Sad news to read about Paul Blackburn passing earlier on today.
I first met Paul at either Write Out Middleton or Write Out Sale somewhere around the 2008 territory and always found an entertaining and funny guy to meet and see/hear read and the energy he put into the early days of Write Out Loud and later the work he did with Live from Worktown / PreeTa Press deserves respect from everybody alone.
My favourite story I remember was just before lockdown at Write Out Loud Stockport in the summer of 2019 I guess when he bought along a copy of a book that had just been published. I remember it saying on the writer’s quotes at the back when looking at a quote from the American Novelist ‘Paul Auster’ stating ‘I admire you’.
People will know Auster is one of my favourite novelists and I asked Paul B where he got that from. Paul stated this was at a Launch for his novel 4,3,2,1 in Manchester where he got talking to the great man and Auster said ‘I admire you’. Paul B then quickly asked him Can I use that? And well..
I certainly wouldn’t have had the guts to ask him. He has my respect for that LOL. Rest easy m8. You’ve done a great service to poetry / spoken word in Manchester and the North West (UK)
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