Full-blooded collection of poems on a sensual theme

Add the fact that he was raised in the North of England and you really do have an intriguing ethnic mix. Perhaps this explains Siddique’s empathy with poets from exotic and far-flung places.

His latest poetry collection, Full Blood, takes its cue from the lyricism of Walt Whitman and Pablo Neruda, rather than the intellectualism of TS Eliot or Ezra Pound.

“It was almost called ‘The book I shouldn’t try to write’, but eventually it became Full Blood which is in keeping with the sensual themes,” explains Siddique. “I think there’s been a trend in British poetry over the past 20 years towards focusing on domesticity and looking at your own reflection and I wanted to say something bold, something of value.”

His latest volume has garnered praise from some unlikely sources, with Cerys Matthews reading one of his poems on her BBC 6 Music radio show recently, while he also appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Poetry Please.

“Something like 10 million people have heard me on the radio in the past few months, which is just bonkers when I stop and think about it.”

Although he was an avid reader as a child it wasn’t until he was 27 that he began writing after being inspired by a film. “I was watching Woody Allen’s Hannah And Her Sisters and I remember Michael Caine’s character using an ee cummings poem to chat up Barbara Hershey and it was like a bolt out of the blue.

“People think bombs have power, but words have the power of atoms because saying the right words can make people fall in love.”

Full Blood, published by Salt Publishing, is out now, priced £9.99.