Poetry. THE BALLAD OF JAMIE ALLAN recounts the true adventures of an eighteenth-century gypsy musician who lived on the English-Scottish Borders and died in Durham jail, serving a life sentence for stealing a horse. Though once patronized by dukes and earls, Allan lost their support as his wayward behavior began to exceed their own. Drawing on newspaper accounts and court depositions, Pickard brings the ballad tradition of stark reportage to life with his own genius for the form. Through the words of his cohorts and contemporaries, Allan emerges as a spirit of the Borders, that wild and historically lawless region where rivers and fells set the stage for his captures and escapes.

Author City: LONDON UK

Tom Pickard, a Newcastle-born writer who left school at 14 and fell swiftly under the spell of American Beat poetry and poets, was not only present at the birth of the British Poetry Revival in 1965 but also is credited with leading the charge. He is the author of nine books of poetry spanning four decades. In addition, he has made several documentaries, including We Make Ships (1988) about labor history in the north of England and Birmingham is What I Think With (1991) about the poet Roy Fisher. His many books include MORE PRICKS THAN PRIZES (Pressed Wafer, 2010), BALLAD OF JAMIE ALLAN (Flood Editions, 2007), THE DARK MONTHS OF MAY (Flood Edtions, 2004), HOLE IN THE WALL: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS (Flood Editions, 2002), and FUCKWIND (Etruscan Books, 1999).

Reviews and Other Links
author page @ The Poetry Foundation
NBCC Awards Finalists in Poetry