Hi Colin, it's good to know you read 'Sparks' too. I really enjoy these
dialogue works. Did you know John Burnside ( whose work I really admire) and
Andy Brown have a forthcoming volume, I imagine in similar vein, called
'Goose Music', to be published by Salt? It's interesting to see what
friendship among poets triggers: I think of Edward Thomas and Robert Frost,
Wordsworth and Coleridge...
sincerely,
Gill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Colin Dewar" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2006 4:42 PM
Subject: Re: discussion topic: series of poems/Gill
> Yes, I've read the Hendry/Pow combo you refer to and enjoyed many parts.
> It occurred to me as I was reading it that many sequentially written poems
> unintentionally make a series. If a poet has certain themes that s/he
> returns to then there is a certain amount of complimentarity built in as
> you move from page to page. The reader gets the benefit of their
> obsession. That's the kind of poetry I like to read, where there's an
> identifiable current running through it. It's among the reasons why I find
> anthologies heavy going.
>
>
> Colin
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gill McEvoy" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 12:59 PM
> Subject: Re: discussion topic: series of poems
>
>
>> Hello everyone, this discussion makes me think of Mimi Khalvati's
>> "Entries on light" which is a book full of linked untitled poems that
>> together make a long meditation on aspects of light. I found it
>> wonderful.
>> But I do have to admit that when I pick up a poetry magazine I read the
>> short ones first! (Coming back to the longer ones later).
>> May I add to this discussion by asking if anyone has read "Sparks" (Diana
>> Hendry and Tom Pow), a record of a twelve month series of poem challenges
>> that they set each other plus the resultant poems. I find dialogues
>> between poets very interesting. (Ted Kooser did a similar thing in the
>> form of a correspondence with another American poet). I love challenges
>> but don't always manage to rise to them as well as I'd like (find this
>> Forum quite challenging, and apologies if I don't succeed in responding
>> to all of the new subs...)
>> And also why is it hard for a jointly penned poem to get published? I ran
>> a workshop based on Elma Mitchell's poem "Lifecycle of the Moth" in which
>> the poet uses only the common names of the moths to tell a story. We used
>> the names of flowers and birds to make a story-poem and 2 people (we
>> worked in pairs as I only had a few flower books/ bird books) produced a
>> stunning poem called "Clinton's Lily" which they can't seem to get
>> published under 2 names. Any advice?
>> best wishes to everyone,
>> Gill
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "sally evans" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Monday, February 20, 2006 9:32 PM
>> Subject: Re: discussion topic: series of poems
>>
>>
>>> on 20/2/06 4:26 pm, Bob Cooper at [log in to unmask] wrote:
>>>
>>>> Matt writes:
>>>> "to open up another discussion point, what has been everybody's
>>>> experiences
>>>> of writing poem sequences like this?"
>>>> and he goes on: "As well as the discipline that James mentions, it must
>>>> offer an opportunity to allow poems to work off each other, but I
>>>> suppose it
>>>> carries its own risks, such as repetition. I ask because I've been
>>>> working
>>>> on a series of linked poems and prose pieces about a very obscure
>>>> historical
>>>> character, and have found it both more difficult than writing
>>>> 'occasional'
>>>> poems, but also more rewarding in many ways. I'd be interested to hear
>>>> people's thoughts."
>>>>
>>>> Hi Matt (and all else who're reading this),
>>>>
>>>> I, too, find myself wanting to write poems that are in a series. I
>>>> find,
>>>> however, I'm not too disciplined in how I approach it. I don't, for
>>>> instance, map out the issues/themes/topics I feel important to cover in
>>>> the
>>>> series, I just write one and then another - then put them in a possible
>>>> order and start wondering about how to fill in the gaps!
>>>> I guess, because we're conditioned to read and write short poems - and
>>>> the
>>>> long poem has fallen from favour - narrative poetry, as a genre, needs
>>>> sequences or series of poems.
>>>> I wonder, sometimes, about the attention span of readers of poetry.
>>>> Perhaps
>>>> that's why I feel happier reading a series of short, self-contained,
>>>> poems
>>>> that have subtle links, and underlying impressions that rise to the
>>>> surface
>>>> when I discover them, but I'm daunted when faced with a poem that goes
>>>> on
>>>> for pages and pages. However...
>>>> It could be that short poems are like nibbling chocolate, or eating
>>>> oranges
>>>> (for rhyming poems) or plums(from the icebox in the fridge), whereas a
>>>> series of poems is like a 5 course meal with lots of things in each
>>>> course,
>>>> and a fine wine or two (and even with sherry before and port - or a
>>>> really
>>>> good Malt! - afterwards!).
>>>> Bob
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>
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