Patrick Jones
| Born: | 1965 (age 42) Tredegar, Gwent, Wales, United Kingdom |
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| Occupation: | Poet, Playwright, Filmmaker |
| Writing period: | 1990 – The Present |
| Influences: | Wilfred Owen, Ted Hughes, Mary Shelley, Idris Davies, Sarah Kane, Jimmy McGovern, Derek Jarman |
| Website: | patrickjones.co.uk |
Patrick Jones (born 1965) is an Welsh poet, playwright and filmmaker. His work is often in collaboration with the rock band Manic Street Preachers; his brother, Nicky Wire, is their bassist.
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Biography
Born in Tredegar in 1965, Patrick Jones was educated at Oakdale Comprehensive, Cross Keys College, and then at the University of Wales, Swansea from 1983-1987. He was awarded BA (Hons) in Sociology and American Literature. Jones has been employed in youth work, nursing aid, as a Literacy Officer and a Lecturer. He has lived much of his life in Blackwood in Gwent, but has also lived in Herne Bay, Swansea, in Germany and spent four years in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Jones set up the Blackwood Young Writers Group based at the Blackwood Miners Institute in 1993. He currently teaches Adult Literacy at Blackwood Community College and the Ebbw Vale Institute in Gwent. Jones is also active in setting up various reading and writing workshops throughout Wales from schools to youth centres. He has also served as the Creative Literacy Worker for the Cynon Project and in 1988 was writer in residence at Swansea College.
Jones has made various television and radio appearances. He participated in a week-long intensive writing masterclass with Arnold Wesker at Hay on Wye Literature Festival in 1997. Jones participated in the 1998 Dysfluency Tour and the 1998 and 1999 Manic Street Preacher conventions. He also appeared in BBC Two's Manics documentary 'From There To Here', part of the 'Close Up' series. In April 1999, he staged a Kosovo benefit at Blackwood Miner's Institute involving Max Boyce, James Dean Bradfield and other artists. Later that year he read from and discussed sections of his play 'Everything Must Go' at Marxism '99. 1999 also saw him performing his poem 'The Guerilla Tapestry' at the opening of the Welsh Assembly 'Voices Of A Nation' concert. In 2004, he returned to the Hay On Wye Festival for a discussion with James Dean Bradfield on music, politics and writing.
Jones has worked with St. David's Foundation Hospice Care, The Samaritans, Hope and Aid Direct and Learning through Growth in the Cynon Valley. Recently, he completed the Beneath The Radar poetry reading tour in Wales and Ireland. Has been involved in many protests including Save St David's Woods, Stop the War, and Justice for Fathers.
Fuse
Fuse (2001) was published by Parthian Books. It includes a foreword by Nicky Wire called 'The Words are Coming'; selected poetry from The Guerilla Tapestry (1995), The Protest of Discipline (1996) and Mute Communion (1997); many new poems; a short essay by theatre director Phil Clark, who refers to Jones as 'A Ranter For The 21st Century'; and, the transcripts of the two plays Everything Must Go (1999) and Unprotected Sex (1999).
Other Publications
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- The Guerilla Tapestry (1995)
- The Protest Of Discipline (1996)
- Detritus (1997)
- Mute Communion (1997)
- Against (2003)
Plays
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- Everything Must Go (1999)
- Unprotected Sex (1999)
- The War Is Dead Long Live The War (2003)
- Bridges (2006)
- Sing To Me (2006)
- Meat (forthcoming)
- The Patricide Elegies (forthcoming)
Commemoration and Amnesia
Commemoration and Amnesia (1999) was released by Big Noise Recordings. All words are by Patrick Jones. The music was written and performed by various artists, especially for this album, as indicated below.
