As a man once said, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Because it is!

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Before we get right into it, I just wanted to pop in your inbox to wish you all a very merry one, to thank you for all your support this year and to give you a little round up of everything that happened in 2022. If that all sounds dead boring then just skip to the last paragraph and I’ll see you next year!

It was another big year on the radio and I spent a rather large chunk of 2022 on the airwaves of Phoenix FM. June marked a whole year behind the wheel of my daily drivetime show and although the jubilee celebrations were the main event at the time, I like to think that I might have soundtracked at least one of the street parties in celebration! This year I’ve loved hosting some incredible live acoustic sessions from local musicians on my shows which you can hear again as part of a special on Phoenix FM. (Click here) I took part in Phoenix FM’s first ever live radio drama, a murder mystery written just for us to perform which was so much fun and even rocked the house down with a few extra rock shows too! There have been lots of laughs, loads of photos and even a few features in the news from articles in the Brentwood Gazette and the Romford Recorder to a double page spread in the Billericay Community Magazine plus a spot on Kazakhstan’s Khabar24 TV news channel! 

It’s been a pretty big one for podcasts too. As you know, all the interviews I do on my radio show are featured on my “Now You’re Talking Podcast” which, according to Spotify, had 83% more listeners this year and for 11 people, it was their favourite podcast! We topped 200 episodes this year and to celebrate I’ll be producing a few “best bits” episodes over the coming weeks featuring some of the most memorable, educational and inspirational bits from these interviews. If you haven’t listened for a while then do go and check it out, there’s some real gems of wisdom and some good laughs too from all sorts of incredible people including a few familiar voices like Francis Ross (Status Quo), Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet), Geoff Downes (YES), Andy McCluskey (OMD), Frank Turner, The Sherlocks, Alice Merton and loads more.

Meanwhile, my movie mate, film friend and cinematic chum, Mark Searby and I surpassed a whopping 600 film reviews together on our Film Reviews & Movie News Podcast! According to Spotify we’ve got a growing listener base in France and Argentina plus 60 people had us in their top 10 favourite podcasts! You can catch up on all our film reviews here with a new episode every week plus you’ll even find us featured on IMDB too under the “critic reviews” section. We’ve just finished fighting over our top films of 2022 which would be a great place to start if you’ve not heard it before.

I’ve also made my debut as an MC. When people say they MC live events, you might imagine corporate black-tie evenings where company execs dish out employee of the month awards in a swanky hotel. Not for me! I have absolutely loved the pop-up variety of 2022 and although there were no swanky hotels, instead I’ve had the honour of MCing/presenting/hosting all manor of live events in all sorts of places. Ranging from a night of music live-streamed from a shed in Brentwood to the main stage (a lorry) in Billericay high street for this year’s Christmas market. In the summer, we closed one of the busiest roads for the whole bank holiday weekend where I got to MC the ramp at the soap box derby and I’ve had a blast getting to know Romford’s Mercury Mall taking part in some awesome events from a dog show and a rock jam to the glamour of Romford Film Festival. I’ve ventured into stadium announcements for Brentwood Town this year and have loved getting to host charity raffle draws and kids’ penalty shootouts on the pitch as well as a few determined attempts at conducting a Mexican wave as part of the halftime entertainment. (Maybe next year!) 

This year inspired a whole load of silly poems which in-turn culminated in another two poetry books. In March I released an anniversary edition of Pandemic Poetry riddled with every Covid-themed witty ditty I’ve ever written. Then, in September, I made the headlines with a brand new release “Also In The News” featuring a bunch of rhymes based on unbelievable true stories. It followed boldly in the footsteps of my first release and took the Amazon Kindle charts by storm, peaking at NUMBER ONE in Amazon Kindle’s hottest worldwide poetry chart – not bad for just some bloke publishing from home! 

