Doreen Tipton talks ahead of her appearance at Wolverhampton Literary Festival - interview

The weekend-long celebration in January, called the Wolverhampton Original Literature Festival (WOLF), will also feature musicians, workshops, art and children's events.

Taking time away from poking fun at Donald Trump and former Birmingham poet Laureate Roy McFarlane as well as starring in Wolverhampton Grand Theatre's pantomime Aladdin, Doreen is set to shake the foundations of the literary world with her lecture boasting several new theories that will force scholars to re-examine the entire universe.

On her involvement with the festival, Doreen told me of her love for literature: "I've always loved reading. I grew up in a pub called the Cock Inn and, as a young child, studying the graffiti on the walls of the men's urinals gave me an early appreciation of poetry.

"Naturally, when I learnt that Wolverhampton was to hold its own literary festival, I jumped at the chance of being their guest letcherer. Despite going to Tipton school, I still believe that education is a really important part of a person's education, and one day I hope to be offered an honorary dictatorship at the University of Wolverhampton.

"They give you a gown, and a square hat with a tassel on it, which I believe is called a mortar bomb."

She's not the only one excited for her lecture, I was jumping at the chance to ask what exactly I, and her fans, can expect:

"Whatever they expect, it's likely that they won't get it, and that's probably for the best.

"I hope though that they'll be surprised by my depth of knowledge of literature, because it's all self-taught. I started reading quite late in life. I was dyslexic in one eye at school, and it took them ages to diagnose it.

"Apparently, it's much tougher to tell if you're dyslexic if you can't read, so my incompetence covered up my disability until it was too late.

"I didn't read my first sentence until I was 71. That may not be correct, though, because I'm dyslexic, and also I'm only numerate from one to nine, so I may have been 17, or possibly eight.

"Luckily I now have a special pair of NHS glasses, made at great expense to the taxpayer, which controls the problem. Basically they blur my right eye, so that the left side of my brain does all the work.

"The right side of my brain does no work, and that's the side that controls my body."

Unfortunately however, there are some people very special to Doreen who won't be able to make the event she is so excited to attend:

"It's been a tough journey for me. The A449 was shut, and somebody had nicked the green bulb from the temporary traffic lights. Yet here I am, about to lecture in the Great Hall at the University of Wolverhampton, and all done without the help of a student debt.

"My only regret, is that my family...that my daughters, Trojan, Tangerine, and Troll, and my beautiful grandchildren Tantrum, Tyson and Taser, who have supported me every step of the way through their unquestioning welfare payments, won't be with me at the event, but apparently these days they'm only allowed out for funerals."

Doreen's love for literature takes up a great deal of her spare time as well, as she looks over some of her favourite books - instead of browsing over the script for Aladdin, featuring at Wolverhampton's Grand Theatre:

"I quite like the Grattans catalogue, although they don't do my size in slacks any more.

"I also have my own signed limited edition copy of the Yellow Pages, and a crumpled copy of an Aladdin script, which I've never looked at.

"My favourite book though would have to be my old dog-eared copy of the Oxford English Dictionary. It's full of so many words, and it tells you what they mean, although I'm not sure they've spelt them all corectly.

"I've had it for years – which is not surprising because I actually stole it from school – and it's served my appetite for the finerties of the English language all these years. I'm on page six."

Doreen has recently even written her own book, From Rug-Rats to Riches, that she is immensely proud of:

"Like any autobiography, it was hard work. Although, to be fair, it must have been even worse for the bloke that wrote it for me.

"He had to type so many words, some of which I didn't understand. But in the end I think he did a good job of capturing my work ethic. It's now a worst-seller on Ebay, and I'm very proud of it.

"There's apparently now some demand for a hardback copy, so I've glued some cardboard to it. I will be signing copies of it for anyone who wants one after the lecture, though I have warned them that this devalues the book.

"Do I have any advice for a budding writer? Find a budding ghost writer."

Though literature is very important to Doreen - what with her new worst-selling book and all - her fans are still close to her heart.

Following her lecture, Doreen will be hosting her very own meet and greet session she may even sign a copy of her book:

It's lovely meeting some of my stalkers personally, rather than just on the internet.

"To be fair, most of them are quite relieved when the court order finally tells them they have to stop following me, so they can get on with having a normal life.

"Some of them travel from as far away as Willenhall to come and see me, and it's very flattering. But meeting people is the best part of my job – if you can call meeting people a job...well, I suppose technically you can, because some people are hard work. But most of them are lovely, at least internally."

Finally, after my sides stopped splitting, I needed to know - after all this book talk, which famous author would Doreen Tipton love to sit down with and have a natter with?

"I think it would have to be somebody who's still alive, which is a pity, because my favourite literary figures tend to be dead. Blokes like Shakespeare – he seemed a decent writer, despite being foreign. And Charles Dickens, who I think wrote The Famous Five. And Winnie The Pooh, of course, who wrote the Piglet stories.

"If I had to choose somebody alive, it would have to be the bloke that wrote my autobiography, because he's the only one I can think of who's not dead. Though it's only a matter of time. I can't remember his name."

Doreen Tipton will host her lecture Doreen:On Books on January 28 at the Main Lecture Hall in the University of Wolverhampton.

Sessions run from 12.00pm, 2.00pm, 4.00pm, 6.00pm and 8.00pm.

Tickets are priced at £6.50 and available from Wolverhampton Art Gallery, or at www.doreen.tv

By Becci Stanley