FANS of contemporary comic poetry – or even just occasional Facebook users – are sure to have come across the witty and vividly contemporary writing of Brian Bilston. Now the social media star (he apparently has more than 500,000 followers) is on tour, and you can catch him live at the Electric Palace at Bridport on Friday 20th November.

Sardonic, sharp and acutely observant, Bilston is very clever with words and with the formats of poems. Look up his poem Refugees, and do what it says when you have read it – read it back again from the bottom up. Makes you think.

Here’s a verse from another of his timely poems, America is a gun (and yes, that’s the chorus line):
England is a cup of tea.
France, a wheel of ripened brie.
Greece, a short, squat olive tree.
America is a gun.

Brian Bilston has published several bestselling collections of poetry, including You Took the Last Bus Home, Alexa, What is There to Know about Love? and Days Like These. The tour takes its name from his latest collection, How to Law An Egg with a Horse Inside.

His novel Diary of a Somebody was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award, and he has also written collections of poetry for younger readers. In 2025 he released an album of his poetry set to music, Sounds Made by Humans, in collaboration with The Catenary Wires.

Other regional dates on Bilston’s autumn tour are Exeter Corn Exchange on Saturday 21st November, and St George’s Bristol on Monday 30th.