Douglas,
Carcanet put out a Collected Poems some years ago which included an essay
by Laura (Riding) Jackson at the beginning, in which she talks of her
theories and why they failed her, and why she gave up poetry. There's
also a preface to the Faber Selected Poems.
I'm think I'm inclined rather to like the poems than the theories, which
seem to place her, rather off-puttingly, as a kind of self-annointed
saint. But like you, it's been a while since I read her.
Best
Alison
>For years I have been fascinated by Laura Riding's theory of poetry
>of which I have only picked up snippets from articles. Although she
>herself wrote a brilliant essay in PN Review a few years back, and
>although I wrote to Michael Schmidt applauding it there were no
>follow-ups. I was wondering if anybody could explain what she talks
>about. I have looked at the very expensive book available from amazonUSA
>and the limited ones available from amazomUK and dont really see
>much point in squandering my limited finances. It is over thirty
>years since I looked at her poetry and it did nothing for me but
>I would like to know more about her ideas re poetry. Can anybody help?
>
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|