Tony Petch: Vanishing Point by Nicholas Boldock

Tony Petch could be regarded, in the nicest possible way, as an elder statesman of poetry in Hull. He's certainly been around for a while now (and I'm sure he won't mind me pointing that out) and has been published in innumerable anthologies and magazines over the years. It comes as a surprise to discover that Vanishing Point is his first solo collection.

As Tony introduces himself to an intimate audience in the Take 5 Café (the 'crowd' numbers about 15 or so - a respectable figure for a solo poetry-reading on a cold Wednesday evening in Hull) he explains that this will be the first time he has done a reading on his own. Again, a surprise - Tony has been performing for so long now (usually as a member of Hull's Mutiny Poets) that you presume he must, at some point, have flown solo. But no. Apparently this is his debut. As confident as a man with his experience ought to be, Petch opens with a couple of light limericks to get things going. Already it is clear that he doesn't care a fig for convention - it is certainly a brave move to open a poetry reading with something as frivolous as a limerick (or two), even if one of them - Band Aid - is genuinely funny, in an odd kind of a way.

His first 'proper' piece of the evening - Ginger Biscuit - is excellent. A touching account of a dying/dead kitten, the poem uses simple language to convey complex emotions:   I let our daughter hold what's dead,   discover what emptiness feels like,   rest time in her palm. The piece is apparently based on truth, which makes it all the more poignant.

Discovering John, on the other hand, is inspired not by true events, but by - of all things - a book about campanology (that's bell-ringing to you). Petch introduces the poem by talking about using books - any books as inspiration for writing . Then he unleashes the poem itself, a heady mix of Dadaism and stream of consciousness. Despite his blatant (and commendable) disregard for formal structure, Tony has a deft feel for rhythm, and his poetry skips along almost musically in places. Before Ten Pin Bowling, Petch talks about the art of constructing poetry using cut-ups - words or sentences cut out of books, newspapers, brochures, or anywhere, and then reconstructed to make new sentences and new forms.

Ten Pin Bowling is a fairly extreme example of this - if it were a painting, it would probably be a Dali:   ...and to change what we do we need to allow   Shakespeare's leopardskin handcuffs to be unlocked,   the silver Paraguayan ostrich to attend the Trooping of the Colour   and the hot-dog primrose to flower. His sense of humour glows in Jackey & John and Blue, which kicks off with the brilliant opening line:   My father's in the chair having his head painted blue.

"Most poetry readings are boring," Petch proclaims before Absolute Zero, a humorous look at the often painful experience of performing live poetry to a tiny, or even non-existent, audience. It's a tricky business, as Tony knows only too well, though thankfully his own performance is well-received by the attentive Take 5 crowd. He finishes, in typically anarchic style, with a short poem called What It All Boils Down To. It goes - in its entirety - like this:   What it all boils down to   is this.

It sums up Tony Petch perfectly - a poet with a wry sense of humour and an eccentric sense of the absurd. Continued below

Tony Petch: Vanishing Point. continued by Nicholas Boldock

After the reading, I managed to grab Tony for a short interview. Here are the highlights:

NB: Good reading Tony. I enjoyed it. TP: Thanks a lot. NB: Tell me about the book. TP: I've actually turned 60 now and this is my first book. That seems a bit late, but I would still nevertheless see this as the first of many books, because up to now I've worked full-time, and brought up children, and there's just never been time for writing. Now, having taken early retirement and only working part-time, and now the children are grown up, now my writing life is starting.

NB: You're involved in the literature festival every year of course. TP: Yes. NB: I notice you aren't doing as much in this year's festival. Is that because you've been concentrating on Vanishing Point? Normally you run workshops and do various things with Mutiny and Ragged Raven. TP: I did submit for those [other things] too, but I think the festival thinking was that there wasn't room and they wanted to make a few changes. I think they've hinted that they will re-include us next year. They want to give opportunities to other people who are doing things locally, and we've been seen before of course, and I think they like to ring the changes. That's all it is. I don't take it personally!

NB: Have you seen much of the festival this year? TP: Not a lot. I came to see Carol Coiffait read, with Valerie Laws. I thought they were very good. I enjoyed it very much. NB: What about next year? The Humber Mouth is moving to June of course. TP: It's moving to June, yes. Maggie [Hannan, festival organiser] I think is quite excited about it. I look forward to seeing how many of us local people they can include because if you're having a festival you need to get the balance of inviting in well-known people to come and help generate and re-generate ideas in the city, for literary people, and for everybody really - but to give local people a chance as well, to get that balance right. They usually get it about right I think.

NB: What do you think of the scene in Hull at the minute then? I mean - there's the Mutiny Poets and there's ourselves, the Renegades… but there doesn't seem to be much in between. TP: There isn't. I think it needs a catalyst. I think what would help in Hull is, there are a lot of empty buildings about - there probably isn't the funding but if they could have a sort of Arts Lab where you could actually have cross-fertilization where writers, painters, sculptors, musicians, playwrights… a multimedia centre for people that is either free or low-expense. Other cities do have that. Hull doesn't have the funding for that but we've certainly got the property and the space - there's plenty of derelict and empty properties about. It just needs somebody to get hold of that and do something with it.

NB: And what's next for you? When can we look forward to the follow-up to Vanishing Point? Is that something you're already thinking about or is it something for… whenever? TP: Give me...give me two years. Or three. I would like to think that I'm well on the way by now but it will take a while. I've started!

With that, I thanked him and said farewell, then left a chirpy Tony Petch autographing copies of his book, which tellingly, nearly everyone from the audience seemed to be buying. He may be 61 this year - but I am sure we can look forward to a good many more occasions such as this, courtesy of Tony Petch. For further details, or to purchase a copy of Vanishing Point, visit the Ragged Raven website at www.raggedraven.co.uk Article © Nicholas Boldock, 2003. Poetry excerpts © Tony Petch, 2003. Photography © by Joolz.

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