 |
 |
Philip Hobsbaum - poet and critic. Eric Hobsbawm - Marxist historian. It's quite possible Heaney read Eric Hobsbawm's 'Primitive Rebels' and 'Captain Swing' (or anything else by him), but Philip Hobsbaum was the one who convened 'The Group'. A minor point maybe, by the standards of this. I wrote my paragraph early on in response to an invite from John Tranter. I was pointing out what I thought were anomalies or oddities in Heaney's remarks, in a spirit of trying to make sense of them. I don't really want to be quoted as slagging off Heaney. I think he's a brilliant poet and entitled to his opinions. As of course are Jeffrey Side, Desmond Swords and Peter Riley's Aunt Edith's pet warthog - entitled to their opinions, that is. I felt a bit sorry for Jamie McKendrick, who must now think anyone interested in 'avant-garde' poetry is a complete tosser: I would. But it's easy to get carried away in a context where there are apparently no standards. I wrote another short note to Jacket, which John Tranter was kind enough not to publish. He's an excellent, generous editor. Anyway. John http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/writingprog/warwickreview/dec20 08/jmpoor/