First Thursday Poetry: ANDY CROFT

Andy Croft is a popular poet, playwright, columnist, and novelist from the working-class industrial city of Middlesbrough, England, where he has been active for many years in community writing projects. He is founding editor of Smokestack Books, a publisher of radical and unconventional world poetry, and is the author of three novels and forty-two books for teenagers, mostly about soccer. Croft’s books of poetry include Just as Blue, Great North, Comrade Laughter, Ghost Writer (composed entirely in Petrarchan sonnets), Sticky, Three Men on the Metro (with W.N. Herbert and Paul Summers) and numerous anthologies, including the modern classic, Red Sky at Night, which he edited with the United Kingdom’s ‘Shadow Poet Laureate,’ Adrian Mitchell. In addition, he has written and presented many programs for BBC radio, and his columns have appeared regularly in publications such as The Guardian, New Statesman, Independent, London Magazine, and the British Morning Star. Croft has given readings in venues ranging from London's Poetry International to Siberia. This is his first American tour.

Smokestack Books: http://www.smokestack-books.co.uk