POET John Hegley reckons his French ancestry could have a lot to do with his artistic side.

His grandmother Renée was a dancer with the Folies Bergère and although he rarely saw her she made quite an impact on him.

John said: “Her life was a performance so she was very flamboyant, grandiose and bossy but great to be around. It was really nice to see her and experience that.”

Renée’s larger than life persona was a far cry from her son and John’s dad Bob who he described as a quiet, devout Catholic family man.

But it was in church that John discovered he had a way with words.

The 60-year-old added: “I was brought up a Catholic and the services were in Latin back then.

“I was in awe of the Latin language so I suppose I was first aware of the power of words in church. Then when I went into school I loved rhymes.”

John had already plucked up the courage to read out poems to his mates at St Joseph’s RC School by the time he was six.

John, who has become one of the country’s most popular contemporary poets, said: “Sometimes I would stand in the playground and say some poems about television programmes and people seemed to like that.

“I thought playing with language was fantastic.”

John told Weekend that the first poem he was particularly proud of writing was Witches’ Dell when he was 10.

The poet, comic and singer-songwriter will be bringing his show to the Pyramid centre on Friday, May 2, as part of Warrington Literature Festival.

John, a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, will read an extract from his new book, New And Selected Potatoes, which is a compilation of some of his best work.

He added: “The audience sing, do bird movements and a bit of leaning and nodding but hopefully not nodding off.

“It’s surprising. Generally the whole audience get involved with the movements and it looks quite amazing from stage.”

John, who has played on Glastonbury Festival’s main stage, was discovered by John Peel and recorded two sessions for the DJ in 1983 and 1984.

Peel was particularly fond of his song Mobile Home which propelled his shows from street performances to top venues.

John said: “I was sat with my friend Roger Lewis and we were listening to it on the radio and John Peel said: ‘That is excellent’ and we both jumped up in the air.

“The biggest change was from obscurity to John Peel saying he liked the record. There can’t be a bigger step than that. It was a confidence boosting moment.”

John Hegley will be at the Pyramid centre on May 2. Tickets are from £10. Visit warringtonlitfest.co.uk or call 442345.

DAVID MORGAN