Peter Finch (poet)


Peter Finch is a Welsh author, historian and poet living in Cardiff, Wales. Until 2012 he was Chief Executive first of Academi., the Welsh National Literature Promotion Agency and Society of Writers and then its successor body, Literature Wales. As a writer, he works in both traditional and experimental forms. He is known for his poetry readings, his creative work based on his native city of Cardiff, his talks on the history of rock music and his psychogeographic cycle and walking tours around the capital of Wales.

Career

Between 1966 and 1975 Finch edited the literary magazine Second Aeon.
During the 1960s and 1970s he was treasurer of the Association of Little Presses, exhibited visual poetry internationally and toured with sound poet Bob Cobbing.
Between 1975 and 1998 he ran the Arts Council of Wales's specialist Oriel Bookshop in Cardiff.
In the 1980s and 1990s he concerned himself with performance poetry, was a founder member of Cardiff's Cabaret 246 and of the trio Horse's Mouth. This was work with props, owing as much to theatre as it did to literature.
In the new Millennium he was worked on psychogeographies and alternative guides to his native city of Cardiff.
In 2016 he returned to an earlier interest and wrote The Roots Of Rock, a book about popular music.
In recent years Finch has continued to give poetry readings as well as illustrated talks on the city of Cardiff, the Severn Estuary and on the history of Rock music.