Elements, science film
1986 'Tony' nomination for lyrics of Wind in the Willows, produced on Broadway
1985 BAFTA for Childrens film: Kurt, Mungo, B.P. and Me
1984 Signal Award for Children's poetry
Radio
Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
POETRY PLEASE 2009-2025 | BBC Radio 4 | Writer/Presenter |
SOUNDING OFF WITH McGOUGH 2000 | BBC Radio 4 | |
SUMMER WITH MONIKA 1998 | BBC Radio 4 | |
DESERT ISLAND DISCS 1998 | BBC Radio 4 | |
F.X. '30 MINUTE THEATRE' 1989 | BBC Radio 4 | |
THE NARRATOR and SCENES FROM THE POET'S LIFE 1983 | BBC Radio 4 | |
WALKING THE DOG 1981 | BBC Radio 4 | |
STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART | BBC Radio 4 | |
DOWN YOUR WAY, AMERICAN BEAUTY | BBC Radio 4 | |
HOME TRUTHS | BBC Radio 4 |
Television
Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
THE METHUSELAH TREE 2000 | Windfall Films | |
FRIDAY NIGHT HIJACK | Sky Arts | Guest Presenter |
NICE TO BE HERE 1998 | Varga TVC | |
THE HAPPY PRINCE 1996 | Carlton | |
THE ELEMENTS 1991 | Channel 4/Windfall Films | |
THE MOUTH TRAP 1991 | Granada TV | |
THE ADVENTURES OF PETER RABBIT 1990 | TVC | |
THE CROCODILE IN THE CITY 1990 | Channel 4 | |
PICTURE BOX 1990 | Granada TV | |
HERE ARE THE POEMS 1985 | ||
KURT, MUNGO, B.P. AND ME 1984 | Thames TV | |
LIFESWAPPERS 1976 | Thames TV | |
FOCUS 1976 | BBC's Further Education Series | |
SATURDAY WHILE SUNDAY 1967 | ABC TV | |
THE 11th HOUR 1967 | BBC TV | |
GAZETTE 1964 | ABC TV | |
THE YELLOW SUBMARINE | TVC | |
HOPE STREET GLORY | ||
FAST FORWARD | Thames TV | |
EMPTY HOUSES |
Theatre
Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
THE HYPOCHONDRIAC (Adapted from Moliere) 2009 | Liverpool Everyman Theatre | |
TARTUFFE (adapted from Moliere) 2008 | Liverpool Everyman Theatre / Rose Theatre, Kingston | |
MY DAD'S A FIRE EATER 2000 | Devon Schools | |
THE SOUND COLLECTOR 1997 | Quicksilver Theatre Co | |
FALLING ANGELS 1997 | Tour of India, Autumn | |
WAVING THE TIDE 1989 | Edinburgh, December | |
A MATTER OF CHANCE 1988 | Edinburgh Festival | |
WIND IN THE WILLOWS 1984 | Washington DC / Broadway | |
THE MOUTHTRAP 1982 | Edinburgh Festival | |
LIFESWAPPERS 1980 | Edinburgh Festival | |
WATCHWORDS 1980 | Nottingham Playhouse | |
ALL THE TRIMMINGS 1980 | Hammersmith, Lyric Theatre | |
SUMMER WITH MONIKA 1979 | Hammersmith, Lyric Theatre | |
GOLDEN NIGHTS AND GOLDEN DAYS 1979 | Nottingham Playhouse | |
WORLD PLAY 1978 | Edinburgh | |
STUFF 1969 | London | |
THE PUNY LITTLE LIFE SHOW 1968 | London | |
THE COMMISSION 1967 | Liverpool | |
THE CHAUFFEUR-DRIVEN ROLLS 1966 | Liverpool | |
BIRDS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS 1964 | London | |
THE GREAT SMILE | ||
ANOTHER CUSTARD PIE | ||
THE SOLDIER'S TALE |