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‘Did I Mention the Free Wine?’ 2008 Poetry Tour
When: Tuesday 14th October 2008 - 19:00
Where: The Glee Club, Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay, CF10 5BZ
To launch his NEW book of poetry “Homeless in My Heart”, one of Britain’s best-loved poets, Felix Dennis, has embarked on an 11-day tour of the country. “Did I Mention the Free Wine? Tour 2008” offers an unmissable evening of fine wine and free food. To register for your free ticket, go to www.felixdennis.com.
Felix Dennis launches new book of verse:
Homeless in My Heart
Book launch supported by biggest ever poetry tour across the UK
Felix Dennis, one of Britain’s best-loved poets, will launch his fifth collection of
original verse on 2 October, 2008. Homeless in My Heart (Ebury Press, £12.99) is
the much-anticipated follow-up to his previous collections, A Glass Half Full, Lone
Wolf, When Jack Sued Jill and Island of Dreams, all of which were sell-out books of
original poetry. In just six years, Felix Dennis has established himself as one of the
most popular and critically acclaimed poets of recent times.
Homeless in My Heart is the author’s most personal and revealing work to date,
featuring 105 poems which fulfil the thrilling promise of Dennis’s earlier published
work. The verse ranges from dark tales of modern savagery to hymns of praise
glorifying nature; from moving love sonnets to expressions of child-like wonder.
Dennis comments: “This is the story of a fool whose life was saved by poetry. The
poems have poured out of me in a cataract, like a dam breaking. I cannot know what
is left in the reservoir, but, for me at least, Homeless in My Heart is a coming of age,
where form, muse and craft have finally ceased their adolescent warring.”
Illustrated throughout with a selection of stunning photographic images from the
archives of the Science Photo Library and National Geographic Society, Homeless
in My Heart will be produced in full colour by British book printer, Butler, Tanner
& Dennis, a company Dennis rescued from receivership in July 2008. The collection
contains a free 70-minute spoken-word CD and will be available at all good bookstores
across the UK and from numerous online booksellers.
The launch of Homeless in My Heart heralds an 11-date poetry reading tour:
Did I Mention the Free Wine? 2008. These events have become an international
phenomenon since the original tour in 2002 and have more than once featured actors
from the Royal Shakespeare Company, including the likes of Anton Lessor, Sean
Bean, Cherry Morris, Samantha Bond and Stephen Campbell Moore appearing live
on stage with Dennis. Felix Dennis has entertained over ten thousand poetry lovers
on Did I Mention the Free Wine? tours in 50 cities around the globe.
Venues for Did I Mention the Free Wine? 2008 tour will be larger than on previous
tours and wines will be supplied by official tour partner, The Week Wine Club.
The events will be free of charge to the public, but attendees will be asked to make
a voluntary donation to the registered charity, The Forest of Dennis, a charity
established to create for the public the UK’s largest native broadleaf forest.
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For press enquiries, please contact:
Sarah Locke, Veryan Dexter, Andrew Olley or Jerina Hardy at Braben
Tel: 020 7566 2990 or email felixdennis@braben.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
Felix Dennis biography:
Felix Dennis’s life has consisted of a sustained series of unlikely events: blurting out the
rudest word in the English language for the first time on British television; enduring
the longest conspiracy trial in British history at the Old Bailey; recording a chart single
with John Lennon; co-authoring Muhammad Ali’s first biography; becoming one of
the richest individuals in Britain; launching one of the most successful media brands
in the world; falling into crack cocaine addiction before going cold turkey; recovering
from two life-threatening illnesses; building perhaps the biggest traditional wooden-framed
residence in England for 300 years; attempting to salvage the wreckage of a life
dedicated to hedonism after spending over one hundred million dollars on ‘personal
excess’; planting a native broadleaf forest in the Heart of England; commissioning a
life-sized bronze sculpture collection of 100 heroes and villains; and, perhaps most
surprisingly of all, discovering that he could write the kind of poetry thousands of
poetry-lovers wish to read.
Dennis’s poetry has been performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company on both
sides of the Atlantic and has been the subject of two television documentaries. His
verse has featured in numerous radio shows, (Poetry Please and Desert Island Discs
among them), scores of newspapers and hundreds of websites. Each of his books
of verse has been reprinted and remains in print. The wine served to audiences on
Dennis’s Did I Mention the Free Wine? tours is always high quality French wine. His
reading voice has been described by one US writer as ‘a mixture of Carl Sandburg and
Winston Churchill’. For more information go to www.felixdennis.com
Dates and venues for the ‘Did I Mention the Free Wine?’ 2008 Poetry Tour include:
Dorsington, Warks, The Arboretum (Private Preview) - Sunday 28 September
London, The Shaw Theatre - Thursday 2 October
Warwick, Bridge House Theatre - Friday 3 October
Stratford upon Avon, Marquee, Centenary Gardens - Sunday 5 October
Manchester, Funktion Room, Pure - Tuesday 7 October
Edinburgh, Jongleurs - Thursday 9 October
Brighton, Komedia - Monday 13 October
Cardiff, The Glee Club - Tuesday 14 October
London, The Shaw Theatre - Friday 17 October
Dublin, The Button Factory – Monday 20 October
Windermere, Cumbria Wordsworth Trust - Tuesday 21 October