Guest of ilb 2004
Adrian Mitchell was born in 1932. He studied
at Christ Church College Oxford, and began as a reporter and theatre
critic at the 'Oxford Mail' in 1955. He then moved to the
'Evening Standard'. From 1963 to 1965 he worked as a freelance
music journalist for various newspapers. During this period, he
published the first interview with the Beatles in a national
newspaper. The interview was the basis for a long term friendship
between him and Paul McCartney. As a result of this friendship
they published an edition of McCartney's poems and lyrics under the
title 'Blackbird Singing' (2001). Mitchell's literary career
started in 1961, when he received an inheritance. This made it
possible for him to dedicate himself freely to write not only his first
TV script, but also his first work of prose: 'If You See Me Comin�'
(1962). Three novels followed, many TV scripts, as well numerous
unconventional plays and musicals for both adults and children, which
were produced and successfully played on the main British theatre
circuit. An example of which is 'Tyger' (1971), a musical about
William Blake's life and work. He also wrote the Libretto for
Peter Schat's Opera 'Houdini' (1977) and in addition he adapted popular
stories such as Ibsen's 'Peer Gynt' (1995) and Lewis Carroll's 'Alice
in Wonderland' (2000) into Musicals. In 1964 he celebrated his
successful adaptation of Peter Weiss' play on Marat/Sade for the Royal
Shakespeare Company, which was directed by Peter Brook.
Mitchell's lyrics are characterised by his humourous note and wit, and
above all for his critical sharpness. Mitchell is renowned for
his ability to present current and relevant themes from a political
standpoint in the form of conversational style melodic poetry.
The memorable 'To Whom it May Concern' was presented as a reading in
1965 by Mitchell and Allen Ginsberg in the Royal Albert Hall as an
angry cry against the official cover-up relating to the Vietnam
war. In the 1990's he put together a retrospective of his poetic
life's work from the past five decades into three volumes. At
that time the author took a new direction into writing powerful
children's poetry and stories. This is being further explored in
his latest publication, a children's book entitled 'Daft as a Doughnut'
(2004) that was shortlisted for the CLPE Poetry Award in 2005.
© international literature festival berlin
Adrian Mitchell online: www.rippingyarns.co.uk/adrian | 
