John’s poetry has appeared in The Guardian, The Spectator, The Rialto and The Big Issue and broadcast on BBC Radio 3, 6Music and Radio 1. He was a member of the poetry collective Aisle 16 who co-organised Homework, a monthly night of literary cabaret at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club. He runs the poetry show Stress Test on Soho Radio with Martha Sprackland and Joe Dunthorne.
‘His work has a winning gentleness, a seductive voice that draws you in, ensnares you and captivates you.’
– Ian McMillan, Poet and host of Radio 4’s The Verb
A Supermarket Love Story
Go Faster Stripe, 2021
A story about supermarkets and the people who use them. Love will bloom, lives will continue as they always have, and you’ll meet two paramedics by the crisps. As staff untuck their shirts and sit on kick stools stacking shelves we join them all for a storytelling feast, and find that every aisle really does tell a different story.
‘An absolute joy’ – Greg James, BBC Radio 1
‘The Alcohol Aisle’ nominated for the 2020 National Poetry Awards.
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No One Cares About Your New Thing
Go Faster Stripe, 2017
Poems about Kylie internet dating, looking at the constellations and snorkelling in the Bahamas.
‘Funny, moving, life-affirming’ – Broadway Baby
Most People Aren’t That Happy Anyway
Nasty Little Press, 2013
Most people aren’t that happy, but in an open plan office John Osborne is day-dreaming of a world without A-roads and mini roundabouts. There is heartache in this collection but, like the waitress who is employee of the month, Osborne knows it is important to notice the little things. These poems are a celebration of the quotidian magic that punctuates our quiet lives: the Slimmer of the Year holding up a pair of last year’s trousers, a moment lost in thought making tomorrow’s sandwiches.
Highly commended – Forward Prize 2013
What If Men Burst in Wearing Balaclavas?
Nasty Little Press, 2011.
The first pamphlet by John Osborne, now out-of-print. Published by Nasty Little Press. Poems about open plan offices, falling in and out of love and George Alagiah.
‘Yes, I like these poems, there is warmth, as you’d expect with balaclavas in the title’ – John Hegley.
‘John writes with the intelligence and wit of your favourie teacher but with the soul of a five-year-old boy. His poems capture the un-finger-put-on-able’ moments’ – Laura Dockrill.
John Osborne 