On [Wed, 1 Jul 1998 11:41:26 +0100]
"Lawrence Upton." <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> last night Ric Caddel and Lee Harwood performed at Sub Voicive
>>
>> both did about half an hour each... Lee read from his new book
>> Morning Light
>>
>> and Ric read from a series of longish pieces straight through,
>> handing out notes before hand to avoid lengthy intros
I was there. Having decided that it was an opportunity too good to miss,
i begged and cajoled and eventually managed to gain permission to desert
my post at home and leap on a London bound train for the first time in
several years. Was it worth the effort - indeed it was! I'm not much of
a reviewer but here goes:
Lee Harwood went first reading a dozen or so shorter poems. I wasn't
sure if they were all from his recent collection as some of the poems
were read from a ring binder (as he said, in true 60's style). Much of
what he read seemed intensely personal but was by no means inaccessible.
He read a series of elegies in which his language was lucid and moving
and on several occasions he spoke his final line just as it seemed he,
or indeed those listening, might be getting uncomfortably close to being
overwhelmed. Essentially - vivid, well controlled poems of sorrow/joy.
After the interval Ric Caddell read, without preamble, four longer
pieces - two _Rigmaroles_, _Block Quilt_ and _The Dogs of Vilnius_. Then
came _For the Fallen, part II_, written in memory of his son Tom.
Finally he read _Underwriter_ which was a first performance. These
pieces draw on many sources and his language is rich and dense. His
performance was strong, musical, hypnotic and a recording of same would
obviously reward many listenings.
The poets were well paired in many ways and both did rather well to cope
with occasional upwellings of sound from the public bar below where on
tv England and Argentina were trying to outdo each other in terms of
football skill and acting ability. An excellent gig.
Steve
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