Wirral poet, Barry Woods, has launched his latest punk-inspired book at an event inside Liverpool’s Wall of Fame bar, once home to the old Probe Records shop, a place where punk was sold over the counter by the likes of Pete Burns and Julian Cope.
Where Did All The Punks Go? is a collection of previously published and new works using punk, social issues, and 1980s Birkenhead as a backdrop.
“We had fifteen poets performing inside the once iconic Probe Records building on Button Street, a place where Pete Burns of Dead or Alive worked before he got famous,’ says Barry, a regular on the Merseyside poetry scene for over 20 years.
“The punk movement was a little before my time, but it had a big impact on me as I was growing up. Generation X had a lot to deal with – unemployment levels were high, and so a DIY ethic prevailed back then, sometimes with a ferocious roar!
“Malcom McLaren and Vivienne Westwood were particularly good at this, changing attitudes towards music and fashion.”
Barry studied under award-winning poet Alison Chisholm, and received a Poetry Medal of Honour in 2019 from Wirral’s John Gorman.
He has organised many spoken word events in Merseyside over the years.
Where Did All The Punks Go? by Barry Woods Is available to buy in hardback, paperback, and Kindle from https://amzn.eu/d/5LRiUaS.
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