Show Notes
Episode two of the Working Class Literature podcast about Joseph Skipsey, a poet and coal miner from the North East of England. After entering the mines as a child, he would grow up to become a nationally-renowned poet, respected by some of the most famous artists of the nineteenth century. In this episode, we speak to researcher Dr Gordon Tait and musician Chris Harrison, both of whom have been doing lots of work around Skipsey’s life and poetry. If you want to support our work, please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/workingclasshistory Our patreon supporters get exclusive access to our Joseph Skipsey bonus episode, with more information about about the murder of Skipsey's father during the 1832 miners' strike, a reading guide to miners' literature from the North East of England, and more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/wcl-e2-1-joseph-51760485 And you can also follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/workingclasslit For more information on Skipsey, check out Chris' website, which also has more on Chris' music based around Skipsey's poetry: http://www.chrisharrisonmusic.org/musical-activities/carols-from-the-coalfields Also check out Gordon's excellent article, 'Joseph Skipsey, the "peasant poet", and an unpublished letter from W. B. Yeats': https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/440536/joseph-skipsey-the-peasant-poet-and-an-unpublished-letter-from-w-b-yeats And the Minor Victorian Writers website has a great collection of Skipsey’s poems, a biography, and the introductory essays which Skipsey wrote as part of edited collections on William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Burns and Percy Bysshe Shelley, which were produced in order to make poetry accessible to the working class.
More from Working Class Literature
As part of our work to mark the centenary of the UK's 1926 general strike, we sat down with with Charles Ferrall and Dougal McNeill, authors of the excellent Writing the 1926 General Strike: Literature, Culture, Politics to talk about some of the literature texts produced in response to the strike, both from established authors and emerging working-class writers.
Following our double-episode on the Florence Working-Class Literature Festival back in February, our co-host Matt was invited to this year’s festival, recording this episode on-site at the ex-GKN factory in Florence. Featuring the various writers, researchers, organisers, and activists in attendance, this episode captures the atmosphere of the festival at this critical time for the GKN struggle. Our podcast is brought to you by patreon supporters of both Working Class Literature and Working Class History. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory Taking place on 4-6 April 2025, the opending day of the festival marked the 1367th day since the 400+ workforce at the GKN car parts factory in Florence was first made redundant. They subsequently seized the factory and remain in control of it to this day, despite receiving their third – and now final – redundancy notice in the days leading up to this year’s festival.Recorded on-site at the occupied GKN factory on the outskirts of Florence, this episode features the voices of various writers, researchers, organisers, and activists that we spoke to while at the festival. These conversations took place against a frenzy of activity, both for the festival but also the GKN struggle itself.
Part 2 of our double episode on working-class author Jack Hilton, with Jack Chadwick whose literary detective work rescued Hilton from almost total obscurity. This part covers his novel Caliban Shrieks in more detail and how it compares to other working-class novels from the same period; his later writing and life, and how his writing career would come to an end (despite George Orwell’s efforts); and, finally, the amazing series of events that led to the rediscovery and republication of Caliban Shrieks. Our podcast is brought to you by patreon supporters of both Working Class Literature and Working Class History. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory
Part 1 of our double episode about Jack Hilton, a working-class author, World War I veteran, unemployed movement organiser, and trade union activist from Rochdale, north-west England.
Part 2 of our double-episode about the Working-Class Literature Festival held every year in Florence, at the former GKN car parts factory, which was taken over by the workers after they were made redundant in 2021.