Craig Charles Pays Tribute to Liverpool in New Spoken Word Piece for National Poetry Day

Actor and presenter Craig Charles released a new spoken word piece paying tribute to his home city of Liverpool in honour of National Poetry Day, reflecting on a life shaped by the city’s history of hardship, music, and poetry.

Fifty Years Since a Life-Changing Poetry Win

The performance coincides with the 50th anniversary of Charles winning a poetry competition at the age of 12, an event he stated changed his life. “I was just reacting to what was going on,” he said, pointing to the riots, reacting to Thatcher, police harassment, and poverty. “Liverpool was getting kicked to pieces at that time.” Charles was pictured in Liverpool in 1985 as he became known for his performance poetry.

From the Everyman Bistro to BBC Screens

By age 16, Charles was performing at Liverpool’s Everyman Bistro basement venue, known for its open-mic events. Within a year, he took his work to television on the BBC 2 show Riverside. “I just got stuck into that and started shouting from the rooftops my opinion on things,” he said. “I was quite an angry young man, I suppose, but for some reason it resonated with people.” He described the local music and poetry scene as a direct reflection of the city’s reaction to adversity, adding that Liverpool has always had a different kind of attitude, especially to adversity.

Tracing Cultural History After The Beatles

Charles’ new work traces Liverpool’s cultural history following the split of The Beatles, referencing local poets, the punk explosion, and the bands and clubs of that era. Filmed at various locations across Liverpool, the poem highlights a city he described as a melting pot of ideas, warmth, and wit. The performance featured as part of BBC Radio 6 Music’s Way With Words event, marking National Poetry Day on Thursday.

There was so much stuff going on in Liverpool when I was a lad. It was all part of the same argument… it all came from this city of ours that is just such a melting pot, so full of ideas, so full of warmth, and so full of wit.