50 years of Mersey Sound

‘The Mersey Sound’ is a collection of poems by Liverpudlian poets Roger McGough, Brian Patten and Adrian Henri.

It was hugely successful when first published 50 years ago in 1967. Fueled by the craze for The Beatles and ‘Mersey Beat’, the ‘Liverpool Poets’ flourished.

Through their books and live recordings they cemented poetry within popular culture reaching a wider and younger audience than their predecessors and more traditional contemporaries. The book sold over 500,000 copies and it became one of the bestselling poetry anthologies of all time.

The poems are accessible and unpretentious. They touch on the ordinary and the extraordinary with all the flavour of a John Lennon lyric and open up a world of poetry which uses familiar words to tell illuminating stories. It was, and still remains, poetry for all people.

At the Museum of Liverpool we have a cherished selection of objects on display about the great Liverpool poets in the writers section of our Wondrous Place gallery including an original copy of ‘The Mersey Sound’.  Read more…

World Poetry Day 2017

Discover the Liverpool poets in our Wondrous Place gallery. Image © Dave Jones

Inspired by my interest in the Liverpool Beat Poets and driven by my love of poetry, on Tuesday 21 March I will be celebrating World Poetry Day at the Museum of Liverpool with some special free events.

I will be taking a closer look at the poets who are featured in the Wondrous Place gallery at 11am and 1pm , delivering talks about Roger McGough, Brian Patten and Adrian Henri – the beat poets who shot to fame with the compelling poetry anthology book The Mersey Sound(1967) selling 500,000 copies.  Read more…