John, who is your favourite poet?   Shakespeare.

What is your favourite poem?   At the moment, it’s ‘Warming Her Pearls’ by Carol Anne Duffy. Tomorrow, it could be ‘Ulysses’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Fickle, aren’t I?

What is your favourite humorous poem?   ‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’ by Lewis Carroll.

What is your best poem?   I haven’t written it yet.

What is the point of poetry?    Like all art, it’s to get what’s inside you out and into other people – a bit like French kissing.

Where was the strangest place you performed?   Sainsbury’s car park during trading hours.

Where do your ideas come from?   The need for a piece for a particular audience or occasion, a dream, a news item, a phrase overheard or an idea welling up inside me like heartburn.

What is your motto?   Pull your finger out.

What is the best thing about a computer?   It can tell you the number of words in a document quicker than it takes to ask.   The worst thing?   That little gismo that hovers unbidden over the text, obscuring the very bit you’re working on.
 
What is your chief ambition?   To live until I die.

Do you like cats?   I am indifferent to them – as they are to me.

What would you take to a desert island?   A motor boat with lots of fuel.

Were you ever scared on your trip round the world?   Yes.

What is the best thing about the world?   It’s roundness.

What is the meaning of life?   It may not have a meaning, but if I find anything out on this one, don’t worry, I’ll post it on the HOME page straightaway.

What is your favourite film?   Clingfilm.

Would you come and talk to us about your journey round the world without flying?  Yes, if there are at least 20 of you.

Why do you wear a funny hat?   Because I’m funny.

How would you like to be remembered?   By lots of people for a long time.



If you'd like to ask John a question, you can do so on the CONTACT page.

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