Thanks for this response, Robert.
There's a useful interview/article about Philip by Neal Ascherson in The
Independent from 1993 here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books--great-brain-spotterthe--list-of-past-members-of-philip-hobsbaums-writing-classes-reads-like-a-whos-who-of-modern-literature-how-has-he-managed-it-1475910.html
The poems which most obviously present the Belfast Poets are in the Lavery's
Bar section of _Coming Out Fighting_, and are among my favourites of
Philip's work.
For a slightly more acerbic take than Ascherson's on Life with Hobsbaum,
there's this from Anne Stevenson's "A Legacy", published years ago on the
occasion of her fiftieth birthday:
To Glasgow, now I've left the place,
I leave a midden of regrets,
A name I should have worn with grace
Stubbed out in bitter cigarettes.
No poem can rectify the debts
My madness, mixed with alcohol,
Incurred in sundry tenements
Anent the academic brawl.
And yet, if I can make my peace
With Philip Hobsbaum, in whose book
No Structuralism found increase
Nor foolish Hermeneutic took
The liberty of playing hook
To literary accolades—
Well, then I will. He never took
His flag down from the barricades.
Best,
Robin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: Hampson, R
Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2013 9:58 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Fwd: In fairness
Dear Robin,
Many thanks for bringing Hobsbaum more into focus. The linking of the poetry
collections to the different phases of his career was very helpful.
Robert
|