PD Cookson first came across Commonword in 1984 when he was 19 years old. He attended Northern Gay Writers and came across talents such as Di Williams, Tommy Barclay, the late Mike Binyon, Cathy Bolton and others. He has been published in a number of Commonword anthologies including Get Out More (cassette). He took part in the Manchester Poetry Festival, which became the Manchester Literature Festival and supported his heroes John Cooper Clarke, Joolz and Billy Bragg. “Commonword gave me not just the inspiration to write but also an education in different writing styles. I retired from performance poetry in 1995 to get more involved in politics.” He also appears in the archive under the name Peter Cookson.