The Feel-Good Movie of the Year

By Luke Wright

'My poor old heart, I've left its drawbridge down'
Divorced, and perhaps a little bruised, Luke Wright journeys off the sunken roads of southern England and into himself, pursued by murderous swans, empty car seats, and his father's skeleton clocks.
Both brazen and elegiac, these poems pull on the 'tidy hem' of responsible existence, unravelling the banal frustrations of online outrage and ageing friends, and grasping at something 'beyond our squeaky comprehension'. Wright files through the shackles of cynicism to ask how can we let go without giving up.
'Luke Wright is one of the greats. A poetic pugilist. Beguiling, hypnotic and master of the emotional sucker-punch. The Feel-Good Movie of the Year is his best yet.'
- Carl Barât

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penned in the Margins
• Release date: Mar 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781908058911

Luke Wright

“Performance poetry’s key revivalist.” Metro Luke Wright writes bawdy bar room ballads about small town tragedies and Westminster rogues. His fast paced, witty poems are crammed full of yummy mummies, debauched Tory grandees, maudlin commuters and leering tabloid paps. His live shows are enjoyed by thousands of people across the world every year, where he mixes the wistful with the downright comic to take audiences on an incredible emotional journey. Since 2006 he has written and performed eight one man shows, touring them to top literary and arts festivals from Australia to Scotland via Hong Kong and Bruges. In 2015 his debut play (in which he also starred) What I Learned From Johnny Bevan won a prestigious Fringe First Award at The Edinburgh Fringe, also bagged Luke The Stage Award for Acting Excellence. In 2017, his second full poetry collection - The Toll - was published by Penned in the Margins and toured the UK. Luke Wright's second verse play, Frankie Vah, debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017, with publication and a national tour to follow in 2018.

Book preview

cover.jpg

THE FEEL-GOOD MOVIE OF THE YEAR

Luke Wright is a poet and theatre-maker. Flamboyant, political and riotously funny, Wright’s inventive spoken word shows are enjoyed by thousands of people across the world every year. He is the author of two full poetry collections, three pamphlets and three verse plays. He is the winner of a Fringe First, a Stage Award and three Saboteur Awards. He lives in Suffolk with his two sons.

ALSO BY LUKE WRIGHT

POETRY

After Engine Trouble (Rough Trade Books, 2018)

The Toll (Penned in the Margins, 2017)

Mondeo Man (Penned in the Margins, 2013)

The Vile Ascent of Lucien Gore (Nasty Little Press, 2011)

High Performance (Nasty Little Press, 2009)

VERSE DRAMA

The Remains of Logan Dankworth (Penned in the Margins, 2020)

Frankie Vah (Penned in the Margins, 2018)

What I Learned from Johnny Bevan (Penned in the Margins, 2016)

NON-FICTION

Who Writes This Crap? (Penguin, 2007)

img1.jpg

PUBLISHED BY PENNED IN THE MARGINS

Toynbee Studios, 28 Commercial Street, London E1 6AB

www.pennedinthemargins.co.uk

All rights reserved

© Luke Wright 2021

The right of Luke Wright to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.

This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Penned in the Margins.

First published 2021

ISBN

978-1-908058-91-1

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

CONTENTS

Ex

A Pub Gig in the Middle of Nowhere

Drawbridge

The Lay-bys and Bypasses

Spent

Lowestoft