Making Other Plans

Nigel Planer has been writing poetry for over fifty years. Now he has corralled many of his poems into one volume, Making Other Plans – as in ‘poetry is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.’ This collection forms a poetic memoir, richly articulating humorous and serious observations on life, love, ageing, society and the human condition, recounted with emotional tenderness and warranted vexation. “A unique piece of poetic time travel. Frequently funny, sometimes alarming, always honest and constantly surprising.” —Tim Firth “Intelligent, inventive and always engaging.” —Henry Normal “Planer’s poetry is marked by a true emotional tenderness; he effortlessly weaves together profound insights into the journey of his life with his quick wit.” —Shobna Gulati Nigel Planer has toured the country as a performance poet, appearing with (among others) Henry Normal, Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze, Martin Newell, Owen O’Neill, Lemn Sissay and John Cooper Clarke, and including performances at most Literary Festivals, Radio 4’s Stanza, and the Purcell Room at the Festival Hall in London. His poetry has previously been published in The Guardian and numerous anthologies, as well as the collection Unlike the Buddha. He was an original member of the Comedy Store and Comic Strip at the centre of the ‘Alternative Comedy’ movement of the 1980s, and a star of the TV series The Comic Strip Presents… and The Young Ones. His hit single, ‘Hole in My Shoe’, won a Brit Award in 1985. He has written three novels, several plays, TV and radio scripts, and over 100 episodes of The Magic Roundabout for Channel 4.