Roger McGough, 88, on life, poetry and a wartime close call

Roger McGough, 88, the Liverpool-born poet who hosts Radio 4’s Poetry Please, reflected on his life, career and family. He has published more than 100 poetry books for adults and children, including Collected Poems 1959-2024, and lives in London with his second wife; he has four children.

A former teacher, McGough formed the Scaffold with John Gorman and Mike McGear in the 1960s; the group performed poetry, sketches and comic songs and had a No 1 hit with "Lily the Pink." In a brief questionnaire he said he was happiest when his family came round to celebrate his 88th birthday — "Last Sunday" ("Or was it Saturday.

Or the week before, perhaps?") — and gave his greatest fear as "losing track." He said he is embarrassed when he gets people's names wrong, is irritated by critics and academics who dismiss poetry that is popular, comprehensible or humorous, and described himself as "Unimpeachable, nonpareil, self‑effacing." McGough recalled being bewitched by a "beautiful blond biochemist from Yorkshire" at a bus stop in 1978, and described a near-death episode during the war: a picnic on the beach at Seaforth when he wriggled through a barbed-wire fence and ran across a minefield before his teenage aunt Kat rescued him.

Key Topics

Culture, Roger Mcgough, Poetry Please, The Scaffold, Liverpool, Seaforth