There's a lot going on down here, Gerald. That wasn't quite the question I was answering. And btw I hang my head in shame at forgetting D M Thomas last night, which is not to denigrate the others you mention, far from it. But how could I have missed D M Thomas who has been quite important to me for as long as I can remember?
I thought of mentioning Poetry Cornwall, it's published me a number of times... I was aware of the danger of of saying so much there became a need for the hooked stick to pull me off
My difficulty - if that's not too strong a word - was ?personal choice?, a judgement that while the fact and acts of PC are more than worthy I am often disappointed by much in that magazine. I am inclined to say too many verses about pasties; but, as I say that, I wonder how many there actually are. And I wonder if it is any less exciting or any more doggerelled than other mags with a similar net...
If it were not specifically Poetry *Cornwall, I might not have sent to it. I don't know. I started out subbing in great part to see if I could place one or 2 of Alaric Sumner's poems there. I thought it appropriate. And I read. And I submitted myself. I read Pol Hodge there for the first; so it was worth it
It took a visual of mine, and I had offered it as a cover image; but it was overprinted - I can't remember exactly how but I remember thinking he might not have been in tune with what I was doing. And that too fitted in with my initial sense of it editorially, which could well be wrong. So I have largely offered specifically Cornish-related poems and straight-forward statements. I am happy to be published there. It got me one of my best ever readers who I believe first saw my poems there
I am not interested in "innovation" or "experimentation" for its own sake, but I wonder where it is here. Maybe that's likely to be too inherently international? Not quite sure what I am saying here... There's a formal familiarity to PC...
Alaric used to declare "I am not a Cornish poet" as he offered work to specifically Cornish presses! and looked outcountry; and someone he knew remarked not long ago "that there isn't anyone to talk to here" which certainly isnt true; but if one knows bigger cities...
I have some trouble getting my head round there being a Cornish Gorsedd... That one of the popular sources of studying Cornish identity is the Old Cornwall Soc, which, refering to the behaviour of our local branch has brought _Old Cornwall_ up to the 50s, my youth; so studying one's origins etc mixes up with It wasn't like this when I was young... We were lectured the other night on the fogou (souterrain) at Chysauster; but we were shown pictures of Chapel Euny, some miles away. I took everything with more than usual doubt as the Chysauster fogou collapsed at least 30 years ago and is no more; and he didn't seem to know
The pagan Crying the Neck (with added Xtianity), the Harvest end, merged into a low church singing of hymns and general methody restrained good will last September... Every meeting of OCS ends with a singing of Trelawney, a fantasy of a poem that manages to declare the small i independence of Cornwall with loyalty to the English state; and maybe someone yells Cornwall for ever in Cornish - I have the t shirt. I still go. Theyre nice people and I learn a lot, cautiously. And yet...
There's a poem I vaguely remember by Robert Maybee of Scilly, 19th century poet / stonemason He's standing on an isthmus now built over, looking one way into the calm waters between islands and the other to a deep shallow cove and then the open sea & I think of that a little... He was looking out; I am largely looking in. It looks different if you've come INTO Cornwall. And no one is going to ask are you Jack Williams' grandson cos it's a 100 YEARS ago`
So I am an unreliable witness. I wrote a long set of poems years ago with a tourist / traveller getting it all passionately wrong and right at random, Anny's published some of it; and maybe I am still there, deluding myself, even if I do know my way around here
PC/BK is demonstrably Anglo-Cornish; but does that make a strong Anglo-Cornish tradition? It could help lead to one. There's the magazine Skryfa; and there is an astonishing number of independent presses down here, many of them publishing big texts on history and archaeology and sociology as well those doing pop celticism, which is a good basis - especially given that PC festival last year & I would have gone to that if that hadn't been a day I was performing in and attending e-poetry 2005 in London
I have problems with the concept of "great poets" at the best of times. Not that some aren't better than others and some very very good. Just an aversion to the term because it tends to drop a barrier down behind as the poet passes through. Sort of
But the PC/BK "great Cornish poets" series does rather illustrate a difficulty. Many have been *good, but perhaps only great in the sense that someone exclaims heh this is a great burger!
There is a lot happening here; but I wanted to be sure, as he asked, that Knut understood that Wales it isn't. Not yet, any way; and I can't see it coming for all the areas with bilingual signs. But then one doesn't see it coming. They just appear. When they do, I doubt theyll be Anglo-Cornish because I really think that the Cornish are becoming largely anglo
L
-----Original Message-----
From: Gerald England <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sunday, March 12, 2006 8:50 AM
Subject: Re: help--translation query
--- Lawrence Upton <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> I'd say not, Knut. Or they're keeping it quiet, like
> everyone hiding behind the curtains and NOT jumping
> out yelling surprise!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Knut Mork Skagen <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Saturday, March 11, 2006 10:10 PM
> Subject: Re: help--translation query
>
>
>
> In the hopes you'll excuse a furriner's ignorance
> -- is there a strong
> Anglo-Cornish literary tradition today, or is it
> visibly being
> assimilated into the native English, and any more
> (or less) threatened
> than, say, the Anglo-Welsh?
>
>
> --Knut
>
I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Poetry Cornwall the
magazine run by Les Merton.
I was a guest-poet in issue 1 or 2, I forget which,
but haven't since an issue for some time. I let Eric
Ratcliffe review one issue and Les accussed him of
making a racist remark. For the life of me I couldn't
see how Eric's remarks were in anyway racist and Les
obviously thought it was self evident and never gave
any explanation.
It is still going though and very well supported it
seems. Last September they held an event the
Poetry Cornwall Festival -
Chacewater Village Hall - Near Truro
Amongst those appearing were DM Thomas, Penelope
Shuttle and Caroline Carver with all star local
support that included, Bert Biscoe, Pol Hodge,
Will Coleman, Liz Rowe, and Cornish singing duo Keith
& Clarinda Truscott.
Net proceeds went
to the Cornish Constitutional Convention to support
the Campaign for a Cornish Assembly.
so there's certainly SOMETHING going on down there.
yours
Gerald England
Gerald England
New Hope International, Haiku Talk
poetry, reviews, travel photography and more
http://www.geraldengland.co.uk
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