Brian Patten
Brian Patten made his name in the 60s as one of the three central Liverpool poets, alongside Adrian Henri and Roger McGough, with the publication of the ground-breaking anthology, The Mersey Sound (1967). His own collections include Little Johnny's Confession (1967), Vanishing Trick (1976), Love Poems (1981), Storm Damage (1988), and Armada (1996). He is a popular broadcaster, and editor and is author of several best-selling poetry collections for children, most famously Gargling with Jelly: A Collection of Poems (1985) and Juggling with Gerbils (2000). This is his first short story.