WHAT IF MEN BURST IN WEARING BALACLAVAS?
JOHN OSBORNE

Osborne’s voice is all his own; thoughtful, humorous and down to earth. The poems in this collection occupy a world that poetry often likes to pretend doesn’t exist. They find the simple moments of splendour in the comfortable hum-drum of British life. Modern paranoia lingers in the background but it’s easy to ignore when we can “SkyPlus the Apprentice”, when “Graham Coxon has got a new album out soon.” Honest, funny and peppered with a series of expertly pitched cultural references, What If Men Burst In Wearing Balaclavas? will microwave the cockles to perfection.

John Osborne’s poetry has been published all over the place, from The Spectator to The Big Issue. Carving out a niche for himself as a non-fiction writer his first book, Radio Head – Up and Down the Dial of British Radio was broadcast as Radio 4’s Book of the Week, and serialised in the Daily Mail. His second, The Newsagent’s Window is due in April 2010. His work has been described by The Guardian as “captivating” and by The Daily Telegraph as “charming, warm and funny.”

What If Men Burst In Wearing Balaclavas?
by John Osborne
2010, Nasty Little Press
24pp | £5
ISBN: 978-0-9563767-1-8