This year also saw the official birth of Mungalo Fish, my own independent, digital publisher which will of course be releasing my next poetry book coming in 2023! As well as releasing my own books, I’m looking to put what I’ve learned so far to good use with Mungalo Fish in supporting more writers to achieve similar success in publishing ebooks next year. 

Which reminds me… about this time last year I was writing to you about my first ever Christmas song! Well, I’m both delighted and dismayed to have received several enquiries about a follow up release over the last few weeks. So, back by popular demand, Witty Ditty Records shamelessly presents, for your musical endurement another Christmas song from yours truly! “A Christmas Sea Shanty” was inspired by this year’s family holiday to Cornwall and is my dreadful ode to the shanty bands of old and new. It was surprisingly hard work to sing every part of a one-man shanty band but don’t let the time and effort fool you into expecting anything other than 2 and a half minutes of pure silliness! I haven’t formerly “released” it but you’ll be able to hear the song on Phoenix FM every day over the festive period on a variety of shows. Yesterday, it ranked SECOND in this year’s Drivetime Christmas Chart, beating Cliff Richard! What a way to end the year! 

So, before I go and get on with wrapping gifts, eating sausage rolls and writing my letter to Santa, a quick reminder that if you’re stuck for a friendly voice or some music over the festive break then you’ll find me on Phoenix FM Christmas Day sharing a Christmas poem on the Arts Programme at 4pm and back again with The As Yet Untitled Christmas Rock Show at 8pm plus there’ll be some best of 2022 shows on 28th, 29th & 30th December.

I hope this Christmas is a happy one for you and yours and that 2023 brings you everything you’re hoping for. My thanks to you all for your support this year with all of the aforementioned creative endeavours. Whether you’ve tuned in on the radio, listened to a podcast, read a poem, bought a book, came to an event or even just shared a post on social media – thank you. Whatever next year brings, I’ve enjoyed this one and hope to always be on hand to make you smile in one way or another!

Merry Christmas

Stew 

BREAKING NEWS: A New Poetry Book Is Coming!

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It’s hardly front page news that catching up on the latest headlines can make us all feel a bit depressed.

However, every now and then something unusual, unexpected and undeniably silly cuts through all the doom and gloom. Often spread through the power of social media, sometimes a story will grip the world’s attention, travelling through national, political and social borders and for a brief moment mankind is united in awe of something truly extraordinary.

For example, remember the time that container ship got stuck sideways and blocked the world’s busiest trade route? Or when somebody tried to touch up that ancient painting but did such a bad job she completely ruined it? Or the time that farmer moved a rock which sparked a border war when he inadvertently stole a few feet off of France?  

I think times like these are well worth celebrating. Moments when it seemed the entire world laughed, sighed or rolled our eyes as one. That’s why I’ve been quietly collecting these stories over the years and capturing them in poetic verse. Now, I’ve bundled them all together in my brand new poetry book! 

Also In The News” is available for pre-order from this morning! 

This collection includes poems such as Bratwurst vs Cumberland, Fool Of The Nile, War Of The Flies, Silenced By The Lambs, The Curious Case Of A Sandwich In Space and Southend City as featured on BBC Essex, Phoenix FM and other radio stations around the world!

Drawing on all sorts of true events from that awkward moment when Brexit caused a raging sausage war to the Queen’s Jubilee, Rod Stewart filling pot holes and Will Smith at the Oscars to rogue pets and many, many more unbelievable times immortalised in rhyme.

Also In The News will be available to buy on Monday 5th September for £4 but is available to pre-order NOW for a special price of £3 to anyone subscribed to my mailing list! Just enter your details in the box below then click here to pre-order your copy.

Currently available for anyone to buy exclusively on the Amazon Kindle Store. (You don’t need a kindle though, just download the free Kindle app on your device!) Plus, Kindle Unlimited customers can now download this and all of my books for free as part of their subscription. 

