Henry Normal and Dubliner Jan Brierton present an evening of poetry and laughs. Henry will be reading poems from his new book 'A Quiet Promise' whilst Jans' poems reflect on being a wife, mother, daughter, sister and retired raver. Expect a highly engaging evening.
HENRY NORMAL - Better known as co-writer of award winning TV and film shows such as The Royle Family, The Mrs Merton Show, The Parole Officer, Coogan's Run, Paul Calf and producer of amongst many others Oscar nominated Philomena, Gavin and Stacey, Moone Boy, Uncle and Alan Partridge.
With Steve Coogan he co-wrote the BAFTA winning Paul and Pauline Calf Video Diaries, Coogan’s Run, Tony Ferrino, Doctor Terrible and all three of Steve’s live tours and the film The Parole Officer.
Setting up Baby Cow Productions Ltd in 1999 Henry Executive Produced all, and script edited many of the shows of its seventeen and a half year output during his tenure as MD.
Highlights of the Baby Cow output during this time include
Philomena, I Believe in Miracles, Gavin and Stacey, Moone Boy, Uncle, Marion and Geoff, Nighty Night, The Mighty Boosh, Red Dwarf, Hunderby, Camping and Alan Partridge,
Since retiring in April 2016 Henry has written and performed seven BBC Radio 4 shows “a normal family’, ‘a normal life’, ‘a normal love’, ‘a normal creativity’, ‘a normal nature’, a normal universe and ‘a normal communication’ combining comedy, poetry and stories about bringing up his autistic son. These shows are often now available on BBC sounds.
He was recently given a honorary doctorate of letters by Nottingham Trent University, another by Nottingham University, and has had a beer and a bus named after him in Nottingham !
Henry performs poetry at Literature Festivals around the UK and has 10 recent poetry collections out from Flapjack Press including a hardback selected works ‘The Escape Plan’. Henry also has a memoir ‘A Normal Family’ published by Two Roads Press telling the story of his family which is co-written with his wife, Angela Pell.JAN BRIERTON
Dubliner Jan Brierton is a mam, a fashion stylist, and a poet.
Her first collection What Day Is It? Who Gives a F*ck was published in 2021 after Jan’s first ever poem went viral during lockdown.
With her passion for keeping poetry accessible, Jan’s poems come to life with her engaging live performances. In May 2024 Jan opened with her poetry hero Dr John Cooper Clark in Dublin’s 3 Olympia Theatre, where she debuted her homage to his world famous ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ with her modern love poem ‘You’ll Always Be For Me’
Jan’s live show Wild Words in Dublin’s Ambassador Theatre in Nov 24, celebrated the power of poetry and prose with Donna Ashworth, PJ Gallagher and Emmet Kirwan.
She has read her poems on The Word and Manifesto stages at Electric Picnic, The London Irish Centre, The Mutiny Theatre, St Annes Park Rose Festival, Five Lamps Arts Festival, Drogheda Arts Festival, Dublin City Libraries and the Liberties Festival.
2025 saw Jan open for John Cooper Clark in The London Palladium, The Nottingham Royal Concert Hall and the Manchester Co-Op Arena in celebration of World Poetry Day.
Jan continues to write and perform alongside her mam duties and her career as a creative director and fashion stylist.