Talk:Roger McGough

category-people from Liverpool
An editor has objected to category however there is no doubt that Roger McGough is a Liverpudlian poet so it seems fair to include such a category, the fact it is said he is from Litherland would not mean that this category should be dismissed, far from it Dmcm2008 (talk) 15:26, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
 * OK: I've created a new category for Liverpudlian poets.-- Poetlister 13:23, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
 * This is despite him not being for Liverpool, but from a completely separate town? --82.42.150.196 (talk) 23:46, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Importance rating
Should be mid. He's one of the best known and most popular contemporary poets in the UK, studied in schools etc.  Ty  06:00, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Are you going to follow me?:) Our project is quite overloaded with work at present. For a poet we had not previously tagged until today and did not miss, I can not suggest an importance above low. This is not an evaluation of his merit so much as a tool to allow our project to prioritize.Mrathel (talk) 06:25, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, you obviously need someone to look after you! ;) I am suggesting he should have a higher priority because of his prominence and importance in UK poetry. This is no reflection one way or the other on his poetic merit as such, though he does have the Order of the British Empire, if that helps...  Ty  07:20, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

His waitrose ads
My edit has been deleted but he did those Waitrose ads from about 2008 and they are still in use today. Here are three refs to show this:. and the Guardian one but if you google "mcgough waitrose" you will see many others on blogs, forums and twitter, where he is condemned for those ads. Examples:, , , , and many more. Maybe the edit can be improved by citing one or several of these. thanks Peter morrell 05:19, 23 September 2012 (UTC)


 * No, the Waitrose ads are still mentioned at the end of the 'Life and work' section. The refs you gave didn't specifically mention McGough so I found a solid ref that did and added it. Blogs, Twitter and forums do not count as reliable sources on Wikipedia. Books, magazines, journals, biographies and the like are taken as more dependable. I hope that helps to clarify things. Span (talk) 11:36, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

OK thanks I know they are not RS but will still look for other sources...thanks Peter morrell 12:30, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

This one looks better: "It doesn't always please me," says Roger McGough, the Liverpudlian performance poet. "It's like when you hear music used in an advert and you feel it has degraded it. But as long as the poems are used respectfully, I think it can be OK. Center Parcs used Leisure by William Henry Davies, and Waitrose used Keats's To Autumn. I wrote a poem for a Prudential ad campaign, but Adrian Mitchell said he wouldn't do it. Verse has always been used in adverts – memorable language and the expectancy of rhyme are powerful – but it has to be used respectfully." Leo Hickman, The rise of poetry in advertising, The Guardian, 2 December 2009 which I thinkw e can use. Peter morrell 15:58, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

Structure and content
The article could benefit from splitting into sections, such as 'Early life', 'The Scaffold', 'Poetry' and 'Other activities.' It would require additional material to be added in order to beef each potential section up a little though. It is unfortunate that there is no indication in the article concerning the type of poetry McGough writes, which is a fairly fundamental hole in any bio of a poet. I cannot seem to find any useful lit crit on line, however. Urselius (talk) 22:28, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

In the absence of any comment I have carried this re-organisation into effect. I would still like to get hold of more appreciation/criticism of McGough's poetry. Urselius (talk) 09:13, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

How is his surname pronounced?
Does the second syllable rhyme with "cough", or "plough", "through", etc.? Equinox (talk) 23:56, 21 December 2015 (UTC)


 * Rhyming with 'cough', the 'c' of 'Mc...' is elided. The stress is on the '..Gough' bit.

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Is he retired?
It states in the lede that he presents 'Poetry Please' on BBC radio 4. This appears to be no longer the case. Has he retired? Should the article be updated? Dean1954 (talk) 18:43, 20 June 2020 (UTC)


 * His mugshot is still on the BBC website Poetry Please pages. Urselius (talk) 19:43, 20 June 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for that. I've found out that he's self-isolating for the duration, so the prog has guest presenters. He's not retired.Dean1954 (talk) 18:56, 21 June 2020 (UTC)

Official website
Just removed the "official website" link, which led to parked.rogermcgough.org, which is dead. However, https://www.rogermcgough.org/ does exist. Apparently I am no longer up to date with the {{ etc. references, so could someone amend my mistake? I don't want to add a hard link here when it is done otherwise. Iovis Fulmen (talk) 18:26, 1 July 2023 (UTC)