The Spennymoor Odyssey Francesca Richards Living Poets presents:

The Spennymoor Odyssey “I doubt if Helen of Troy lives in Spennymoor!” “The bandstand is Calypso’s Island.” “Calypso lives in a dodgy pub, The Wheatsheaf. They have lock-ins there.” On the reunion of Odysseus and Penelope: “It would be hard to adjust to normal life; hard to have a normal relationship.” “Ithaca is the Boxing Academy at the Leisure Centre” “Charybdis is Home Bargains, or the traffic island” “The Underworld is Green Lane council offices” “The job centre is the land of the Lotus Eaters” “The Cyclops lives in Binchester, “the swamp town”: there’s that bit where the water’s on the road and the field.” “You’d have to build it all again” “The soldier would not be domesticated.” “To make sure the solider is who he says he is I would ask him what item of clothing I was wearing when I met him.”

“Glasses and a flat cap. He’s have a notepad. Smart but quirky dress.” “He’d be posh, smartly dressed.” “It would be someone who’s had a life, done something, got a story to tell.” “Weathered” “Homeless people are the best poets: they see, hear everything. Look at where they sleep. What tragedy has led them to where they are? My dad said to us, remember, they weren’t always homeless.” “A bit like John Cooper Clarke – the only genuine punk poet.” “He wears glasses and has a long grey beard and a pen behind his ear. He has his writing book in his back pocket and is searching for inspiration. He’s sitting on the bench next to the bin beside Kwiksave.” “Rapper with a hoodie, trackie bottoms and hi-top trainers.” “He has a book of all knowledge.” The Spennymoor Homer