Travelling Second Class Through Hope

Travelling Second Class Through Hope contains seventy poems personally selected by the author from his early works and a Foreword by Lemn Sissay.

Better known as co-writer of award-winning TV shows and films as The Royle Family, The Mrs Merton Show, The Parole Officer, Coogan's Run and Paul Calf, and producer of, amongst many others, Oscar-nominated Philomena, Gavin and Stacey, Moone Boy, Uncle and Alan Partridge, Henry Normal started his writing career as a poet.

Born in Nottingham, Henry's writing career blossomed during his time in Manchester. He set up the Manchester Poetry Festival in the nineties, which continues to this day having widened to become the Manchester Literature Festival. In 2016 he set up the Nottingham Poetry Festival, now an annual event.

“Dovetails bittersweet poetry with a sublimely observant wit” - The Guardian

“The Alan Bennett of poetry” - The Scotsman

“Distinctly funny” - Time Out

Adult poetry.