Pam Ayres’ comedic poetry has been delighting her public for decades. With a new collection set to arrive in September and a tour of the nation’s theatres, Laura Wood finds out what’s in Pam’s attic.
In your latest shows, are you using material from your most recent book, Up In The Attic?
Some readings from there, yes, but it’s really a whole selection of poems, stories and anecdotes from across my whole body of work. I don’t use a lot of the old stuff, but I have to do I Wish I’d Looked After My Teeth otherwise I think I’d get lynched! I did one last night which is called Round And Round The Car Park which is going endlessly round the car park trying to find a space, and you’re late and you are in a terrible state and it was the first time I have performed it and it went down really well.
Do you think people have misconceptions about what happens in your shows?
I’m always a bit unnerved when people say it’s a reading – I don’t actually read, I learn everything. I think if I had to read it aloud, I would have to put my glasses on and would have to have a book in front of my nose. I wouldn’t be able to connect with the audience at all. But I don’t think people who come to see me regularly do, no – I wouldn’t say ‘here is the first poem, thank you, now here is the second poem.’ I think we would all die of boredom!
Your next book is being published in September. What motivates you to write, four decades after you first started?
I’ve always done it, it’s just a part of me. Some people are good at mathematics, some people are interested in painting, I just love writing and trying to write things that will make people laugh. It is a tremendously rewarding job, to write something, learn it, perform it and see people fall about laughing – it’s just addictive.
Do you think social media has changed the way you write?
No, I don’t. It’s a good thing: I like it because I can speak for myself, you know, for once I have a voice. Once I got onto Twitter, if someone said “Pam Ayres did such and such…” I could go on and say “no I didn’t” or “yes I did”, and that’s great. It’s also an interesting discipline, being on Twitter, to try and get the things I had to say down to the number of characters I had, and to make it concise and grammatically correct, it’s a very interesting challenge.
Do you have a particular process you go through when you write?
Yes – if I get a good idea make a note of it, wherever I am, because they can soon evaporate. However, I don’t try and write a poem straight away – if I come across an area that I would like to write about, I would just gather up every possible angle that I could think of, not try and make it rhyme or anything but just try and bring together all the various thoughts, feelings, fears and experiences that I have had, so I finish with a big jumble. I then try and pick out the things that might be especially poignant and make them rhyme.
Do you have any advice for young aspiring writers or poets?
If you believe in it, get out there and perform it. It’s no good writing something and shoving it in a drawer, waiting for it to be discovered. You have to get out there and let people hear it, even though you might be terrified. The thing to remember is the more you do it, the easier it gets. So don’t hide your work away – if you really believe that it’s good and that people will enjoy it, jolly well get out there and perform it.
An Evening With Pam Ayres. Torch Theatre, Milford Haven, Mon 8 + Tue 9 July; Y Ffwrnes, Llanelli, Wed 10 July. Tickets: £25. Info: www.torchtheatre.co.uk / www.theatrausirgar.co.uk