British poet Brian Patten, who "came to prominence as one of the Liverpool poets who published The Mersey Sound poetry anthology in 1967, alongside Adrian Henri and Roger McGough," died September 29, the Bookseller reported. He was 79.
 |
|
| Brian Patten | |
His books include Vanishing Trick, Grave Gossip, Storm Damage, Armada, Grinning Jack, Love Poems, and The Story Giant. He also published Monster Slayer: A Beowulf Tale with HarperCollins's dyslexia specialist imprint, Barrington Stoke, in 2020.
Jane Johnson, his longtime editor at HarperCollins, commented: "I first worked with Brian Patten at George Allen & Unwin Publishers in 1985, on his gorgeous collection Love Poems. As a junior editor I was very much in awe of him but he soon put a stop to that, plying me with jokes and wine and poetry both scabrous and sublime at the Chelsea Arts Club till I was dizzy.... Brian was a force of nature, so full of light and life that he was impossible to contain. He could be a challenging writer to publish, a quicksilver spirit that slipped through your hands, impossible to pin down, one day elated with a new piece, the next hating everything about it.... Brian Patten leaves the world alight with his words."
Gill Coleridge of the RCW literary agency said: "Representing Brian was never dull--he was without doubt one of the kindest and amusing and original of his gloriously talented generation.... He had a razor sharp mind and a real talent for fabulous poetry and children's books. Gargling with Jelly and Juggling with Gerbils are just two of his wonderful collections of children's verse. And his superb children's novel Mr. Moon's Last Case and then The Story Giant (with Chris Riddell) are books to be treasured by any young reader."
"The sheer number of his love poems, and their popularity at readings, encouraged the publication of ample collected editions," the Guardian noted. "Part of their appeal lies in their apparent intimacy and authenticity in treating the subject of love in a modern world; but they in fact belong to an older tradition, which saw love as energizing and revitalizing and at the same time the creator of confusion and chaos."
From "And Nothing Is Ever As You Want It to Be":
How easy it would be
If love could be brought home like a lost kitten
Or gathered in like strawberries,
How lovely it would be;
But nothing is ever as perfect as you want it to be.