And therein lie many tales.
At 02:44 PM 12/21/2009, you wrote:
>It depends what both you and I might mean by 'innocent', Mark.
>
>
>
>
>2009/12/21 Mark Weiss <<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]>
>For folks like me on my side of the ocean Bunting was extremely
>important--our first hint that something was going on in Britain
>worth looking at. The "our" here is Black Mountain-influenced types.
>Most of the earlier work has little meaning for me, but Briggflats
>remains for me both surprising and moving.
>
>Poetry has never been innocent.
>
>
>
>At 01:00 PM 12/21/2009, you wrote:
>I think Bunting is more important for the myth in that it linked
>with the oppositional cult of high modernism - I can't say his poems
>do much for me either - but it mattered that he was around. But,
>whatever one thinks of Keith Armstrong's piece, what's noticeable is
>how the Bunting myth has become normalised into the professional
>structures of the local literary scene: fodder for the cultural
>management, just as more obviously amenable forms of writing are
>elsewhere. What is always missing in these discussions is a
>sociology of the poetry scene, in particular of its management. I
>recall Tim writing a little while back of how he used to think of
>poetry as 'innocent' - I used to as well - but ...
>
>2009/12/21 Tim Allen
><<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]>
>
>This is an important piece, whatever our particular take on Bunting
>might be. I agree with Mark that Peter Riley's response to the Hall
>programme and the problems arising from it was a pretty fair one.
>The myth making around that scene has been an irritant to many of us
>and in my opinion it has actually helped damage the reputation of
>MacSweeney, instead of promoting it. I have never shared the Brit
>avant garde's enthusiasm for and elevation of Bunting - his work
>does very little for me, and that famous 'recording' even less - the
>problem is that I really like the work of most of those who say they
>are influenced by him, with the exception of Pickard, who failed on
>so many levels to live up to his early promise. I have to say that I
>really object to Keith Armstrong's treating of MacSweeney and
>Pickard in parallel, there is just no comparison, quality wise,
>between the two. Barry's work had its faults but they become pretty
>meaningless when judged against his brilliance.
>
>There is a circumstantial reason for Bunting being pounced on as an
>icon by some sections of the Brit avant garde: he could directly
>link regional English oppositional poetry to the heritage of high
>modernism. I think there was a certain desperation in that, but
>nevertheless his notion of the music of poetry, which went against
>the grain of the way Brit mainstream poetry was heading ever since
>WW2, found a genuine constituency, and that is where I think any
>discussion of his poetry and how it differs becomes important.
>
>Tim A.
>
>
>On 20 Dec 2009, at 18:13, David Lace wrote:
>
>"NORTH EAST POETRY: DEBUNKING SOME MYTHS" by Keith Armstrong
>(Discussion of Bunting and other North East poets as overrated)
>
><<http://www.pennilesspress.co.uk/annexe/north_east_poetry.htm>http://www.pennilesspress.co.uk/annexe/north_east_poetry.htm>http://www.pennilesspress.co.uk/annexe/north_east_poetry.htm
>
>
>
>
>
>
>--
>David Bircumshaw
>"A window./Big enough to hold screams/
>You say are poems" - DMeltzer
>Website and A Chide's Alphabet
><<http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk/>http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk>http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
>The Animal Subsides
><<http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html>http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html>http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
>Facebook:
><<http://www.facebook.com/david.bircumshaw>http://www.facebook.com/david.bircumshaw>http://www.facebook.com/david.bircumshaw
>
>
>Announcing The Whole Island: Six Decades of Cuban Poetry (University
>of California Press).
>Forthcoming in November 2009.
><http://go.ucpress.edu/WholeIsland>http://go.ucpress.edu/WholeIsland
>
>
>
>
>--
>David Bircumshaw
>"A window./Big enough to hold screams/
>You say are poems" - DMeltzer
>Website and A Chide's Alphabet
><http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk>http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
>The Animal Subsides
><http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html>http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
>Facebook:
><http://www.facebook.com/david.bircumshaw>http://www.facebook.com/david.bircumshaw
Announcing The Whole Island: Six Decades of Cuban Poetry (University
of California Press).
Forthcoming in November 2009.
http://go.ucpress.edu/WholeIsland
|