Artist Profile - David Bateman

By Colin Serjent

Considered Liverpool's most popular performance poet, David Bateman recently published A Homage to Me - his latest collection of often surreal and quirky writing.

It is a celebration of his extensive range of work - some of it dating back to 1980, but the poems still retain their originality, freshness, and often humorous content.

An unusual aspect of Bateman is that although he normally stammers when holding a conversation, he never does so when performing his poetry live on stage.
"I go into a performance mode when reciting my poetry," said Bateman, "and for some reason I can't explain, I don't stutter in front of an audience."

Born in Kent, Bateman has lived in Liverpool since 1980, has written about the history of poetry in the city, and is currently editing anthologies of Liverpool poetry.
Since 1997 he has been Chair of the Dead Good Poets Society, Liverpool's main promoter of live poetry events.

He also writes what he calls "ultra short fiction", stories which often comprise no more than 250 words, which he performs live along with his poetry.

"They work well together on stage," he stated, "particularly the humorous pieces.
"Poetry is in a healthy state in Liverpool," he added. "There is a lot of open floor stuff, and some of it is of a very high quality."