Celebrate Dr John Cooper Clarke’s 75th birthday at Bristol Beacon next year

Celebrate Dr John Cooper Clarke’s 75th birthday at Bristol Beacon next year

Posted on: 19 Jun 2023

Known as the ‘Godfather of Punk Poetry’, literary phenomenon John Cooper Clark will bring his biting prose to the soon-to-be reopened Beacon Hall in March 2024.

 

‘75 Years of John Cooper Clarke’ will take place at Bristol Beacon on Thursday 14 March 2024.

 

With a renowned career spanning well over 40 years, the Salford performance poet has made a lasting imprint that spans cultures, audiences, art forms and continents with legendary pieces including ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ and ‘Evidently Chickentown’ becoming household poems.

 

General sale goes live this Friday, 23 June. Secure your tickets HERE.

 

 

A stone-cold literary legend, John Cooper Clarke is a British cult hero. The “Godfather of Punk Poetry”, he is widely seen as the original people’s poet with cultural influence that spans literature, music, fashion and more.

 

With such a long-spanning career, the now 74-year-old is a major influence to artists all over the world, including Arctic Monkeys (who adapted his poem ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ for a song on their fifth album, AM), Plan B (who he collaborated with for ‘Pity The Plight’) and Sleaford Mods.

 

In addition to his musical footprint, John Cooper Clarke’s work has also seeped into the world of television with his legendary number ‘Evidently Chickentown’ playing out in the penultimate episode of The Sopranos. Watching this master perform is an opportunity to see a living legend in action.

 

Today, he is purely a solo performer, having toured all over the world for over 15 years. JCC’s latest poetry collection The Luckiest Guy Alive (2018) features 30 new pieces including fan favourites: ‘I’ve Fallen In Love With My Wife’ and ‘Get Back on Drugs you Fat F*ck’.

 

The year after, the Doctor released his autobiography, I Wanna Be Yours, named after his famous poem. In this ground-breaking work, JCC goes into intricate detail about his early life in Manchester and his journey to punk stardom, his struggles with drug addiction and his massive comeback as a major poet.

 

 

‘75 Years of John Cooper Clarke’ will take place at Bristol Beacon on Thursday 14 March 2024 with general tickets going on sale this Friday, 23 June. Secure your entry HERE. 

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Article by:

Stanley Gray

Stan is a born and bred Bristolian, recently graduated from studying English Literature in Sheffield. His passions are music and literature and he spends the majority of his time in venues all over the city, immersing himself in Bristol’s alternative music scene. A lifelong Bristol City fan, Stan’s Saturdays are spent watching his team both home and away.