The first of a bumper release, I’ll be sharing news with you soon about another poetry collection and how you can help me celebrate this year’s national poetry day next month. Until then, I hope you enjoy “Also In The News” and please help me share it with the world! Thank you. 

Easter’s done and spring is sprung

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Now that he is risen, so has my blood sugar. However, aside from a chocolate egg overdose things in The Pink House have been busy…

It’s been a month already since my second poetry book hit the virtual shelves and I must say, I was quite proud to see my Pandemic Poetry book make the charts on World Poetry Day. I couldn’t quite fend off stiff competition from TS Elliott and John Betjeman but, although they didn’t write anything new this year, I’ll concede this round on account of their crowd being just a little bigger than mine. Thanks to everyone who bought and downloaded a copy, I hope it made you smile and can’t wait to share more details about my next poetry collection soon! In the meantime, my poetry podcast is still the place to go for your regular witty ditty dose.

In other news, (literally) I was enormously chuffed to find a double-page spread in the spring issue of Billericay & Brentwood CommunityAd Magazine that featured my radio show on Phoenix FM. They sat me down for a Q&A about my Drivetime Show which was very cool but I was delighted they turned it into such a lovely article with some truly awesome feedback too.

Meanwhile, my regular radio shenanigans included everything you’d expect to hear from a live rap about Will Smith and a stylophone rendition of Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street to performing a poem about the city of Southend on BBC Essex.

There’s been a flurry of musical talent on my radio show lately and I enjoyed a nice chat with TikTok star Will Joseph Cook about his upcoming album. Grammy nominated songwriter Josh Ramsey zoomed in to talk about his debut solo album and hanging out with Bryan Adams! Plus, some of the brightest young stars on the Essex music scene joined me on air too; Chelmsford’s Roisin O’Hagan called in to talk about her fantastic new single, recording in Nashville and casually dropped in stories about Taylor Swift’s ACTUAL microphone. Brentwood’s Josie Beth joined me for a chat about her stunning debut single and Hutton’s Sophie Griffiths popped in for a lovely catch up about her incredible new single too. As always, you can check out all of their new music here and get up to speed up on all our gossip with the full interviews here. I was also rather honoured to be at Sophie’s first ever headline show this week and as you can see, everyone (including me and my elbow) had a great time!

Photo credit: Chun Wah Ng

And in the latest twist (unbelievable Jeff) I made my first visit (and hopefully many more next season) to Brentwood Town FC as their newest stadium announcer and miraculously managed to pronounce most of the names properly.

Taking my role as leader of their 12th man (the crowd) to heart, I celebrated the honour of providing the match day music too by spinning local band, Ocean Flaws. No doubt securing a place in the playoffs this season had nothing to do with me but that won’t stop me claiming it was 100% my win!

The next few weeks should bring even more musical guests, a new nature feature on the radio and hopefully some news on an exciting new comedy venture too.

Until then, be good… or at least don’t get caught.

Marking the anniversary with a new variant!

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Today marks a big date in man and womankind’s diaries… it was 23rd March 2020 when the UK first went into lockdown and on 23rd March 2021 I released my first ever poetry anthology Pandemic Poetry: The Covid Collection. This year, 23rd March 2022 brings a national day of reflection where most of us will probably be experiencing a mix of emotions ranging from “did that really happen?” through “can’t we just forget about it?” to “how have I caught this goddam virus again?”

However you decide to spend the day, I feel it’s worth sparing a thought for it as no doubt it will have had some kind of impact on everyone. Whether you’re still experiencing symptoms, have PTSD or you’re just returning from your 14th holiday before they close the borders again, I encourage you to celebrate with a splash of sanitiser and a good book. Specifically, this book…

Pandemic Poetry: Anniversary Edition 2022

Pandemic Poetry: The Covid Collection was a jolly jab of wit.
Pandemic Poetry: Anniversary Edition 2022 is your essential booster jab.

