STEWART HENDERSON

Poet, performer and BBC Radio 4 broadcaster

Stewart’s poetry receives critical and popular acclaim whilst his warm voice, rich tones, relaxed style and friendly manner endear him to audiences whether at a dinner, at a literary festival or across the airwaves.

Widely anthologised through Macmillan, Oxford University Press, Scholastic, Bloomsbury and others, Stewart’s verse is set for Key Stage 2 and 3 in primary schools in the UK.

His best-selling book Who Left Grandad At The Chipshop? was shortlisted for the Scottish ​ ​ Children’s Book Awards.

All Things Weird and Wonderful, alongside his various collections for adults, makes Stewart ​ a Festival favourite at premier literary events including The Edinburgh Book Festival, Birmingham’s Young Readers UK, Guildford Book Festival, The Northern Children’s Book Festival and The Wigtown Book Festival.

A regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 4, Stewart is described as ‘a gem of the airwaves’. ​ ​ He presented Questions, Questions for nine years. ​ ​

Stewart’s wide-ranging social and narrative documentaries for the network led to his nomination for a Sony Award. Their titles included From Hairnets To Goalnets (the story of ​ ​ The Dick Kerr Ladies, Britain’s first women’s football team) and a programme celebrating the life of double Oscar-winning British cinematographer Jack Cardiff.

Other programmes include the educational series Wide Awake At Bedtime, the Archive On 4 ​ ​ ​ features, Liverpool – Sinner and Saint, High Society, and Girls With Skirls, a documentary on ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ The Dagenham Girl Pipers.

Stewart is also invited to chair radio debates on difficult topics where his keen understanding of human nature, and warmth of his gentle humour, are truly highlighted.

His programme The Holy Fire, made on location in Israel, won the Jerusalem Radio Award ​ ​ for Best Feature in 2006.

Stewart’s production and scripting credits for Radio 4 include: Inside The Cavern - presented by Midge Ure ​ Spy In The Holy Land - presented by Sir Charles Wheeler ​ Farewell To Winston – presented by Nicholas Witchell ​ Talking About Lionel, And Now An Urgent SOS Message and Eddie Goes Country all ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ presented by Eddie Mair Morecambe and Wise – The Garage Tapes – presented by Jon Culshaw ​

A production for BBC World Service was the on-location documentary How My Country ​ Speaks, recorded in Moscow and presented by the leading dissident poet Irina ​ Ratushinskaya.

Stewart has presented, and contributed to, the BBC’s ‘crown jewels’ such as From Our Own ​ Correspondent, , , Four Thought, Broadcasting House, Saturday Live, PM and iPM.

What his audiences say:

Essential reading The Times

Good-humoured, thoughtful poems Roger McGough

Thoughtful and imaginative poems that will be readily gobbled up by the majority of eight to ten-year olds Junior Education

The first time I heard him perform his poetry, I was so bowled over I immediately asked him to write regularly for the television programme on which I was Series Producer for BBC1 Christine Morgan, Head of Radio, BBC Religion and Ethics

What Michael Morpurgo has done for children's fiction, Henderson has done for poetry. The Church Times

He understands the packed power of words; the importance of their use and measure. Gillian Reynolds,

To check Stewart’s diary, fees and other details, please call his speaking agent Diana Boulter at DBA Speakers on 01932 228544 or email her direct [email protected] ​

© DBA Speakers SH/DB/DBA/ May 2020