Bill Thomas: Poetry

Teacher, preacher, poet & postbox buff, known to students as Mr T & to poetry slam audiences as Wild Bill Balding, I write about a variety of topics, from what the Tooth Fairy does in your mouth to the apparent inaction of God over the Holocaust, via caged polar bears, textspeaking teenagers, evil fridges & an amiable (& scarily contemporary sounding) ancient Chinese drunk.

Of Welsh/Scouse descent, I grew up in Essex, live in Hereford, teach in Tewkesbury & speak French with a Canadian accent. Harlequin or mongrel: it makes life interesting!

I’m an international performer (Wales & England) whose poems have been published in various magazines, including Poetry News, Patchwork & Keele Haul, & on the Internet at Woodenhead Arts (see Links page). Texts have appeared on Guernsey buses & at the Greenbelt festival; I’m currently working on translations of Chinese poems from the 8th century.

On the next few pages you’ll find samples of what you might hear at workshops, readings or slams. If you’d like me to come & do some or all of these poetic things with a group or at an event, then do send an email to emeraldpenguin @hotmail.com*.

Diana & I are also available together if your church or group wants to host a creative weekend of art & poetry.

* It’s a strange story: blame an old student of mine (Alice, you know who you are!) for her new religion that says good people come back after death as green penguins, while evil people comeback as red ones.