from outside europe. and the british public will be invited to swear allegiance to king charles, and his heirs, during his coronation on saturday. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i m stephen sackur. there i ve just used seven words and communicated quite a lot. words can bind us together or push us apart. in a sense, we are all wordsmiths, but many of us shy away from the art form that best harnesses the power of words poetry. but not my guest today. john cooper clarke was once dubbed the punk poet . all his life, he has used words, rhythm and rhyme to find humour and truth in the chaos of everyday life. thanks to the internet, one of his poems has become a worldwide viral sensation. so, where does his word magic come from? john cooper clarke, welcome to hardtalk. hello, stephen. it s great to have you here, john. ijust read your memoir and one of the first sentences in it is this one all my life, all i ever wanted to be was a professional poet. now,
all his life, he has used words, rhythm and rhyme to find humour and truth in the chaos of everyday life. thanks to the internet, one of his poems has become a worldwide viral sensation. so, where does his word magic come from? john cooper clarke, welcome to hardtalk. hello, stephen. it s great to have you here, john. ijust read your memoir and one of the first sentences in it is this one all my life, all i ever wanted to be was a professional poet. now, i ve heard of kids who want to be train drivers, professional footballers, but very rare to find a kid who always knew he wanted to be a poet. how come? when i say always, i guess from the age of 12 i became enamoured of poetry, thanks to an inspirational teacher, mr malone john malone. who, although he was a rugged, outdoor sporty type of guy, he was a complex character and had a weakness for the poetry of the 19th century the stuff you might find in the palgrave s golden treasury, which then was the go to anthology
when i say always, i guess from the age of 12 i became enamoured of poetry, thanks to an inspirational teacher mr malone john malone. who, although he was a rugged, outdoor sporty type of guy, he was a complex character and had a weakness for the poetry of the 19th century the stuff you might find in the palgrave s golden treasury, which then was the go to anthology for the educational establishment. right, but you re a 12 year old boy growing up in a tough neighbourhood in manchester quite a working class sort of area and you re telling me you fell in love with the romantic poets? yes, he made it work for us, you know? he conveyed this it wasn t just me that was affected by his enthusiasm in this regard, you know? he infected the whole class. and, as you say, you know, it was a tough neighbourhood, it was a tough school. put it this way
who want to be train drivers, professional footballers, but very rare to find a kid who always knew he wanted to be a poet. how come? when i say always, i guess from the age of 12 i became enamoured of poetry, thanks to an inspirational teacher, mr malone john malone. who, although he was a rugged, outdoor sporty type of guy, he was a complex character and had a weakness for the poetry of the 19th century the stuff you might find in the palgrave s golden treasury, which then was the go to anthology for the educational establishment. right, but you re a 12 year old boy growing up in a tough neighbourhood in manchester quite a working class sort of area and you re telling me you fell in love with the romantic poets? yeah, he made it work for us, you know? he conveyed this it wasn t just me that was affected by his enthusiasm in