Wigan poet and disabled activist Shaun Fallows will be launching his second poetry collection, They Race Me in the Streets, at the Museum of Wigan Life on Wednesday 20 April from 7-9pm.

Shaun, a wheelchair user who has cerebral palsy, said his new collection “looks at comedy, creative writing, family, maturing as a working class man and how these things intersect with disability. It opens a door into life as a wheelchair user but specifically the progression to a mindset switch of ‘ok, I’m in the world, I’m unemployed, I’m single and ready to mingle but how do I develop myself, how do I share my other interests beside access issues?”  

Like his first collection Accessibility, Shaun, a well-known poet in the north-west, has self-published his second via Lulu. He had approached “numerous publishers”, but expressed disappointment that none was prepared to take a chance with him: “People who know me, I think, once the ice is broken, understand that I can do it.” 

Of his second collection, he added: “As a massive Jam fan, it feels a bit like my All Mod Cons moment [widely considered their best album]. Once I’d found poetry, this is probably how I’d always hoped to be coming across – quirky, honest, joyous and useful to our big world.” 

Shaun became a regular at Write Out Loud Woking on Zoom, as well as at a number of other online open-mic nights, during lockdown. You can see and hear Shaun reading his poem ‘They Race Me in the Streets’ at Write Out Loud Woking here

You can order Shaun’s book via this link

Background: 'We ride the iron horse without any reins'