Poet In Lockdown: Ian McMillan charity book out for Christmas

AFOOR yer start. Mek sure yer all an ironing booard apart!
Poet In Lockdown Ian McMillanPoet In Lockdown Ian McMillan
Poet In Lockdown Ian McMillan

From social distance to lockdown haircuts, the pandemic year seen through the eyes of Yorkshire folk has been turned into a fabulous new book of sonnets for charity.

Poet In Lockdown is named after the book's curator and author of many of the sonnets, Bard of Barnsley himself Ian McMillan.

The 60 page book records the emotional highs and lows of 2020 but Ian's trademark humour, illustrated by Jess Hancock, shines a beacon of hope for a brighter tomorrow.

BUY A COPY: Poet In Lockdown is a limited edition and is expected to sell out fast - get your copy, while stocks last, for a Barnsley Museums and Heritage Trust donation of £8, or a signed copy for a minimum donation of £12 – CLICK HERE,

Ian is a BMHT trustee and it is hoped the book will become a Christmas stocking filler hit to support it's fundraising for Barnsley Museums' free entry venues of Experience Barnsley, The Cooper Gallery, Elsecar Heritage Centre, Cannon Hall Museum and Worsbrough Mill.

Fellow trustee David Exley organised design and production donated by Ledgard Jepson Ltd, a Barnsley based brand, design and digital agency at www.ledgardjepson.com and printing was provided by Precision ProCo, Sheffield.

TV and radio star Ian has been writing sonnets throughout the pandemic and called on the public to join him to record the year when everything changed.

Following an overwhelming response - which has included contributions from all over the region and beyond - the book featuring some of the best has is now available.

Ian said: "This collection of sonnets was written in response to the Covid 19 crisis as it developed over the spring and summer.

"When I was asked to be Barnsley’s Poet in Lockdown I jumped at the chance because I wanted to be able to make a creative response to these terrible times and I wanted other people to make creative responses too.

"That’s why I chose the sonnet because they can be as much a technical exercise as an artistic one. In other words, anybody can have a go at a sonnet!

Poet In LockdownPoet In Lockdown
Poet In Lockdown

"So the project became an open invitation, a message board, an almanac, a diary and a map of the world. I’d draft and redraft my ideas and experiences into fourteen lines and watch in awe and excitement as people responded.

"If one good thing has come out of Coronavirus for me it’s a strengthening of my belief that we are all artistic beings. I knew it anyway, but it’s nice to have it underlined.

"So enjoy these sonnets and then, of course, have a go at writing your own!"