4. Poetry October 2014 : Poetry from the United Kingdom (read Dec 12 - Jan 9)
edited by Don Share

There is, apparently, quite a divide between British and American poetry, a problem that started about 25 years ago or so. I find this odd. One consequence is that practically all the authors here, no matter how highly regarded they are in the UK, have never been published in Poetry magazine. Also, on the Poetry Foundation website, almost all their bios are very thin.

So, this a was good in that there are a whole bunch of names I didn't know, but it was bad in the sense that, well, every poetry issue is a whole bunch of names I don't know, only this issue lacked the supporting background about who these authors are. There is one very good essay by Todd Swift that reviews four young British poets and gave me a little sense of a foundation. (Link here) This led me to discover [[Emily Berry]], who is otherwise not in this issue but has two terrific poems on the Poetry Foundation website. (Link to Berry's page here)

Poets
(Asterisks mark favorites. The last several poems were much lighter and a bit fun which is I think why I liked them more.)

Leontia Flynn
Kathryn Simmonds
Mir Mahfuz Ali
Colette Bryce
Liz Berry
Ruby Robinson
Matthew Francis
Julian Stannard
Hugo Williams - three poems based on his experiences on dialysis
Caleb Klaces
Hannah Lowe
Claire Trévien
Tim Wells - a cockney and one-time something like a one-time skin head who reads in accent at length. One poem goes on at length on a specific toilet bowl.
John Wilkinson
Pascale Petit
David Harsent
James Brookes - reviewed in the Todd Swift essay
Rory Waterman
Sophie Collins
Martin Monahan
Sam Riviere
Frances Leviston
Toby Martinez de las Rivas - - reviewed in the Todd Swift essay, and heavily praised
Amy Key
David Wheatley*
Kathryn Maris*
John Greening*

Prose

Colette Bryce - Omphalos : Returning to the troubles of a Northern Irish childhood
Todd Swift - Four Englands : Four Debut British Poets Being Variously English* - A review of four books of poetry: Division Street by Helen Mort, Dear Boy by Emily Berry, Sins of the Leopard by James Brookes and Terror by Toby Martinez de las Rivas

Link to issue: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/toc/2444

2016
https://www.librarything.com/topic/185746#5034062 ( )