Walsall poet wins praise from MP's office for Crooked House poem - read it here
A well known Walsall author and poet has had his poem on the subject of the Crooked House praised by the office of an MP who has taken up its cause.
Former solicitor and Walsall poet laureate Ian Henery was moved to write the poem after events at the iconic pub, which was burned down last month and then dismantled.
Mr Henery has had his poem published in Black Country Connection magazine, broadcast on the radio and will perform it on Sunday at the Delves Baptist Church in Walsall at a charity event for a friend.
He also sent it to Dudley North MP Marco Longhi in Parliament, whose office described it as 'a brilliant piece of literature'.
Mr Henery, who had a law office in Willenhall and still does consultancy work, was poet laureate for Walsall between 2021 and 2022 and is poet in residence at Wolverhampton radio station WCR FM.
He said: "It's probably been said before but it is a tragedy what has happened, where money has outweighed the heritage of the Black Country and another iconic building may have been lost, although the current campaign has been heart warming and is fully endorsed by me.
"That goes for Mr Longhi as well who has been unwavering in his support for the group who want to rebuild it and I thought I would put into words how I felt about how the Crooked House was when it stood for so many years as a pub and hopefully will again.
"To get such praise from his office for the poem was great – there has been a lot written and said on the issue so it is nice for my poem to be singled out."
Last year Mr Henery wrote a trilogy for China West Midlands and has previously written an an anthology of poems for Valentine's Day and this year took part in the Wolverhampton Literature Festival.
