Honky Tonk
A novel by Roy Boardman
About the author
Roy Boardman started working life in 1953 as a Junior Librarian in London and has surrounded himself with books ever since. First published when he was sixteen, he has written stories and poetry all his life and, in his 57 years working as a teacher and teacher trainer, encouraged young people to relate literature to their lives and to use creative writing as a way to understand themselves and their relationships with others.
With Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press, he has written a number of books for and about teaching English and English literature.
Roy lives in Naples, Italy, and is working on a new novel set in that city. The left valve of his heart is in Naples, the right valve in London, where Honky Tonk lives.
Milton’s Wife
a poem by Roy Boardman
The room we wrote in.
We wrote because the
Quill was partner to
my hand while his speech
Unravelled until
dawn settled on eyes
seeing the sound of
scenes shadowed in his
skull. The printed word
that followed this was
half mine, half his, and
even the printer’s
brisk hand had a say
in the weight of words.
But first was me, who
caught the curve of vowels
and inked them between
moulding consonants.
From another dark,
from a second heart
add my unprecious
name to the canon.