Roger McGough - Early Life

Early Life

Roger McGough was born in Litherland on the outskirts of Liverpool. He was a pupil at St Mary's College in Crosby with Laurie Taylor, future sociologist and criminologist, before going on to study French and Geography at the University of Hull. McGough lived in one of the university residences, Needler Hall, for three years from 1955 and served as hall librarian. Contemporaneously, the poet Philip Larkin became the university's librarian; newly arrived at Hull, he served as a sub-warden at Needler Hall until he found private accommodation. A number of years later McGough corresponded with Larkin about poetry: sending him a number of his own poems as he still lacked the confidence to approach the man directly. Larkin replied thanking McGough for the poetry, which he had enjoyed reading. He added that he believed that McGough walked an impressionistic tightrope which, though exhilarating, meant that on occasion he fell off.