The poem, “Kindness, you can’t accuse me of”, proffered early in Michelene Wandor’s new collection Natural Chemistry, completely fulfils its title. Essentially written about the poet as performer, Wandor certainly cannot stand so accused, but she might be charged with many less desirable qualities. Written retrospectively and with acidic disdain, Wandor describes a fellow poet’s Read More
In 2003, when Simon Jenner took up the reins of the long-established Survivors Poetry, there was tacit acceptance in some quarters that he was there to ensure that the organization’s death throes were fairly painless – except that Jenner was not complicit in that acceptance. Nor were the Chair, John O’Donoghue, or ACE (Arts Council Read More
Much of Maureen Duffy’s verse contrasts contemporary problems with how life used to be, such as during World War II or the Victorian era. Moreover, not only does her latest collection, Environmental Studies, betray her affinity for Greek mythology, it also reveals her favourite poets: John Milton and John Donne are frequently alluded to, or Read More
Video footage from A DURA Evening of Poetry: Simon Jenner and W N Herbert Part 1: Publishing, Editing and Writing Poetry Part 2: Simon Jenner reading Part 3: W N Herbert reading Part 4: Q&A
Dangerous to Know is Patricia Brody’s second poetry collection, her first – American Desire – having won a 2009 New Women’s Voices Award. In Dangerous to Know, feminist Brody uncovers literature’s hidden women; Dorothy Wordsworth, Anne Donne and many more,”the women we’ve been taught to forget”, who wrote their journals and diaries while their male Read More
Thomas A. Clark has published his second collection of poems with Carcanet Press entitled Yellow and Blue (2014). Like his other volumes this book works within the minimalist tradition he has developed in relation to the Pittenweem Gallery that he now runs with Laurie Clark in the East Neuk of Fife. These short poems of Read More
The three book-length poem sequences in A Drinan Trilogy were originally published under the pseudonym “Adam Drinan” in the 1940s and 50s by modernist poet Joseph Macleod (1903-1984). This is a timely re-publication, as two of the pieces concern the very topical issues of Scottish cultural, national and constitutional identity. Macleod was a BBC newsreader Read More
Paul Genega’s fifth full-length poetry collection explores the ways in which the tangible, external world influences our experiences of life and the formation of our identities. All I Can Recall addresses its theme through an array of diverse topics – from vast, global events like the Great Depression to the deeply personal impact of our Read More
Raymond Ramcharitar dons many hats. He is a playwright, poet, short story writer, journalist and critic; a polymath with degrees in Economics, English Literature, and Cultural History and a graduate of the Boston University’s creative writing program. And all these biographical details seem to lend his latest collection Here, its definitive style and quality. Here Read More
Merman opens with the obliquely powerful titular poem (an Arvon International Poetry Award winner 2010), justifiably described by the Poet Laureate as “wonderful”. Indeed, it is the outstanding poem in this excellent, multi-layered collection – O’Brien’s fourth. The cover representation of her post-Arvon collaboration with visual artist, Ray Murphy, weights that single poem still more. Read More