WLF Poet Laureate – Meet Our First Ever Poet Laureate
The WLF is proud to announce that Theo Theobald has been appointed Worcestershire’s first ever Poet Laureate.
Theo Theobald is a man on a mission; he’s a poet with a purpose a Bard with big ambitions.
As Worcestershire’s first ever poet Laureate, Theo has pledged to bring his individual mix of spoken word, comedic observation and rhyming couplets (well most of them do!) to as wide and diverse an audience as possible, proving once and for all that poetry is the new black…or rock ‘n’ roll…or hip hop…(insert your own very fashionable metaphor here).
The reason?
In spite of living life on the edge of grumpiness, Theo believes in the individuality of the err…individual. He observes (somewhat obviously) ‘we are all one in a million…in fact more than a million when you think about it!’
He goes on (usually at some length), ‘what could be more important than being who we are, contributing a bit of our own DNA to the wider world, making it a better, richer, more thoughtful place’?
Having set himself the task of embarking on an endurance test of live performances to rival Status Quo (without the embarrassing denim), he intends to peddle his wares and his words around the county throughout his year of tenure as our local Laureate.
‘I intend to spread the word (literally) about my passion for poetry. I hope to use this fantastic opportunity to assault the ears of anyone who’ll listen and probably many who try not to. The time has come for the people of Worcestershire to reclaim the beauty of the written and spoken word, in time for next year’s festival’.
Background
Theo is a lapsed, itinerant Scouser who has now spent so many years in Worcestershire he has become a card-carrying Bromsgrovian.
He began to write right from the word go, or at least the point when he was taught to write and he’s been writing ever since, if you checked, you’d probably find him writing right now…right?
He is not ashamed to admit that his professional career began when he became an advertising copywriter, taught himself to touch-type with the aid of a ‘borrowed’ typewriter from the office and was twice nominated at the Radio Writing Awards soon after in 1993.
Absolutely no fame or fortune followed. But it did teach him resilience, albeit tinged with a hint of bitterness which is unbecoming in one so young.
Realising that the key to success was practise he would sometimes sit typing late into the night, fuelled only by cheap Bourbon. This resulted in some considerable weight gain as they do contain a lot of calories, especially that chocolatey bit in the middle.
On other occasions, just for the sheer devilment of it, he would write something less formal, like a post it note, stuck to the fridge saying ‘don’t forget to buy milk’ or ‘ring your mum’, or once even, ‘one day Theo, you will be Worcestershire’s first ever poet Laureate’. Not all of these things came to pass and it often meant he had to have his coffee black.
Life as a published author beckoned and in 2003 his first book, entitled ‘Shut up and Listen!’ hit the bookstores and very soon after, the Oxfam shops. A string of business titles followed and he continues to churn them out with the frequency of Ernie Wise plays (younger readers please catch up on youtube).
Poetry was to follow, when during a conversation he noticed that some words actually sound a bit like others. If you write two lines with those similar sounding words at the end, they have a simple, yet charming resonance and it was this discovery which led him to be the inventor of the modern poem.
Having dismissed the beauty of nature, the wonder of the universe and the sheer magical qualities of love as being ‘a bit soppy’, he turned his hand to poems about more important matters such as the Shipping Forecast, Strong lager and tellingly, Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce. The rest, they say, is history, or at least it will be when it’s over.
The award of Worcestershire’s first ever poet Laureate title is, he claims, his proudest achievement.
‘This is my proudest achievement’ says Theo, ‘aside from my two kids and that game of Jenga I won at Christmas last year’.
If you want to see Theo in action, click here
If you want to see the story of the Poet Laureate awards ceremony, click here
If you want to read some of Theo’s poems, click here
