A nervous breakdown led me into the world of poetry. First of all it was a way of coping with life, and later as a way to live. Along the way I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (as a result of showing my poems to a psychiatrist) and have ended up discovering a life I would never have had the chance to enjoy, were it not for the breakdown. I do have a stammer, but this hasn’t doesn’t and never will stop me from performing. As with any affliction, you have to adapt to cope with it, and performing has taught me how to do that. I did my first gig in August 2006 in Birmingham – for 8 minutes. 8 years later and I am still going strong. I have performed at hundreds of gigs (not as many as Queen Mab, but I will catch her one day…maybe!) been published by Chipmunkapublishing, won a fair few slams, and produced a play which I am currently expanding upon.     People seem to like what I do…well the ones below anyway:

“Anthony Fairweather, a poetry slam champion has a speech impairment but can give Eminem competition once he starts rhyming.”

(Sherwin Coelho, Bournemouth Daily Echo)

“His shafts of vitriol strike home on matters that certainly resonate with this reviewer and probably with most thinking people”

(Arthur Duncan, Remotegoat.com), ****

” A Strong and Talented Performance Poet” (The Herald)

“Anthony Fairweather defied the human need to breathe to deliver a seamless medieval poetic jig which only lacked a lute”

A.D. Hutchings (Flaneur Magazine)

“Never Disappoints”

Dean Atta (Apples & Snakes)

I also have a website called www.comedyverse.co.uk where you can find out more about all the other things I get up to.

The photos on this page were taken by the very fine photographer Jemimah Kuhfeld at jemimahkuhfeld.blogspot.co.uk