A DUMBARTON poet has been given the green light by the infamous English punk rock band The Buzzcocks to publish his production of related poetry, coinciding with the anniversary of frontman Pete Shelley’s death.

Stephen Watt, who is also the Poet in Residence at Dumbarton FC, has put together the e-book and will be available to download for free on release day.

It will feature contributions from fellow writers celebrating the life of Pete Shelley and his music.

Stephen told the Reporter: “Idea first stemmed back a few years ago when I liked the idea of bringing together two loves of mine - music and poetry.

“I can’t sing and haven’t been able to play an instrument since I was 8yrs old so it made more sense to bring musicians into the written word.

“My third poetry collection MCSTAPE invited several musicians from Ccotland to contribute - including Bobby Bluebell (The Bluebells), Sushil K Dade (The Soup Dragons) and Mary Kiani (TTF).

“At the same time, I had approached the Joe Strummer Foundation about editing a collection celebrating the late Clash frontman which I was delighted they were onboard with.

“Thereafter, I began thinking about what other heroes I would like to celebrate. Shelley’s passing in 2018 at the same time MCSTAPE and Ashes To Activists were published really germinated the idea of celebrating his life in a similar fashion.”

Works by band members of Subway Sect, Inspiral Carpets, The Rapture, Republica and the Undertones plus more will be included in the book.

Stephen continued: “I was due to perform in Newcastle at a crime writing event on the same night Steve Diggle (Buzzcocks) was due to be in Newcastle performing, but due to Covid both events were cancelled. Shame. Would’ve been nice to hound him!”

The e-book is available to download for free from buzzcocks.com in early December.