Ric wrote:
>It's not about "making it", never was. It's about not having the people
>who teach English to your children sneer at you because you don't write
>like Sean O'Brien. I'm tired of that.
As someone who teaches English to children - and who teaches song writing
too -
the chances to encounter the works of the excellent poetry being
produced at present that isn't Bloodaxe or Faber are very remote.
What Peter Riley and many others wrote about the fragmented non-mainstream
is true.
I've read many works from poets on this list that are splendid: I can't
imagine
now *not* having them to read. I've back-channelled those poets and they
have been
very generous.
Yet many teachers just haven't seen, heard read them .
It's a real pity.
You've no idea how hard it was to get a copy of Tom Raworth'stottering
State, even.
I had to write to JH Prynne to get a copy of his Poems - that's what one of
his publishers told me to do.
Unless you are very determined to look hard for it, the stuff just isn't
there.
For a while, I didn't think much poetry was being produced ( few local
readings);I re-read the canon of English poetry.
I bought a computer, though.
This listserv is a vital link. It's good it's diverse.
Stuart Mitchell
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