Voted Britain's favourite poem, 'Warning', written in 1961, is known and loved the world over for its message of old age as a time for indulgence and fun. In the poem's respectable middle-aged woman, as she imagines herself in old age as a cheeky rebel with outrageous clothes and dotty behaviour, poet Jenny Joseph has created a character whose thoughts have been quoted at conferences and funerals, used to cheer up sick friends, remembered with pleasure by children and adults alike. Found in schoolbooks from Alaska to Singapore, the poem has been stitched, stamped, quilted, set to music, printed on cards, written on cakes and made into films. Here 'Warning: When I am an old woman I shall wear purple' appears as a beautifully illustrated gift book, the perfect gift for a friend or relative who wants to grow older with joy.

Twice-voted poem of the year, Warning is an uplifting poem about growing older.

About the Author
Jenny Joseph has been writing poetry since childhood and was first published in the 1950s by John Lehmann. Her first published collection, The Unlooked-for Season, won her a Cholmondeley Award and her prose and verse narrative, Persephone, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In 1995 she was awarded a Society of Authors Travelling Scholarship. In 2006 her poem 'Warning' was voted Britain's favourite modern poem. She had three children and lived in Gloucestershire. Jenny Joseph died in 2018, aged 85. Pythia Ashton-Jewell has been a printer and opera-singer and is reading for a degree in Music while pursuing her career as writer and illustrator, mainly of children's books. She lives in London.

Reviews
A poem that was to inspire two generations of women to contemplate behaving badly. * Mail on Sunday *
The most popular poem in Britain. * Guardian *
Continues to inspire with its humour... speaks to the devil in us all... Utterly charming and uplifting. * Good Book Guide *



Book Information
ISBN 9780285634114
Author Jenny Joseph
Format Hardback
Page Count 32
Imprint Souvenir Press Ltd
Publisher Profile Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 115g
Dimensions(mm) 159mm * 120mm * 9mm