- Their Life On Their Heads (feat. Manchild)
- Commemoration and Amnesia (feat. James Dean Bradfield)
- Philosophy (Father) (feat. Pink Assassin)
- Cypress Tree (feat. Perfidia)
- The Guerilla Tapestry (feat. James Dean Bradfield)
- The Dead Bloom (feat. Gruff Rhys)
- Interface, Interface (treatment by Cian Ciaran)
- Democratis (feat. Thighpaulsandra)
- Scalpel & Heart (feat. Ashley Cooke)
- The Eloquence In The Screaming (feat. John Lawrence)
- Autonomy (feat. Curveside)
- Hireath (feat. Paul Jones)
- Ich Dien (A Welsh Trilogy)
- Spoken Word (Nick Jones)
- Myfanwy (performed by Cor Meibion Morlais)
- Cymria Nux Vomica (feat. Darren Broom)
- And What Are You Wales? (feat. Topper)
- The Last Night On Earth (feat. Derrero)
- Temazepam & Petroleum (feat. Pink Assassin)
- A Necessity For Liberty (feat. Thighpaulsandra)
- Poem Of Modernity (feat. Greg Haver)
- Candle Failure (feat. Gina Tindall)
- This Terrible Honesty (feat. Derrero)
- So Much Cleaner (feat. Pink Assassin)
- In Aeternum (feat. The Pull)
Short Films
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- Pictures Of The Gone World (1999)
- The Absence (2004)
- Nutters (2007)
Music Videos
All music videos are for Manic Street Preachers, using 'Crash Editing' facilties.
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Judge Yr'self | Lipstick Traces (A Secret History of the Manic Street Preachers) |
| 2004 | 1985 | Lifeblood |
| A Song For Departure | ||
| Cardiff Afterlife | ||
| Emily | ||
| Fragments | ||
| Solitude Sometimes Is | ||
| Quarantine (In My Place Of) - Short Film | B-side to the single The Love of Richard Nixon | |
| Yes (New Film) | The Holy Bible (Tenth Anniversary Edition) | |
| 2005 | Firefight | God Save The Manics EP |
| 2006 | Further Away | Everything Must Go (Tenth Anniversary Edition) |
| Home Movie (footage, not music) |
All of the above videos are available to view on YouTube, except 'A Song For Departure', 'Further Away', and 'Home Movie'.
Quotes/Soundbites
Manic Street Preachers have quoted Patrick Jones, or featured soundbites of him reading his poetry, in a number of their songs.
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- "Under neon loneliness / everlasting nothingness."
From the poem 'Neon Loneliness'. Features in the chorus to the single 'Motorcycle Emptiness' from the album 'Generation Terrorists' (1992).
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- "Between the billboard masturbation across highway of metallic isolation there lies the deafening screaming of the millions wiping out the diseased pages of apathy that bleed our eloquence with words of amnesia..."
From the poem 'The Eloquence of Screaming'. Jones can be heard speaking these lines at the beginning of the single 'Loves Sweet Exile' from the album 'Generation Terrorists' (1992).
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- "There is eloquence in screaming."
From the poem 'The Eloquence In The Screaming'. Quoted in the CD booklet of the album 'Generation Terrorists' (1992), alongside the song 'Tennessee'.
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- "So mighty so hegemonic so hating so desecrating / So there so nowhere so hurting we fall between indifference / Rejection and the whole fucking wall we fall."
From the poem 'Torying'. Jones can be heard speaking these lines at the start of the song 'Crucifix Kiss' on the album 'Generation Terrorists' (1992)
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- "Once upon a time when work work meant something once upon a time a dignity a meaning a beginning a middle and an end and you cared about what the next man did or thought not not now each to own and own..."
These lines are from the poem 'Everything Must Go'. This title was inspired by a picture of Patrick Jones took of his young son in front of a shop window on which the sales-slogan 'everything must go!' was written. The poem in turn became the basis for a play by Jones. Manic Street Preachers then named their fourth album 'Everything Must Go' (1996). (It's working title had been 'Sounds In The Grass').
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- "Strung out eyes as cold as worship / Two minutes silence in a century of screams / Tiny massive hands, emphatic lonely soul / Skin against skin and blood against blood..."
From the song 'Fragments' on the album 'Lifeblood' (2004). Jones co-wrote the lyrics with his brother Nicky Wire.