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beneath a northern sky
£8.00add to basket Buy Nowbeneath a northern sky takes us on a tour of the North focusing on the places where Martyn lived, from childhood in Blackpool, Padiham and Lancaster to teenage years on Merseyside and eventually to Manchester, where he settled and taught English for many years in various secondary schools.The Lake District, home of his father's family forms a permanent backdrop, its landscape a familiar presence throughout his life. Liverpool in the 60s with the advent of The Beatles and The Mersey Sound, provides a counterpoint to the lakes and fells.The urban and the rural are both represented in poems that express some sense of regret for things that have been lost like children playing outdoors or communal gatherings, but also celebrate what is characteristic of the North. -
Riding the existential ghost train
£10.00This is the fifth collection of poems by Martyn Potts. It covers a broader range of themes than previously, but still has autobiographical material as well as political rants against the incompetence of government. In addition there are reflective poems attempting to recognise the odd moments when something can catch you by surprise. There is also a sideways look at philosophy. Was Confucius.com the first ever website? Who was Jeremy of Paxos? What is The Artichoke of Density? Read on to find answers to these questions and to understand how the Ancients anticipated so much of our modern thought. Finally, as ever, these aim to be accessible poems that might just stimulate a memory or two and perhaps put into verse the kind of thought that might have occurred fleetingly to any of you.add to basket Buy Now -
The Level Playing Fields of Eton and Other Poems : Post lockdown in verse
£7.50Last summer we all felt like prisoners released from home detention reemerging into the world. Although still rife with Covid, it was, according to people who supposedly know better, safe enough for us to resume holidays, eating out, sporting events, gigs and the kind of collective experience that we had all missed. How were we going to feel? Would it simply be a resumption of life before Covid or something entirely different? Here is some post-lockdown verse, highlighting some of my own experiences in this time. 100% of profits from book sales of the Level Playing Fields of Eton will be donated to Samaritans of Stockport, a listening ear for our local community.add to basket Buy Now -
crossing the river : merseyside life in the 1960s
£10.50Crossing the River is the second collection of poetry following Now and Then published in 2020. Martyn writes about the experience of childhood and teenage years from games and gangs to meals and the wonder of television, from first trips abroad to summer jobs. The same fascination with memory that characterised his first book is continued here with a similar focus on showing that things were different rather than necessarily better.add to basket Buy Now -
Chocolate Buffoons and Other Poems : Lockdown in Verse
£6.00The last year has been difficult in so many ways for so many people. Many have lost loved ones before their time, many have found themselves at risk. Go ahead and read and have your own rant against the injustices of the day. 100% of profits from book sales of Chocolote Buffoons will be donated to Manchester Centrepoint, a charity for young homeless people in Manchester.add to basket Buy Now -
Now & Then : poems of memory and reflection
£8.00Now and Then is an autobiographical anthology of poetry reflecting the poet's childhood and teenage years, and the differences between those years and the present year, 2020, during which he will reach 70 years of age. His poetry reflects that he was born during the period of optimism that followed the end of The Second World war and has lived all his life in the North West of England.add to basket Buy Now
Born in Blackpool in 1950 to an electrician father five years back from war service and a mother who had been born in Liverpool but lived most of her childhood in Manchester. Martyn and his sister were the first in their family to go to University and both became teachers.They lived around the North West maintaining strong links with the Lake district where father, Fred, was born, but also living on Merseyside during the explosion of music and culture that came with the 60s.
The childhood / youth portrayed was free of health and safety concerns and allowed an independence alien to today's young people.
The way memory works and recollections occur is portrayed through a variety of settings and ways focussing on the impending prospect of reaching seventy.