Thanks for visiting my website. Here’s where I tell you a little about what I do, and why.
Welcome to my new poetry pamphlet - A Parliament of Apples.
If you’d like a copy for £6.00 inc p&p, drop me a line at mick@mickjenkinson.co.uk.
“A Parliament of Apples confirms the burgeoning talent evidenced in Iron Harvest. Mick Jenkinson's observational gifts – rendered in often-musical language which achieves a happy balance between the day-to-day and the lyrical” - Matthew Paul
Now the biography bit...
I’m a songwriter, musician, and poet based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Music and words have run in my veins for as long as I remember. I first picked up a guitar when some friends at school took a poem of mine and set it to music; my reaction was ‘I want to do that!’
Although I grew up with ‘70’s rock music, my prime influences have always been wordsmiths, Dylan, Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson, to name the obvious ones, as well as poetry and traditional music.
COIL
With some great friends and fine musicians we formed the band Coil in the early ‘80’s. Our first album, Blood Money was very well-received took us on a national tour from Sheffield City Hall to London’s legendary Marquee Club.
After a long hiatus and remarkable chance encounters, Coil reformed to release the successful follow up album Cold Truth in 2017, and with three original members, we continue to play and record.
JENKINSON-PARKS
I was playing songs at the Ted Hughes Poetry Festival in 2015 when the wonderful poet Ian Parks approached me to ask if I would collaborate with him. We embarked on a long-running project to collect local stories and write songs chronicling the loves, lives and landscapes of Doncaster, which culminated in the album, Songs of Our Town.
This is a partnership that shows no signs of losing its potency, and indeed half the songs on the new CD were written with Ian.
POETRY
Music and poetry flow in and out of each other for me, but I have had the good fortune to have my first full collection of poems called Iron Harvest published in January 2025, by Cyberwit. It brings together selected poems from my two previous pamphlets; A Tale to Tell, released by Glasshead Press in 2017 and When the Waters Rise released by Calder Valley Poets in 2019.
And for many years I have run a monthly poetry performance evening at Doncaster Brewery and Tap. Well Spoken is held at on the second Thursday of each month; come along and say hello!
COMMUNITY WORK
As an Arts Practitioner, I am available to deliver song writing and poetry writing workshops for local community organisations, and I have a passion for involving myself as much as I can in the rich cultural life of the City of Doncaster.