Walter McCorrisken
Walter McCorrisken (28 May 1926 – 29 January 2004) was a Scottish writer, self-styled as the world's worst poet.
Walter McCorrisken
- Name
- Walter McCorrisken
- Born
- 28 May 1926
- Died
- 29 January 2004
- Occupation
- poet
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Walter McCorrisken • Born — 28 May 1926 • Died — 29 January 2004 • Language — English • Genre — Poetry
Writing career
Writing career
In the mid 1970s, McCorrisken entered a bad poetry competition organized by The Herald Diary in Glasgow. The competition ran for a month and attracted over 1000 entries from across Scotland. However, 259 of the entries were submitted by McCorrisken. He won the competition and claimed the title of Scotland's worst poet. McCorrisken's career as a writer extended over three decades while he continued with his day job at Glasgow Airport. He appeared on radio and television and was interviewed by Michael Parkinson and Michael Barrymore. The style of McCorrisken's writing is described as gentle, self-effacing and parochial humour. A documentary film about McCorrisken, The Renfrew Rhymer, was made by filmmaker Paul Russell with the assistance of McCorrisken's son Richard. It premiered in June 2020.
Works
Works
• Come back again, hen: a Silver Jubilee poem (1977) • Cream of the dross (1979) • Cream of the crackers (1980) • Cream of the corn (1981) • Cream of the crop (1982) • More Punishing Poems from Walter McCorrisken – Scotland's Worst Poet (1984) • Porridge in my pibroch (1994) audiobook • Tadpoles in tenements: trials of a taxidermist (1997) • A Wee Dribble of Dross (1998) • Hairy Knees and Heather Hills (1998)
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Walter McCorrisken, revision 1371738008 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
Citations
References
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Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 27 September 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Walter LippmannAuthor
- Walter LordAuthor
- Walter M. MillerAuthor
- Walter MapAuthor
- Walter MehringAuthor
- Walter MeierAuthor
- Walter NouvelAuthor
- Walter of BibbesworthAuthor
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