Much like it’s predecessor, this little specimen is a mass-gathering of pandemic poetry to encapsulate and reflect on some of the bits the history books will probably leave out. The poems in this book take you on a journey back through some of the strangest times in living memory and as we reflect back on peculiar times you’ll want to reference these words when you’re trying to explain to the children of tomorrow why it was illegal to conga and play Pokemon Go in 2021.

Lovingly repackaged in fancy new PPE, Pandemic Poetry: Anniversary Edition 2022 includes all your favourites from the likes of “Oh How I Long To Be In A Conga“, “Tiers Of A Town“, “The Going Of Cummings” and more but also includes previously unpublished extras like “Football Fever” as featured on BBC Essex, “Advantage: No Vax Djokovic“, “The First Oh Hell” and more.

Change is inevitable. And so is the incredible amount of twists, turns and treachery in our never ending battle with Covid. New vaccines meet new variants and new regulations meet new excuses in this second edition of Pandemic Poetry. Much like the government briefings themselves, the re-issue of this book is no longer guided by the science but driven, mostly, by a need to stay relevant; featuring every witty ditty from the first edition plus a viral load of new variants too.

Click here to get your copy NOW and let’s hope this really is the last time we’ll be writing about Covid.

Pandemic Poetry: Anniversary Edition 2022 is out now.

A Whole New Drive

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The last few weeks and months have been a busy time at The Pink House and as the world takes the first cautious steps back towards “normality” (whatever that is) I’m excited to be leaving the house once again! 

As I’m sure you already know, since the start of the pandemic I’ve been broadcasting from The Pink House Studios (my bedroom) and although living la vida lockdown has been a long and bizarre journey it has lead to a few extra little twists. My dreams of a standup comedy tour were sidelined but I found new ways of making people laugh with a weekly witty ditty. Interviewing backstage at venues and festivals paused but I’ve Zoomed, WhatsApped and FaceTimed with hundreds of great guests and met some amazing new friends without even leaving the house. I even Zoomed onto BBC Essex to chat about my poetry and when I look back over the past 18 months or so, I can proudly say that I never missed a show, learned a bunch of new skills and quite literally wrote the book on pandemic life… and then it became a bestseller!

However, as we progress further down the road to recovery / highway to hell we’re all keeping a close eye on the signals and hoping the road ahead doesn’t lead us into a six-lane pile-up! With that in mind, I’m hugely excited to tell you about a whole new drive…

Click to play the trailer

Starting from Monday 21st June I’ll be presenting Phoenix FM’s Drivetime Show, broadcasting live every weekday from 3-6pm on 98FM to Essex and to the whole world on your smart speaker, TunIn, Sonos Radio, Mixcloud, the Phoenix FM app and at PhoenixFM.com! Join in the fun with our never ending story, get yourself or someone you know a high five on drive, be our local hero of the day and enjoy a tonne of great music, top guests, sarcastic weather reports and a whole new take on traffic updates guaranteed to make you smile. I’ll be bringing my poetry podcast with me and sharing a weekly witty ditty every Thursday plus Mark Searby’s film reviews will continue every Friday. Whether you’re staying in or going out, I hope you’ll be able to join me from time-to-time for some live fun in the studio and if you are tuned in, do get in touch – shoutouts are the best part!

Meanwhile, I’ll still be presenting The As Yet Untitled Rock Show every Saturday night from 10pm, showcasing the latest and greatest in rock. 

Surfing the radio airwaves 6 days a week will certainly keep me busy but with great content comes great podcasts. So if you do miss the live shows, you’ll be able to catch up on all of the interviews, poems and film reviews on my website plus checkout the latest tunes I’m spinning in my playlists. You’ll also find your weekly dose of The As Yet Untitled Rock Show available on demand here.

Things have certainly gone radio gaga lately but writing continues too and I’ve started work on my next two poetry anthologies with another release in the pipeline sometime in the next 6-9 months plus my first short story is now available to pre-order here.

