MAL FOSTER : a poet of the ordinary man
What do we see in this collusion of mirrors - where do we go when we know who we are?
An Introduction To A Lesser Known English Poet
Mal Foster was born in Farnham, England in December 1956, his first book 'Poet's Portrayal' was published in 1976 followed by 'Calculated Suicides' in 1979. Often described as a 'poet of the ordinary man' his other publications include: 'Last Of The Rampant Heroes' - 1983 and 'Maelstrom' - 1986. 'Maelstrom' was re-published in 1997 under the title 'One Last Live Gig' - an e-book version is also now available.
Mal's work has also appeared in a variety of anthologies, magazines, newspapers and periodicals. In 1993 his much acclaimed poem 'Death of a Football Club' appeared alongside the work of the famous Liverpool poet Adrian Henri along with work by Attila the Stockbroker and Tony Harrison in the Northern Arts anthology Verses United. The book also included material by Stewart Hall, Melvyn Bragg, Bobby Robson and Eric Cantona. Mal has also written under the pseudonym Mal Cieslak. In Cieslak pronounce the 'i' as an 'h' to get correct pronunciation.
He appeared as Joe Cable in a 1983 production of South Pacific at The Camberley Theatre.
Mal's poem 'The Girl Addict' was the subject of a controversial article in The Daily Star in 1985.
In 1985 Mal also won Three Young Poet Awards for his poetry.
In 1987 he appeared at the Greenpeace festival with the band Magic Moments At Twilight Time and also partnered Paul Wells in Leviathan. He also worked closely with the Irish band Giro Junction who performed one of his songs live at the St James Tavern in London the same year.
He was editor of Wire Poetry Magazine from 1989 to 1997.
In 2004 he published his excellent Re-Invented while later that year his poem 'A Bastard's Lament' won an on-line poetry competition.
Published by Farr Publishing of Brisbane, the 2008 Australian Secondary Schools Curriculum anthology Poetry Unlocked includes Mal Foster's popular poem The Wedding. Amongst the other contributors are: Allen Ginsberg, Spike Milligan, Adrian Mitchell, Roger McGough, Ogden Nash, Benjamin Zephaniah along with a number of traditional poets such as John Keats, Alfred Lord Tennyson and D.H. Lawrence
More recently Mal has spent his time organising a number of live music events in his local pubs and clubs and has helped raise funds for the charity Action Medical Research.
He also runs the village community website for Knaphill, Surrey www.theknaphillian.com through which he has recently organised a very successful local poetry festival. His latest project is currently helping other authors self publish their work in an e-format. If you would like to know more about publishing your own title - you can email Mal Foster direct : Click Here>>>
