Holding on and Looking Out: A Collection of New Poems

David Johnson is a witty and quirky performance poet, who mixes his stand-up humour with his own verse. His inspiration comes from the bizarre world that we live in combined with a wry commentary on change and progress. David has been a featured artist at poetry and literary festivals in the UK and N.America. He has also appeared at: Nuyorican Poetry Café, New York; Sweet Lorraine s, New Orleans. He was a featured poet at the 2009 Austin International Poetry Festival. David is co-founder of Paralalia, a poetry partnership dedicated to promoting and encouraging live poetry performance and to bringing poetry to the public ear and eye in new an unusual ways. He is a multi-slam winner David has co-written and appeared in a play for National BBC Radio 4 called Slam Bangin Home Again , (October 2004). His most recent Radio 4 play was "The Boy Fathers" (June 2007). He helped organise and performed on BBC Radio 7 s late night poetry series Poetry Stand Up . His commissioned dramatised radio serial, Brunel 2206, was broadcast in March 2006. He participated in Radio 4 s Word of Mouth (New Year 2005). He was part of the organising team for the second Radio 4 Slam series broadcast in September/October 2009. David was commissioned to write poems for National Poetry Day 2009 and 2010 and to welcome home Winter Olympics gold medal winner Amy Williams in March 2010 by BBC Radio Bristol. He was Poet in Residence at Bristol Poetry Festival 2005 in September and was official poet for Bart Spices Ltd. Bristol. David featured at the Bristol Spring Poetry Festival 2010, The Bath Festival 2010 and the Lydney Festival 2010. At the Appledore Book Festival in September 2010, he was the Festival s Garrick Poet and presented his own one-man show. He has recently won an award for a poetry film about the Severn Beach Railway line, which he wrote and narrated. (Film by Diana Taylor see YouTube).He was Poet in Residence for the Bristol Cycle Festival 2010 and appeared on BBC Points West in that capacity. He recently featured at the Charles Causley Festival 2011 in Launceston, Cornwall and The Bristol Folk Festival 2011.