Phoenix FM Drive 3-6pm Weekdays

I hope that over the next few weeks you’ll find time to hop in the passenger seat and join in the fun live on drive. Heck, bring your friends and we’ll make it a mass-gathering! In-between, don’t forget that everything I’ve ever done is always available on-demand at the click of a button at www.stewartpink.com.

Enjoy, rock on and talk to you soon

Stew

A Conga… And The Third Wave

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It’s just over 6 weeks since I last wrote to you about my first literary adventure and I wanted to share a few updates from The Pink House. 

Before I do, I’d like to share a little video with you. A few thoughts on the forgotten victim of social distancing and the ultimate wedding dance; the conga!

Enjoy.

Oh How I Long To Be In A Conga
The Brentwood Gazette and InYourArea.co.uk

The last few weeks have been an exciting time doing my best to become a super-spreader of poems. With the release of Pandemic Poetry: The Covid Collection I was invited to be a guest on Michelle Ward’s radio show, shared a few witty ditties and had some fun being on the receiving end of the questions for a change. Thanks to all of your support, sales rocketed and my “R rate” went up after a surge in downloads and even a few international variants sold as far away as Russia and Brazil! 

At the peak of the second wave we went truly viral and my first little book ranked 20th in Amazon Kindle Store’s list of bestselling British Poetry and 25th in Amazon’s Bestselling Poetry Anthologies! Then, I was delighted to see a lovely full-page feature in The Brentwood Gazette reporting on the good news and an article on InYourArea.co.uk too. 

Now, in the latest twist of a whirlwind of excitement, Pandemic Poetry: The Covid Collection has been selected as part of Amazon Kindle Unlimited and is hopefully about to reach a third wave of new readers who’ve signed up for Amazon’s unlimited subscription. My eternal thanks to all of you who have downloaded, shared and read the book, your support has been amazing and hugely appreciated. If you haven’t got your copy yet you can download it here. I can’t wait to bring you my next witty poetry collection later this year! 

Speaking of which, I recently upgraded my website to stewartpink.com and it’s never been easier to keep up with all the latest content from my radio studio and writing desk. The website now hosts all my latest podcast episodes and you can play or download them there with one click. The latest radio shows, poems, interviews, film reviews and videos are all there plus a new Spotify playlists page featuring great new music from my radio guests. There’s even a page where you can support my work with donations; a bit like a virtual tip jar. 

To explore my new website, click on my new logo!

Lastly, and most exciting, you can now see a sneak preview of my first short story available to preorder now! Visit stewartpink.com/books for all the details.

Thanks, as always, for being in my corner and according to government guidelines I should be able to hug you all very soon.

Stew 


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OUT NOW! Pandemic Poetry: The Covid Collection

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It’s official: one year since lockdown… doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun?

Alright, so it’s been a bit rubbish but amidst all the things we’d rather forget there have been some unbelievable moments and ridiculous events that I thoroughly enjoyed ripping to shreds in poetic verse every week on my radio show.

Alas, driven by the data and guided by the science, I’ve compiled a world-beating, mass gathering of these witty ditties I’ve called Pandemic Poetry: The Covid Collection. My first ever ebook, my debut as an author and published poet and my little contribution to the great verse of life.

This collection of silly little poems began as a way of making light of whatever dark we woke up in on any given week but as all the events of the past year unfolded, and I continued to weave them all into funny little rhymes, they’ve become a genuine piece of history. Reflections on the craziness of our times within a few witty words, immortalised forever.

If you’ve been a regular listener of my Friday afternoon radio show on Phoenix FM or if you subscribe to my poetry podcast then you’ll hear some of them performed in all their glory. However, the book also contains some originals you’ll never hear on the radio or on the podcast!

A face for radio

To celebrate the launch of my first ebook and commemorate/commiserate our one year lockdown anniversary my #One2ThreeShow on Phoenix FM last week featured a few of my favourite pandemic poems amidst an isolation playlist.

