Nottinghamshire-based poet Ben Macpherson is a local legend and you’ve probably heard his name popping up in several places this year. He is a member of the GOBS Collective and a director of Nottingham Poetry Festival, he even appears in Bep Summerscales wonderful slamovision entry for 2024 (the final takes place in Manchester, in December).
I first came across Ben’s name when I joined Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature over the summer, when on my first day I was told “Byron’s dead again”. Seeing my confused face, my colleagues swiftly advised me that Ben was Byron in the interactive room in Nottingham Central Library as part of the Byron200 celebrations.
Last month I was very lucky to meet Ben properly, and we talked about his latest collection Serious Nonsense for the Unbearably Festive which is out in time for your Christmas shopping requirements.
Michelle: Could you tell us a little bit about the new book?
Ben: So the new book is a Christmas poetry collection for all ages, filled with playful nonsense, some stories, maybe a few messages about the spirit of Christmas and what it really means, coupled with some absolutely horrible things happening to beastly children – there’s even a series of roast dinners who have a rap battle with each other. It’s a whole host of silly, playful goodness!
Michelle: Well, that sounds absolutely fantastic. Did it evolve out of your first collection, Serious Nonsense, and what brought you to Christmas?
Ben: Partly, yes. Christmas is a place where so many stories and poems and anecdotes are shared and it’s full of folklore. It’s a place where words get shared more easily. Winter is a grim, cold, horrible time, and we want to be in the same room, preferably with the radiator going. And if I can put some stories in that space that are going to make that a little bit easier, a little bit brighter then that’s my delight as a writer.
I think that’s something that a lot of my work brings forth really nicely that actually these poems are something you can enjoy if you’re 8 or if you’re 80. Okay, some of the words might be a little bit long, but there’s a glossary at the back so you can look at what the word means. There’s a joke with it as well that Mum can explain to you!
Michelle: So it’s your literary version of a Panto? Fun and jokes for all the family. So what’s your favourite bit about Christmas?
Ben: I think I sum it up in the foreword to the book. “My favourite Christmas song is Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. It’s usually sung by very crooning voices. It doesn’t assume religious involvement, but focuses instead on the need to find community and shared experience.
The festive period is cold, wet, and rarely snows when it’s supposed to. It’s times like that that you realise that winter is a season for stories and poems, getting warm and sharing words. I’ve been lucky enough to have far more good Christmases than bad ones. I’ve spent all of them with my family and loved ones, and it makes me grateful the good fortune in my life. There’s a lyric in that song which goes until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow. It often gets changed in more modern versions to something a bit more jolly, but I love that original line. We’re all trying to muddle through until New Year. Whatever shape Christmas takes for you. I hope it’s everything that you want it to be.”
Michelle: Your collection sounds like it celebrates everything that comes with Christmas – all of the less Instagramable moments!
Ben: It’s exactly that, the real moments. We’ve got a poem dedicated to the Christmas fight, you know, the one after everyone’s had dinner. And we’re all a little bit stressed – authentic Christmas. But also we’ve got Carlotta Blenkin, who goes to prison for singing the Christmas number one quite so badly. There’s a little poem remembering grandparents who aren’t with us anymore, and then there’s also the perils of going through a quality street tin. How do you choose which one you go for? So it’s, I think it’s quite all encompassing, and I hope it touches on the playful, fun, bright side of Christmas, but gives a little room for the sort of the colder, sad, more introspective side as well, and acknowledging we have to muddle through somehow. And if you are stuck indoors and it’s cold and it’s wet, a little bit of mystic joy is exactly what you need, sometimes.
Michelle: It sounds absolutely wonderful and it’s such a beautiful looking book too, isn’t it?
Ben: Yes it is. The team who made it are brilliant – we’ve got Anne Holloway from Big White Shed, a hybrid publisher who recently moved up to Morecambe, but still has a lot of connections with Nottingham poets. Then there’s Raphael Achache, who’s illustrated it and illustrated my first book as well. There are these 30 gorgeous images, one for each poem in there, and he brings so much character to them. Words that can be a bit heavy. I like writing long, narrative, playful things. Sometimes it’s just a page of poetry with three line breaks in there. Gosh, that’s a lot to read. So the the images really bring it to life.
Ben’s utterly stunning collection is available to purchase here.
Michelle Leonforte is the Communications Manager at Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature.