Elvis Presley poet from Great Harwood is going to Graceland (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Elvis Presley poet from Great Harwood is going to Graceland
2:14pm Friday 2nd December 2011 in Literature
By Emma Cruces, Reporter
GRACELAND Poet Darryl Ashton
A COMEDY poet has been invited to recite at Graceland after immortalising Elvis in rhyme.
Great Harwood man Darryl Ashton has also been asked to take part in a two-week Elvis themed cruise, plus a convention for the French Elvis Presley Fan Club, after his work became internationally recognised.
The 52-year-old, who published his poetry volume My World of Poems in April, quickly came to the attention of the king’s estate after penning the poems ‘Happy Birthday, Elvis’ and ‘An Interview with the King, Elvis’.
The former QE2 restaurant manager was astonished to then receive a silver figurine of Elvis in the post, accompanied by the simple message ‘Best Wishes from Graceland’, followed by invitations to visit the US.
He said the response has been ‘amazing’ as he only launched his writing career a year ago – shortly after buying his first PC.
After joining Facebook, and being urged by 1,800 friends to publish his poems, he decided to discover more about publishing his work.
The result saw his poetry published by SilverWood Books in April, shortly before launching his own website.
He said: “It has been a real whirlwind. Twelve months ago I hadn’t even considered doing any of this, I was just getting a PC installed.
“I ended up with a lot of Facebook friends reading my poems each day and they were encouraging me to get published.
“I can’t believe after all that the poems had made their way to Graceland.”
Darryl will first travel to Miami where he will read poems to guests during two-weeks on the Elvis Presley Cruise Ship in the Bahamas.
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Comments (1)
4:40pm Fri 2 Dec 11
Debbie Young says...
t.wordpress.com. You can order copies of his book online there too. A fab Christmas present as it's got a lovely colourful cover and includes festive poems! He takes commissions too - he writes lovely tributes to people.