To listen to the show which includes my rendition of “A Whitty Ditty”, “He Said” and “Oh How I Long To Be In A Conga” read from Pandemic Poetry: The Covid Collection click here.

The ebook features illustrations by my illustratively ingenious sister, Maddie and is available to download on the Amazon Kindle Store. It is dedicated to everyone who stayed at home to protect the lives of others, the key workers who kept the wheels turning, the healthcare professionals, scientists and everybody else who deserves far more than a round of applause on a Tuesday evening.

It certainly is not dedicated to Dominic Cummings.

To support my poetry and get your copy of Pandemic Poetry: The Covid Collection click here.

OUT NOW!

To listen and/or subscribe to Stewart On The Poetry Podcast click here.

For everything else from The Pink House including videos, radio shows, podcasts, books, reviews, poetry, interviews and all the latest from Stew HQ click here to visit my freshly revamped website.

Pandemic Poetry: Available to pre-order!

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Next week, Tuesday 23rd March, is a big day in all of our calendars; a whole year since we first went into a UK wide lockdown. A lot has changed since we’ve been living la vida lockdown, we’ve learned some lovely new words like “furloughed” and anyone who had shares in Zoom is now richer than the entire travel industry. We’ve been guided by the science and driven by the data, worn more face coverings than a stormtrooper and at one point it was cheaper to fill your car with petrol than it was to fill a bottle with sanitiser. To put it mildly; it’s all been a bit silly and, like many people, I haven’t been out much. As you know, for over a year I’ve been broadcasting from The Pink House Studios (my bedroom) on Brentwood’s Phoenix FM and to help lift the spirits of my listeners I’ve been sharing a weekly witty ditty. A short poem based on the events of the week and unsurprisingly, Coronavirus featured heavily!

Alas, to celebrate (or commiserate) a whole year of madness, I’ve bundled together a mass-gathering of pandemic poetry featuring a few witty ditties that encapsulate and reflect on some of the bits the history books will probably leave out when the story of Coronavirus is written. We won’t want to remember everything that happened but when Covid-19 is old news, these silly little poems will always remind us of the moments that made us laugh when we needed it most. With titles like “Tiers Of A Town”, “A Whitty Ditty”, “The Going Of Cummings” and “Oh How I Long To Be In A Conga” you’ll find these jolly jabs of wit just the tonic to remedy this peculiar moment in our lives.

Despite sharing a weekly witty ditty on my radio show for over a year now, this is the first time I’ve ever dipped my little toe cautiously into publishing and I’m hugely excited to make my debut as a fully-fledged author with “Pandemic Poetry: The Covid Collection”. The ebook is available to pre-order now on Amazon and as subscribers to my mailing list, my most loyal and wonderful supporters, you’re the first to see what it looks like!

The cover is illustrated by my artistically gifted sister, Maddie and features a page full of clues as to the subjects of the poems inside.

To pre-order Pandemic Poetry: The Covid Collection for an incredibly reasonable 99p click here.

In addition to poetry I have a number of short stories to share in the coming months ranging from ghostly tales to comedic swashbuckling and murderous whodunnits. The next of which will be entirely free and you’ll only hear about it if you’re subscribed to this mailing list (#exclusive) so keep an eye out for my next email!

You can also keep up with all my latest publishing news on my newly refurbished website. If you haven’t visited for a while www.stewartpink.com is now home to everything from podcasts and videos to interviews, books and reviews all easily accessible at the click of a button. Please do stop by and have a poke around.

I hope you’ll enjoy my first ebook and if you do, I hope that you’ll give it a 5-star review on Amazon – every little helps!

Thanks as always for your support of my creative endeavours and I look forward to sharing even more with you soon.

Stew

Important Briefing

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Hello! I hope this briefing finds you well and that your 2021 has got off to a good start, with positive vibes and negative swab results.

