Written to be Read Quickly by Andy White

Written to be Read Quickly is a volume of new and selected poems by Belfast’s very own singer-songwriter extraordinaire, Andy White. As the title suggests, Andy’s poetry is fast moving. By turns witty, playful, profound, cerebral and soulful, it takes us around the world in nearly fifty poems and lands us squarely back where we started but with a better perspective on what it means to be alive in a strange world that’s getting stranger all the time. Edited by Robert McLiam Wilson, Written to be Read Quickly is one chapter of Andy’s Collected Poems, and this edition is published in paperback and limited edition hardback by Belfast studio Arthouse.

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It is 40 years since a Belfast poet with a Dylanesque torrent of words, an acoustic guitar and a punk attitude released debut LP Rave on Andy White. This and a subsequent series of literary albums have taken Andy White around the world with songs such as Religious Persuasion, Street Scenes from my Heart and James Joyce’s Grave. Andy has co-written with the likes of Peter Gabriel and Allison Russell, played in ALT with Liam Ó Maonlaí and Tim Finn, won Ireland's top songwriting awards and played stages the world over. Memorable concerts include playing the Ulster Hall with Billy Bragg the night Margaret Thatcher resigned; the Brecht Theatre in Berlin after the Wall came down; and Glastonbury Festival last summer where Andy Burnham helped pack up his tent. Andy’s books include poetry collection The Music of What Happens and novel 21st Century Troubadour. His new collection, Written to be Read Quickly was edited by novelist and old friend Robert McLiam Wilson, and is published by Arthouse Belfast.

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