David Bateman (born August 26, 1957 in Kent,) is a British writer widely considered to be Merseyside's most popular poet, with a knack for being silly and serious at the same time.

Overview

Reigning Liverpool Poetry Slam champion, David Bateman is based in Liverpool and is a founder member of the city's Dead Good Poets Society (formerly Evil Dead Poets). He performs nationally and his poetry has been broadcast on BBC local and national radio.

Described variously as "England’s answer to Ogden Nash" and "Edward Lear with attitude," Bateman was nominated as Best New Writing Talent in the Liverpool Echo Arts & Entertainment Awards and is winner of numerous poetry slams, from Bristol to Edinburgh, including the Edinburgh Performance Poetry Competition and the Liverpool Slam 2007. He makes regular appearances on local radio, mostly BBC Radio Merseyside, and has also appeard on national radio, including the Mark Radcliffe show. His poems, stories and articles (and two short plays) have been broadcast on BBC and independent radio, and have appeared in dozens of magazines and anthologies.

Bateman's children’s poetry has appeared in 18 professional anthologies, 2000–2006 from publishers including Bloomsbury, Evans, Hodder, Macmillan, Scholastic and OUP. His short stories are also widely professionally published, including over 60 stories published in the period 2001–2004 by the-phone-book.com, the quarterly webzine of ultra-short fiction: “far and away our star author.” – Ben Stebbing, editor.

He was commissioned by The Phone Book Ltd and Manchester Literature Festival as writer and performer for The Burgess Project, September–October 2006.

Bateman has lived in Liverpool since 1981 and, despite having clung resolutely to his Kent accent, has been a familiar voice on the local poetry circuit since then.
Awarded a Merseyside Initiative in Literature Development grant by the North West Arts Board for his work on the history of poetry in Liverpool, his chapters on Adrian Henri and on live poetry in Liverpool form a substantial proportion of Gladsongs & Gatherings (ed. Stephen Wade, 2001, Liverpool University Press). With his encyclopaedic knowldege of the history of poetry in Liverpool, it is difficult to imagine anyone more appropriate to edit the long-awaited Dead Good Poets Anthology, which was eventually published in 2005.

Bibliography

Collections

The Seashore Pack (1988, Landlife). Natural history, educational booklet.

The Ideal God Competition (1989, Reprobate). Poetry booklet.

David Bateman’s Golden Treasury Of Dinosaurs (1993, Reprobate). Humour booklet.

From Jellybeans To Reprobation (1996, Hybrid). Poetry booklet.

Curse Of The Killer Hedge (1996, Iron Press). Poetry book.

A Homage To Me (2003, Driftwood). Poetry booklet.

More Spit Than Polish. Poetry book forthcoming from Driftwood, 2007.

Nonfiction

Gladsongs & Gatherings (ed. Stephen Wade, 2001, Liverpool University Press). Contributor

As Editor

The Dead Good Poets Society: The Book, (2005, Headland).

External links

Dead Good Poets Society website