Interview with Joe Campling

Hello Poetry Lovers

Welcome back to the talk show studio

(Fierce applause from audience).

Today, our special guest is prolific poet Joe Campling (standing ovation)

Now settle down as we greet our esteemed guest, Joe Campling!!

(Rapturous applause as our special guest glides down the lighted stairs, looking around nervously)

Hi Heather, thanks for having me on the show. Have admired your work the first time I saw you when I went to an event run by the Surrey Laureate Lounge and you were the headliner.

So, sorry, a bit about me, I am married, have four adult children and I live in Buckinghamshire. I’ve just become a grandparent for the first time. My full time job is working as a mental health nurse in London.

I have self-published  6 (six) poetry books over past 6 years of pieces I had written since 2012 and still love to write.

I wish I had been better at school but scraped an English pass in sixth form which allowed me to pursue my career which I love.

I seemed to neglect the creative artistic side of myself but it made appearances through my life until I fully embraced it in my mid forties.

Well this may be a bit of a long story. I remember Pam Ayres in the 1970’s on Opportunity Knocks. Every time I went to the dentist I had to see “I wish I’d looked after my teeth” poem in the waiting room.

When I was 9 I remember writing a poem about a scarecrow which teachers put on the wall.

Apart from listening  to war poems during CSE English, I remember we read a poem by Spike Milligan. It sparked something in me so that I went to the local library on my housing estate in Bracknell and borrowed “Small Dreams of a Scorpion.”

Sometimes I wrote poems for friends and my (now) wife  but nothing too much on a serious level

Then in 2012, spontaneously, I wrote a limerick , then found myself writing a bit more often. Before long, I had “ loads of poems” sitting on the hard drive of my PC or in my email, but it was always hidden from people.

In my head I had always wanted to share with people so in 2013, I wrote a poem for a friend whilst I was waiting for her to finish some shopping at Edinburgh Airport and then gave it to her as part of a Christmas present. She was so impressed that she gave me a John Donne collection she had used for her A Levels studies.

When I hit 50, I went to a friend’s music Open mic event in the Slough area and attempted to play a song using the few guitar chords I learned from another friend. I was asked if I had anything else for next week, so my poetry escaped the hard drive and I began to share and perform. I have knocked music on the head again!!!

I  found another Open mic near Uxbridge and they were interested  and happy to let me perform.

A lot of the times, I would arrive with some poems I had written before and then write a couple of new ones based on what was happening around me. I ended up becoming a regular there and they allowed me to host two of my book launches.

I also found some Spoken Word Events; one in High Wycombe and one in Slough where I was at last able to meet other poets and help my writing.

Now I have discovered Surrey!!!

 

My mum tells me I have been reading since I was two years old and probably read the “food boxes and newspapers to try to understand. “

My influences are quite eclectic. As I mentioned before, I listened to Pam Ayres as an 8 year oId. At the age of 15 I borrowed Spike Milligan from the library and then got a copy for Christmas. It made me realise that you can write on many subjects and be funny, serious, satirical which I now reflect on is probably the seed for me to go for it.

I loved history at school so the war poets such as Wilfred Owen and Rupert Brooke added to the confusion felt at the time of what war was about!

I also read some WB Yeats to understand some of the conflicts within my Irishness.

I also realised that I actually had been taught poems by Christina Rossetti which we either performed in school.

My biggest influences are the poets whom I often perform with. They show me different ways of expression and different styles that make me think “what has been happening to me for the past 40 years”. I love that rappers can work with “traditional styles”

It feels like I have lots of things going on, some of which is work I started a few years ago.

Actively I am completing a 7th volume of my own poetry at the moment (title to be sorted).

Last year I put 365 prompts from a poetry web page into an AI engine and collected the poems.

My plan for next year is to write 365 poems of my own based on these prompts and being honest about which is which, publish a series of books.

Unfinished work –

Recently I decided  to collect my favourite poems by other authors. I have an joke book which I started in 2020 which is based on some puns that a school friend keeps posting on Facebook. I also have added a few of my own favourite jokes which bizarrely are puns in French and German which I found on sweet wrappers

This is actually an interesting question, One of the worst gigs also turned into one of the best too.

In 2016 when I was fairly new, I was performing some of my poetry. This guy at the bar kept calling for music during my set and no one was stopping him. However, his wife said, “leave the poet alone, I like poetry” she then asked for “Pam Ayres- I Wished I looked after my Teeth.”

I quickly looked it up on my phone, performed it and was able to carry on with one last poem.

The following week, a new guy was playing his music at the open mic. His music was a bit different although very good. However the man’s wife from the week before shouted at him, “get the poet on”

The organiser put me on and I read another Pam Ayres poem as well as some of my own.

Afterwards, the guy (Dave) came up to me, laughing, said it was his best heckle and invited me to a Spoken word event in 4 days’ time.

Why that is one of my favourite gigs is, that I how I found my first Spoken word. Sadly the event didn’t last more than a year but I realised it was a step onto this road with other Spoken Word performers.

Wasn’t Joe a wonderful guest, PL’s. And so inspiring, I know I’m certainly taking a leaf from his book(s).

(Screams of pain in the background)

Treat yourself to Joe’s new collection. Really worth a read. The QR code is below.

Thank you so much for coming to the talk show studio, Poetry Lovers. We’ll be back with more poetry action real soon….