Talk about poetry
Do you like to talk about poetry? Join the discussion in our forum. Share your own poetry, publicise a poetry event, or simply talk about poems, poets, and the state of poetry in your city, our nation and the world at large.
Our poetry events feature emerging poets, established poets, scholars, actors and other people of note. Often you will find them here after the event for open, ongoing discussion... with you.
21 June 2008 | Member commentary
Postcard from New Orleans
‘Is this a long poem?’ one white-haired woman asked another as nine readers took their places on a weathered boat in the corner of Antenna, a small New Orleans art gallery. Perhaps realising she’d been overheard, the woman giggled and sat down, carefully, on a bright green television.For an art installation created by the artist-poet Mark Yakich, this gallery in the blighted and bohemian Bywater neighbourhood is littered with detritus: several broken chairs, a toilet, a discarded vacuum cleaner. All of it painted a cheerful pastel green. Black-marker graffiti spreads across the gunmetal grey floor and over the green objects. Much of it is philosophically random. Some of it is rude.
If the effect is incoherent and impenetrable, this may the point. The installation is a three-dimensional exploration of ‘Green Zone New Orleans’, an ambitious post-Katrina poem that channels the fierce incoherence and brokenness of a city that is now more difficult than ever to read. In Bywater, which is the city’s New Cross or Kenington (poor in funds, rich in creativity), nearly every block has houses that are crumbling, pristine or works-in-progress. Almost all still bear the spray-painted crosshairs rescuers used to mark their homes and bodies off their list three years ago. In a city where many buildings sat casually decaying before the catastrophe, direct cause and effect are not really for the observer to know after it.
In the end, Yakich’s poem (subtitled ‘A Poem for Nine Voices in Unison’) took barely 10 minutes to perform, with each of the nine readers taking a section in turn. The language in the poem is sexual, biblical and irreverent (“Facts first: Jesus was / A gay, black man. / Just say it aloud / And see how nice / It sounds.”) In performance, the poem spoke loudest, literally, at the surprise climax, when all nine readers re-read their sections in unison. The whirlwind of noise they created was not unlike a hurricane or a heave beyond grief or a city of stunned citizens finding their voices all at once.
- Jonathan Holt
11 January 2008 | Member commentary
Postcard from Tehran
Happy new year to you all in London from Snowy Tehran. It is snowing very heavily as I'm writing these words,which is so beautiful and magical, makes you want to write shivering poetry, not that I did any. For those who would like to freeze to death is the best place and time. I have realised it is so simple to die in the cold, a few days ago a reporter froze to death in Tehran in the park while taking a picture of God knows what ! I nearly froze when I decided to put my hands in the freezing water of Karaj river, by the mountains out of Tehran. I had never screamed this loud in my life. The only thing that saved me was a few sips of Vodka I had plus my boyfriend's car.
I'm learning to cook finally (I think) which is great as I have been a disgrace for not being able to cook Persian food, which I'm telling you it's not easy! Also had a lovely operation on my tonsils and finally got them out. Funny it came out after mentioning food, but yes I recommend it to everyone. Come and have the operation here, as the NHS wont' do it for you nowadays.
I haven't been out much, been mostly indoor mostly for the cold and really didn't fancy sliding thought the newly built pavements. Just recently the new mayor thought it would be a great idea to sort out the paving in most of Tehran ,which was a great idea and a lot of effort. It is very colourful and it looks nice in a way from the distance but only has one problem, the new pavements are made of POLISHED stones! Lovely death trap when they are wet. So really if you want to live, better stay indoors and don't think about having a stroll in the snow.
I was warned by my family to be careful about my looks. Those of you that have seen my hair will understand their concern, and for once I fell for it and only took long clothing, which has kept me warm. But I look very out of fashion, as all the ladies appear in their usual theatrical glam rock makeups showing off a lot of slim legs (which I don't have anyway) and high heel boots. There are many religious, redemption police around and do arrest people (it is said). I have been wearing my tight high neck shirt as a scarf (hard to describe) as it's easier to wear than a usual scarf , my hair goes through the sleeves and I look very Islamic with not a single hair showing and so far there has been no objections from the police and I have not been arrested.
I wish you all a great 2008 start and see you all at the Rumi event (the only thing I'm coming back to London for).
- Maryam Hashemi
06 January 2008 | Graham's blog
Lyrical terrorism comes to the City
Those of you who are attentive watchers of Poet in the City will know that the charity was involved last year in Trees in the City, an exciting collaboration with Lloyd’s of London, the insurance market. This collaboration involved, amongst other things, the commissioning of new poetry about climate change written by three distinguished contemporary poets: Patience Agbabi, Matthew Hollis and John Burnside.
I can honestly say that nothing has given me greater satisfaction over the last year than to be in a position to commission new poetry, and add new and important work to the cultural life of the nation. The poets rose to the challenge magnificently, producing suites of poems of an exceptional range and quality. This poetry rapidly acquired a life of its own, being made into podcasts for the Lloyd’s website, streamed by the Times Online, reproduced in ‘Earth Shattering’ a Bloodaxe anthology of climate change poems, and even translated into Chinese!...
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05 January 2008 | Graham's blog
Hear this, see this!
Just before Christmas we held the inaugural meeting of Poet in the City’s new Audio-Visual group. This has come together more or less spontaneously and already includes several individuals who have experience of radio and film work.
The British Library Sound Archive already record most Poet in the City events and this is gradually building into a fabulous collection of poetry reading and performance, available for anyone to listen to as part of the Library’s resources. I did so myself just recently, spending a couple of fascinating days in my own personal listening room, with headphones on my head!
The Audio-Visual group, chaired by Melanie Roberts, is not intended to replace this invaluable service but to develop the recorded aspect of the charity’s work by capturing interesting magazine-style items, interviews, snatches of poetry and feedback arising from the charity’s many activities...
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04 January 2008 | Graham's blog
Books 'R' Us
o you remember all that stuff back in the year 2000 about internet portals and vortals and the creation of the ‘one-stop shop’ online? Much of this euphoria was blown away when the dot.com boom turned to bust, but many of the ideas promulgated then are slowly finding their way into our lives.
It is clear that the internet is a great way of buying some things, like flight tickets and last minute travel. Buying these online has now become a commonplace. One of the things that does work well on the internet is the sale of books. People are happy to go to a site where they feel that they can get the information and the titles they are interested in.
Which is why it is such a great delight to announce the launch of the Poet in the City online bookshop, which will be opening for business shortly...
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02 November 2007 | Graham's blog
Stop all the clocks...
What a great pleasure it was to hear Simon Callow reading WH Auden’s famous poem, Funeral Blues, at Poet in the City’s WH Auden event this week.
Simon Callow is of course famous for playing the role of the ebullient Gareth in the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral, whose premature death results in the eponymous funeral. In an unforgettable scene Gareth’s lover (played by John Hannah) reads the Auden poem in the church. Simon Callow recalls amusingly how often people praise him for his role in the funeral scene!...
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17 September 2007 | Graham's blog
A place for poetry at Rimbaud's house
Poet in the City has recently been involved in a campaign to ensure that the house at 8 Royal College Street in Camden, once occupied by the French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine, should become a venue for poetry and culture.
In 1873 the two poets lived for a year in the house near Kings Cross and St Pancras stations. The poets had scandalized French literary society by running away together to the grubby streets of Victorian London, where they were astounded and fascinated by the uninhibited advance of industrialisation and urbanization. Their period living in Camden gave birth to some of their most important and influential poetry, as well as to the some of the most fascinating anecdotes about their lives. Most famously the poets eventually fell out over a herring, purchased by Verlaine from Camden Market!...
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