I used to like Pickard's poems too. I especially liked the book Hero
Dust and I remember hearing him read something on the telly a long
long time ago that really impressed me too - including the way he read
it - all I remember are the words 'dissolve and still dissolve'. But
when I heard him read two years ago in Bristol, and read his book of
the time, I was very disappointed - kept thinking 'this man has not
moved on - he's still doing the same as he was 30 years ago' - not
something wrong in itself of course, but the push of the work suddenly
seemed empty and aimless.
I'd like to turn this topic onto something else though, concerning
Bunting etc. There was that bit in the interview where he spoke of
sound being the whole point of poetry etc, with other things tagging
on behind if they wished. I've never believed that. I just don't see
how you can separate a sound from what it is signifying, not if the
sounds make what we call words. If somebody thinks what Bunting said
is true then I think they are under an illusion. Ummm, The Illusion of
Sound - hands off - I'm having that.
Tim A.
On 6 Mar 2009, at 09:56, John Muckle wrote:
> For what it's worth I had exactly the same treatment from MacSweeney
> and
> Pickard - I was told I was a middle class Southern poof, yuppie
> wanker etc,
> when in reality I grew up in a council flat, my father was a car
> mechanic and
> so on. They were a pair of macho poseurs alright - I strongly
> suspect them of
> being middle-class themselves, like so many Northern culture
> operatives who
> trade on working-class identity. Having said that, I always liked
> their poetry
> and what they stood for in that sense, and was prepared to treat the
> rest of
> it as a joke or a misunderstanding.
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