On Fri, 29 May 1998, Douglas Clark wrote:
> Tom Leonard writes very little and the Six Glasgow Poems still stand
> out.
- Can't get your drift here, Douglas: complaint that TL doesn't produce
enough? Or that 6GP stand out above the rest of his work? Or that TL's 6GP
stand out above everyone elses work in some unspecified respect? Can you
enlarge?
To me Tom Leonard seems to move very freely and easily between his various
modes, and the range strikes me as something that's impressive, and, to be
sure, unlike anyone elses. As for his output, well, you know what these
poet fellows are like, Douglas, always falling behind production targets,
failing to keep deadlines - and the flimsiest excuses! Can't get the
parts, it's the hazardous working environment, slept in because the cat
was sick - we've heard it all before...
I hope the critical theorists *are* plying their dubious trade with
Leonard's work: only problem would be that they'd find themselves nailed,
either metaphorically speaking, in his next work, or physically. He
features in a British Council anthology, I'm told - as a Normative Model
of Regional English - a thought which would send his bloodpressure
through the roof.
RC
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|