Macclesfield chef shines on Craig Charles' BBC Radio 6 Music show
By Alex Greensmith
18th Sep 2024 | Local News
Macclesfield chef Kenny Wilson appeared on national radio today.
The Hurdsfield resident is a behind a new poetry book about the trials and tribulations of working as a chef.
It is Kenny's first ever book, and it has caught the attention of BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Craig Charles, who featured him in the second hour of his show today.
As well as having his work complimented by the former Robot Wars presenter, Kenny gave away a few extra nudges of information about his life and the book that was not previously discussed in previous Nub News articles with him.
"I didn't have one of the best educations so poetry was never on my remit. I left school at 15, said Kenny on BBC Radio 6 Music.
"I was addicted to the buzz and the chaos of it [working in kitchens], but I was always hungry [for more]."
After training at The Bridge in Prestbury, Kenny went up to Scotland and then France, where he plied his trade in some kitchens with international reputations.
Throughout his life, poetry has always been an interest. But in the past year, has it manifested into something Kenny writes himself. \
"I was never interested in Shakespeare," he revealed.
"Somebody introduced me to Dylan Thomas, and then introduced me to Wilfred Owen.
"When I read his poetry about the First World War, it totally grabbed me and made my sit up. This is what I want.
"The rawness. The poetry, the words just jumped off the page.
"What he was trying to describe, I loved it.
"A little later, I watched a street poet called Leon the Pig Farmer at [a] Peter Hook [gig], and I loved his energy.
"It was like punk rock style poetry. Though, I am not like that at all! But it really did open my mind.
"I always had these little stories in my head. I planned writing them for many years. But I didn't want it in a kitchen confidential book.
"[To start writing] It was literally a lightbulb moment. I was running around Macclesfield Canal, trying to figure out with these stories what I was going to do. Then I started to rhyme them, and that is when poems like Check On and Warzone all came to me. [The latter of which, Kenny read on the air].
"On that run, it took me about and hour-and-a-half as I kept stopping to write.
"So I put them all together in The Devil Wears a Kitchen Apron.
"There is a pitfalls, a bit of character and laughter in there as well.
"Many chefs have said to me 'It is almost like they have read my life in this book.'
"It has been an amazing four months."
Kenny's excerpt in Craig Charles' radio show was preceded by The Cure's song Friday I'm in Love, and followed by Magic Doors by Portishead.
The multi award-winning book has also been archived in the national Scottish library, as Kenny spent many years working in Glasgow.
If you missed Kenny on the airwaves, you can listen back to Kenny on the Craig Charles show via this link.
Furthermore, you can buy his book via this link, or in Macclesfield at Chester Road salon Wilsons Hairdressing, or Chestergate shop and bar Proper Sound.
*(Image - CC 2.0 Generic Unchanged ...someguy Craig 8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Craig_Charles_(03).jpg)
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