I wanted to share a few bits of good news from Stew HQ and The Pink House Studios… (next slide please.)

Next slide please…

Today, one of my poetry videos “Love Is Blind” has been selected as a UK entry to part of Jermyn Street Theatre’s “Butter Wouldn’t Melt” project closing a 28 day celebration of European poetry across their YouTube channel. Think Eurovision for poetry… and I’ve gone full Bucks Fizz. There are some fantastic entries and it’s a total dream to be involved – let’s hope Brexit won’t affect the votes! The poem is an (almost) true story about the time I accidentally asked my optician on a date – click here to watch it if you’ve got a spare few minutes. Every view counts! 

In impeccable timing I also hit a milestone 1,000 plays of my new poetry podcast. It’s not about the numbers and they’re just a bit of fun but knowing so many of you are enjoying them really means a lot. If you haven’t tried them yet click here to listen to the podcast for free – I’d love to hear your thoughts and some of your poems too!

In other news there’s a lovely new website on t’interweb that my super talented sister, Maddie has designed. In October we launched #Bushtus🌵 where we’ve been posting music, film, tv and book reviews. It’s been a really exciting startup with a Queen album review that practically went viral amongst Adam Lambert fans, a TV review that Game of Thrones star Brigitte Hjorte Sørensen loved and shared with her fans, a book review that author Stuart Turton was proud of and there’s even a few interviews with the likes of Foo Fighters and AC/DC! With loads of reviews, monthly playlists and a new “what’s on” streaming guide you’re bound to discover something you’ll enjoy – click here to check it out. 

On your radio we’ve been having all the usual fun with music, guests, poems and laughs on a Friday lunchtime plus a good rock-out every Saturday night. I’m about to celebrate my second radio birthday and my 250th show on Phoenix FM; if you fancy tuning in live or listening back on-demand, click here for all of it. 

Very soon I’ll be publishing my first ever e-book, Pandemic Poetry: The Covid Collection featuring Maddie’s illustrations and a whole bunch of my poems that reflect the silliness of a year in lockdown with titles like “Tiers Of A Town”, “A Whitty Ditty”, “Oh How I Long To Be In A Conga” and lots of others that capture this peculiar moment in our lives. As soon as it’s ready I’ll let you know!

In the meantime, stay safe, be good and if you can’t be good be careful.

With much love, many thanks and a new post-lockdown beard 

Stew

Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal

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2020, what a year! (Said no one. Ever.) 

Apparently ‘tis the season to be jolly (careful) and with 2020’s festivities upon us I wanted to wish you all the merriest of christmases and happiest of new years. I hope that you’re able to enjoy a break and some quality time with your nearest and dearest in some way… even if it is through a screen!

I know that this year will be different for a lot of people so if you’re in need of some company then I’ve been putting together some extra radio shows to keep Phoenix FM’s listeners entertained this Christmas. They’ll air on FM over the next few days but if you feel like a bit of festive cheer any time between now and then you can download and listen to them online whenever you like – I could even soundtrack your Christmas dinner!

My Christmas Day Special is a 3 hour show with a cheeky little poem about Christmas crackers, a chat with musical comedian Dragos Mostenescu, a bunch of Christmas tunes and a round up of 2020s best films. Download here.

If a silent night is not your scene then you might fancy joining me for a rock around the Christmas tree instead. My As Yet Untitled Christmas Rock Show is the gift that keeps on giving and is best enjoyed loud. If you’ve had enough of Cliff Richard & Band Aid, if AC/DC, Halestorm & Bryan Adams are on your Christmas list then it’s already waiting to rock your stockings off. Listen here.

Or, if 7 minutes of poetry is just what you need in life, then my poetic gift to you is the latest edition of My Poetry Podcast – A Christmas Cracker. Listen here.

I’ll save the breaking news updates for the new year but for now, until then, much love and best wishes from everyone at The Pink House for a merry Christmas.

Stew