Poets Henry Normal and online sensation Brian Bilston are offering a special evening for the Brighton Festival when they combine at Theatre Royal Brighton on Wednesday, May 15 at 7.30pm.
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00:00 Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Answer Detail, Answer Six newspapers. Now
00:06 fabulous to speak to the immensely popular poet Brian Bilston, who's been read by so
00:12 many millions of people over the last few years. Now Brian, it's lovely that you are
00:17 heading to the Brighton Festival, where you are teaming up with fellow poet Henry Normal,
00:22 and you will be at Brighton Theatre Royal on Wednesday, May the 15th. Now your collaboration
00:28 with Henry, how did that begin? Well, I met Henry a couple of years ago, we were both
00:33 doing the same festival in Larne in Carmarthenshire, and we both went along to see each other read
00:44 their poetry. And we just we just got on really, you know, I think our poetry complements each
00:51 other. In what way? Does it work because you're similar or because you're different? Well,
00:57 it's a bit of both. I mean, we both we both use humour a lot in our poetry, I think, but
01:03 also at the same time, we don't want to just rely on that. And often you use humour as
01:07 a way of maybe shining some light on on topics which are more difficult or more emotional
01:16 or kind of thoughtful in some way. So we both have that about our poetry. But also, I think,
01:23 we have kind of slightly different persona on stage. Henry's brilliant in that he can
01:30 actually tell proper jokes. He's got all sorts of funny one-liners that he does, whereas
01:37 I'm a bit more kind of, you know, sort of methodical and slightly rambling. And, you
01:42 know, if you're lucky, you might pick out some humour along the way. But I think so
01:48 we've got so I think a different kind of stage acts. You know, they go together quite well.
01:55 So we're both doing the same thing, albeit in slightly different ways.
01:58 Yeah. And worth pointing out that when you're on stage in Brighton, the people will actually
02:03 see you. You've got the camera off just for the moment because you're not that keen on
02:08 being recognised, apart from live on the stage. Why is that?
02:14 Well, it's got its origins in how I started on social media. I kind of started hiding
02:20 behind this, what is to me now a rather bizarre name of Brian Bilston. And I had a kind of
02:29 picture of a chap in his 50s or 60s with a pipe looking very philosophical. But I just
02:37 kind of like the anonymity that that gave me. And it gave me, it probably gave me some
02:42 confidence as well in terms of thinking, well, I can write as Brian, I don't have to write
02:47 as myself and I can do anything. Not least because I had about three people following
02:53 me. So that was a couple of times. So that was also rather helpful.
02:57 Can you ever imagine dropping the pseudonym?
03:00 No, I don't think so. There is part of me now that will forever be Brian. And the real
03:08 me and Brian have become rather interchangeable.
03:10 You've started to converge, haven't you? But I think one of the striking points is that
03:16 your poetry, just for so many people, has such relevance, doesn't it? And we were talking
03:20 about the popularity of your poetry in particular during the pandemic. That was a good time,
03:25 a horrible time for so much else, but a good time for poetry, wasn't it?
03:30 Well, I think it was. It wasn't just my poetry, but I think a number of poets had that too.
03:35 I think the fact that poets were writing about things that were going on often on that day,
03:42 during that week, those feelings of isolation or bewilderment or devastation in some cases,
03:54 and the people were seeing those poems and they were going through those same thoughts
03:58 and emotions and feelings. I think it's probably showed for people who aren't necessarily used
04:04 to seeing poetry, it's kind of showed them the power that poetry can have.
04:09 Yeah, and that's a real feeling with your work, isn't it? That you're reaching people
04:14 who don't usually read poetry, aren't you?
04:18 Yeah, I do often get that. I do have people say, "Oh, I didn't think I liked poetry" or
04:25 "I didn't like poetry at school, but I like whatever it is that you all do." I think some
04:29 people are still not quite sure whether it is... still people are not quite sure what
04:35 I do is poetry or not, you know, because they've...
04:39 Well, I know it's what it is, isn't it?
04:41 Well, I guess so, but they've come to think of poetry as being something other, something
04:46 else, often quite difficult or irrelevant or, you know, written for other people.
04:53 You're too relevant. You're not boring enough.
04:57 I know, I really need to work on that.
05:00 Fantastic. Well, really lovely to speak to you and have a great time in Brighton. Thank
05:05 you very much for your time.
05:06 Thanks, Phil.
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