Mike Harding Book order

What is a poet? the title poem of this collection, Cosmos Mariner , asks and word-peckers, rhyming jackdaws of the world. The Cosmos Mariner was a real ship which caught the attention of American poet Conrad Aiken (1889 1973) and piqued his interest further when, checking the shipping news, he found its destination was listed as unknown. This trope reappears throughout the dark undertow of this collection which contains poems reflecting the distracted political times of today. Against this, gentler poems such as The Cleggan Sonnets and The Curve of Love show Hardings gift for capturing the fleeting moment of sight and sound and fixing them with a piercing simplicity that remains in the memory.

In this new collection, Harding casts his poetic line to retrieve ghosts from the near and more distant past, his eyes and ears caught by fragments snagged in his visual and aural memory.

It was never meant to be something you went camping in. But over 70 years since a British major persuaded the Volkswagen car factory to reopen and produce vehicles for a war-ravaged Germany, that is exactly what this vehicle has become best known for. Now, Mike Harding - self-confessed 'Camper Van nut' and owner of his own Danbury conversion called Molly - charts the surprising cultural history of a motoring institution which has become both an unassuming member of the family and the ultimate symbol of the freedom of the open road. Come along for the ride and discover the history of one of the most iconic, treasured, and damn-near indestructible vehicles ever made.

The story follows Pat, who, after losing her husband, embarks on a charabanc trip to Whitby, seeking joy amidst her sorrow. During the trip, she meets Phil, a man stuck in an unfulfilling marriage, and they share an unexpected connection while dancing. As they navigate societal disapproval, Pat and Phil choose to embrace their newfound attraction and the possibility of a fresh start together, exploring themes of love, loss, and the courage to pursue happiness.

Focusing on the comedic chaos surrounding a wedding, the play opens with a wild stag night where Mark finds himself humorously chained to a lamppost alongside a blow-up doll. As the wedding unfolds, the festivities are marred by hangovers affecting many guests, including the priest. The climax of the play features Father Molloy, hilariously inebriated, crashing the reception in his ecclesiastical underwear, further escalating the comedic mayhem. With a cast of 5 women and 9 men, this performance promises uproarious antics.

The memoir of the popular folk singer, musician, songwriter, composer, comedian and broadcaster. Covering his early years from his working-class Irish-Catholic roots in Manchester, to his schooldays and beginnings of his musical career.

All the poems in this book were either written in or inspired by the very special place that is Connemara - not a county, not a political entity but perhaps something much wider - a state of the soul.

This collection of poems ranges from dystopian visions of modern day London in 'Strange Lights over Bexleyheath', lust-driven nostalgia in 'Sligo Maid', to a sombre walk through Glasgow in 'In the Necropolis'.

It's Christmas. Relatives you hardly ever see and who are now very different from you arrive at your house for the festivities. No-one receives a present that is at all appropriate. Culinary disasters abound. Long-buried resentmen's rear their ugly heads as the alcohol flows and tongues are loosened. Comfort and Joy, Mike Harding's comedy, is painfully -- but always amusingly -- familiar.-Large flexible cast