Hello British Poets.
At last I've plucked up courage to communicate with you all.
I joined the list about two months ago, and have found the
discussions fascinating and enjoyable. I live in Nottingham,
do not work in education, and have not really been part of
any poetry scene, although I write (mainstream?) verse, and
read all sorts including Douglas Oliver, MacSweeney, Tom Pickard
and the immortal BB. Many of the names mentioned in discussion
are new to me, so this list is 'a learning experience' as they say.
As far as 'mainstream' goes my view, to misquote Auden, is
that there is no such thing as avant-garde or mainstream,
simply good poetry and bad. Are Tomlinson and Sisson mainstream?
Their poetry has its roots in French/Anglo-American modernism
as surely as the work of MacSweeney or Bill Griffiths.
It seems to me that the poetic techniques bequeathed by
Pound could be applied to very formal verse, as well as
to experimental work.
Alan Baker
Nottingham
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