Commonground, 1996 | Staple-Bound, 48pp | 15 x 21 cm | First Edition
A furious, funny and gloriously unrefined relic of 1990s northern counterculture. Written in the pub, born on stage and printed by Liverpool’s Commonground Press, Richard Allen’s performance poetry skewers British life from the inside out — booze, pop, God, celebrity, despair and defiance.
His targets are many: Cliff Richard, Batman, Thatcherite admen, even his own arsehole. In poems like Cliff Sucks Cocks in Hell, My Girlfriend Left Me for the President of the Folk Dancing Society, and Mushroomspeedillogic, Allen veers between satire and psychedelia — half stand-up, half breakdown.
Hand-assembled with typewriter text and sketch-line graphics by Kesh Mahendran, this is small-press poetry at its most alive: no polish, no filter, pure post-industrial wit. A cult document from the world of open-mic nights, lager-fuelled philosophy and working-class surrealism.
Excellent condition: Crisp and clean throughout, mild toning along the edges, staples intact. Appears unread.
