PETER BURGHAM - Profile
Born and brought up in Liverpool, then lived in central Scotland for 24 years, now based in York. Before retirement in 2019, I worked in IT for 40+ years, back to days considered prehistoric in computer terms...! More recently I've become a TEFL-qualified teacher (English as a foreign language) and I'm also working on my French (intermediate level) and Norwegian (very basic !). Hoping to catch a literary spark from my 19th century ancestors, the Welsh bards Alafon, Llifon and Taliesin, I try to entertain through writing, and I hope you will enjoy these poems, pictures and the links to other creative activities. ========================================================= PUBLICATION BACKGROUND 2025 RIPON ANTHOLOGY
I'm delighted to announce that two of my poems have been included in the Anthology of Ripon Poets 2025 'This Here This Now'. NEW IN 2024 In 2024 I worked towards publication of Nexus, eventually launched in September. This is a poetic journal covering the last century or so, with poems interwoven around the theme of a presiding spirit that binds the generations. DOUBLE LAUNCH IN 2023 !
In 2023, I worked on my next instalments in the Pause and Rewind series, with the launch of Pause and Rewind in France completed at the end of October. My other publication in 2023 was a set of poems of general appeal relating to railways, which is called Connections : Railway Verses and was launched on 7th November 2023. This is an unconventional work in that it is a mixture of verse and a little social history. |
A fan of traditional humorous light verse and rhyme, influenced by the likes of Roger McGough, Ian McMillan and Brian Bilston, but trying to create poems in my own style ...
Classic:
W.H. Auden William Blake T.S. Eliot John Keats Wilfred Owen Carl Sandburg William Shakespeare Dylan Thomas R.S. Thomas William Wordsworth W.B. Yeats Modern: Simon Armitage Liz Berry Carole Bromley Billy Collins Antony Dunn Jonathan Edwards Malene Engelund Paul Farley Victoria Gatehouse Seamus Heaney Adrian Henri Lindsey Holland Ian Humphreys Brendan Kennelly Ted Kooser Sabrina Mahfouz Roger McGough Ian McMillan Allison McVety Kiran Millwood Hargrave Esther Morgan Helen Mort Brian Patten Natalie Rees Bethany Rivers Miles Salter (Miles Cain) Owen Sheers Kathryn Simmonds Jean Sprackland Keith Taylor George the Poet Hugo Williams Joe Williams Ryan Van Winkle Light Verse: Brian Bilston Kate Fox Bill Greenwell Olivia Mulligan Shel Silverstein Sharon Wadsley Performance/Slam: Harry Baker MiKo Berry Sarah Kay Graham Rhodes Rives |
IN THE BEGINNING ...
In 2019-20, I completed 3 books of verse and learnt some of the do's and don'ts of self-publishing.
In 2021 I launched a new series called Pause and Rewind, which are books of photo-poems focused on different locations. The first of these celebrated my local village of Haxby, York. There are now 6 published in the series, with the most recent 'in France' (which includes some poems written in French !) launched in late October 2023. There are several more in the pipeline, and I'm continuing my research for them.
In 2021, I also revamped my original collection and re-launched it as Bird's Eye View, which led to an unexpected and most welcome recommendation by New Writing North. And in October 2021, I published my collection of lyrical narrative poems, Touchpoints.
For the latter, I'd like to acknowledge my gratitude to the marvellous York Writers' Group for their ever-helpful analysis and support.
In 2019-20, I completed 3 books of verse and learnt some of the do's and don'ts of self-publishing.
In 2021 I launched a new series called Pause and Rewind, which are books of photo-poems focused on different locations. The first of these celebrated my local village of Haxby, York. There are now 6 published in the series, with the most recent 'in France' (which includes some poems written in French !) launched in late October 2023. There are several more in the pipeline, and I'm continuing my research for them.
In 2021, I also revamped my original collection and re-launched it as Bird's Eye View, which led to an unexpected and most welcome recommendation by New Writing North. And in October 2021, I published my collection of lyrical narrative poems, Touchpoints.
For the latter, I'd like to acknowledge my gratitude to the marvellous York Writers' Group for their ever-helpful analysis and support.
