The Legendary Poet Michael Horovitz Gets Swamped

I've just done the best barter for as long as I can remember: I swapped my first novel Frantic for

Michael Horovitz's fabulous looking book A New Waste Land.

So how did my bargain of the century with the legendary poet miraculously take place?

I was lucky to be invited to his private view ingeniously titled a 'little festival of 45 years of Michael Horovitz's Picture-Poetry' at Art@42 (Pembridge Road, London W11 3HN).

The building's prime real estate belongs to the dentist to the stars: Dr Simon Godley, who moonlights as Horovitz's art curator as as well as being a writer and an actor.

After Simon gave me a drink and freebie tubes of paste for sensitive teeth, I latched onto Michael Horovitz, who promptly showed me and my fellow early attendees round his unique exhibition, which consists of of his original picture-poetry Art.

Michael A. Sargent

The guests were an eclectic mix including  the French rock photographer Chantal Coves (she also organises the yearly V rock festival), and the Pirates of Penzance piratical looking actor Michael A. Sargent (he was discovered in Borough market and shortly starts work in the new movie version of Treasure Island.

The highlight of the literary evening besides Michael Horovitz's 'must have' art was his riveting impromptu stand up poetry performance, which was so zany it motivated the appreciative hordes and besotted philanthropists at the private view to go berserk, elbowing each other out of the way to buy Michael's numerous books and art.

There's still some stuff left, so leave word for Michael Horovitz c/o 020 7229 7850 to arrange a view by appointment.