Tower and Fountain (Free subscription) | 02/07/2010
February's Free Choice On a fine and much milder afternoon we met to discuss both our chosen poems and the 'way forward'. It has often been suggested that we should take on a single poem or poet as a group project. After some debate about who, and how, it was agreed that at our next meeting we would all look at T.S. Eliot's THE WASTE LAND , but we will not necessarily devote the whole meeting to it,...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 02/07/2010
He is the eminent lawyer who handled Princess Diana's divorce, fought off a libel suit from Holocaust denier David Irving and wrote an influential book on TS Eliot's hostility to Jews. Now he has liberal intellectuals in his sights in an explosive new history of antisemitism Although I end up rather liking Anthony Julius, to begin with he annoys me intensely. In the lobby of the Holborn offices of...
Jon Aquino's Mental Garden (Free subscription) | 02/06/2010
I have not read a ton of works of fiction. I don't get a chance to read as much poetry as I’d like. I rarely listen to music (surprising, as I enjoyed playing a lot of music in school). but I have derived much pleasure from the works of the following artists. I hope to delve more deeply into their works throughout my lifetime. Favorite author: Jane Austen. Every time I read one of her books,...
Stoning the Devil (Free subscription) | 02/03/2010
As has probably become clear here, I have become very fascinated with the idea of “doubling.” The idea of doubling, in literature, is relatively simple: presenting a word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, or entire piece that has more than one precise, clearly rendered signification. You do get this is rock; Ray Davies , David Bowie’s characters that he created between1972 and 1976. However,...
Fashion, Lifestyle and Beauty (Free subscription) | 02/03/2010
Paragraph-ically Speaking Necklaces by Victoria Contreras Just when it appears that word jewelry is nearing the end of its run, these necklaces by Spanish artist Victoria Contreras appear out of nowhere. Each piece features quotes by famous authors like Samuel Beckett, Virginial Woolf, T.S. Eliot, and Jean Genet. And even if your friends aren't awe struck by their profound meanings, the visual intensity...
Muse of Fire (Free subscription) | 02/02/2010
As a linguistic unit, the poem is unique in its movement toward being something else . Whether the poem be narrative or lyrical (or even visual), it points toward something else—an experience, a memory, or a problem. Even a poem that interrogates language points elsewhere. The rub, however, is that in this metaphorical quality of transformation, the poem remains essentially itself. T.S. Eliot...
Emerging Writer (Free subscription) | 02/01/2010
I am a fan of the National Gallery - lovely building, great collection, interesting exhibitions, music and poetry. Even a nice cafe and shop. Poetry Ireland organise a good list of names for Wednesday lunchtimes. See here for more details. And it's Free Wednesday 3 February - Thomas McCarthy Poet, novelist, editor and critic Thomas McCarthy has published eight collections of poetry with Anvil Press...
Wordamour (Free subscription) | 01/31/2010
Yes, folks, wordamour was thrilled to learn that UK writer Philip Gross has won the prestigious TS Eliot Prize in poetry, one of the grand dames of literary prizes. Because it could not happen to a better writer, a writer’s writer, who Wordamour has had the pleasure of working with (he was my generous editor for [...]
Booklist Online (Free subscription) | 01/28/2010
Philip Gross’ The Water Table won the £15,000 TS Eliot prize for poetry, beating out Christopher Reid’s Costa-winning A Scattering. Read more about Gross’ win in the Guardian.
Boxing the Octopus (Free subscription) | 01/28/2010
Continuing a conversation some of us began earlier in the week, on the state of storytelling in America in the 21st century, I refer you to a blog entry by the literary novelist Alexander Chee, entitled "Why Must the Novel Be Boring?" In it, Chee (prompted by one of his own creative writing students) gamely explores the limitations of the 20th-century novel of angst, and quotes writer Lev...
Baroque in Hackney (Free subscription) | 01/28/2010
Enough with the accessibility already. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks (in between losing my job, etc, of course – really it’s a whole new pastime) flitting around a pile of poetry books, mainly the books of the TS Eliot Prize shortlist, plus The Swallow Anthology of New American Poets, which I’m due to [...]
Qualvista (Free subscription) | 01/27/2010
Mr. Jerome D. Salinger, Cornish Flat, Cornish, New Hampshire, United States. Dear Mr. Salinger, You must forgive me for sending you this letter. It was not my original intention to disturb you, but the passage of time has compelled me to write to you. I fully expect that you will not receive this letter (the US Postal Service can only deduce so much from a guessed address), let alone open or read it....
Deconstructive Wasteland (Free subscription) | 01/26/2010
A quick pointer to those interested - on the Contemporary Writers site, you can now find critical perspectives on the poetry of two very different, but equally fascinating, writers: Jen Hadfield and Greta Stoddart . Hadfield's second collection, pictured above, won the T.S. Eliot Prize in 2008; recently awarded to Philip Gross in 2009 for his collection The Water Table . And to those on/off regular...
Isola di Rifiuti (Free subscription) | 01/20/2010
Junk’d William Carlos Williams “thinking of Pound again” in a letter to Louis Zukofsky (February 3, 1943): A translator primarily, not at all original—full of verbal felicities, one of the world’s outstanding word-men. Could sling a romantic cadence better than those he followed. Never knew a thing about Shakespeare except the “pure beauty” of a few lines....
Baroque in Hackney (Free subscription) | 01/20/2010
So the TS Eliot Prize has gone to Philip Gross for his book Water Table, and everybody’s talking. There were some obvious – if you can use that word – contenders, if you can use that word. Apparently the bookies were backing Hugo Williams’ charmingly evanescent West End Final (though I’m sure the bookies weren’t [...]
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