Letter: Roy Fisher obituary
Roy Fisher was one of those rare individuals who combined a distinctive academic career with a major contribution to modern British poetry. He was also a formidable jazz pianist. When he came to the...
View ArticleAlice Oswald takes £37,000 Griffin prize with 'breathtaking' poetry
Falling Awake, already a much acclaimed collection, was cheered by 1,000-strong crowd at readings connected with the Canadian awardAlice Oswald has won one of the world’s richest poetry prizes with her...
View ArticleCampaign – a poem by Carol Ann Duffy exclusively for the Guardian
Britain’s poet laureate responds to the general election result in a work written for the GuardianIn which her body was a question-markquerying her lies; her mouth a ballot-box that bit the hand that...
View ArticleThe Saturday poem: Coats
by Amaan HyderMy parents in a playground, playing Follow The Leader.I take my father aside. He says, “My father says …” I take my mother aside. She says, “My father says …”Continue reading...
View ArticleTony Walsh performs his election poem Net Worked – video
The poet Tony Walsh, also known as Longfella, performs his poem Net Worked about the young people who voted in the 2017 General Election on Friday. Tony Walsh is the poet who helped Manchester cope...
View ArticleHelen Dunmore appreciation: ‘To be with her was to laugh with joy’
Novelist and journalist Amanda Craig remembers a warm friend… and literary inspirationLike many readers, I “met” and loved Helen, who died aged 64 of cancer last week, through her writing. Her...
View ArticleMichael Longley heads shortlist for Forward prizes for poetry
The Belfast poet is nominated for the prestigious honour alongside a diverse selection of writers including Tara Bergin, Nick Makoha and Malika BookerA former banker who burned his suits to keep...
View ArticlePoem of the week: Cob by Fiona Sampson
These flowing, musical verses evoke both a deep past and a very modern sense of spiritualityCobThe way we used to livein the old house a housewhose thick walls curved like the livingflanks of...
View ArticleYoko Ono could get songwriting credit for Imagine – 46 years late
The process to credit Ono on John Lennon’s 1971 hit has begun, decades after he acknowledged her poetic influence on itYoko Ono is being lined up for a songwriting credit on her husband John Lennon’s...
View ArticleHollie McNish: the politics and poetry of boyfriends, babies and breastfeeding
The Ted Hughes prize winner explains why she does not wish to be squeezed into a ‘performance poet’ box and why you can love hip-hop and Paradise LostHollie McNish has stopped talking for a moment;...
View ArticleClive James: ‘My wife is visiting the warmer bits of Europe before the whole...
I am jealous of her mobility, but determined to profit from being left alone with my booksAs I sit down to write, enormous events are happening outside my hideaway here in Cambridge. In Manchester and...
View ArticleAngel Hill by Michael Longley review – elegies on conflict, grief and nature
The essence of humanity is captured by one of the finest poets of his generation through the Troubles, the first world war and the beauty of wildernessAngel Hill, or Cnoc nan Aingeal in Gaelic, is a...
View Article'Life is like a ball of wool': how Iranian poetry brought me closer to my father
When I invited my father Bahram to read Persian verse over my music, neither of us were prepared for such an emotional reaction A couple of years ago I decided to collaborate with a poet on a piece of...
View ArticleOn my radar: Daljit Nagra’s cultural highlights
The poet on a great children’s TV drama, the magic of Vindolanda and the health benefits of the NutriBulletBrought up in west London and Sheffield, Daljit Nagra gained an MA in English literature from...
View ArticleDon’t think twice, it’s only Bob borrowing | Brief letters
Hollie McNish | Helmut Kohl | Guardian letters | Bob Dylan’s Nobel speechIn Alice O’Keefe’s profile of the poet Hollie McNish (‘I always attracted mums and midwives. Now I get poetry lovers,’ 17 June),...
View ArticlePoem of the week: But Those Unheard by Miles Burrows
In this week’s choice, academic and critical discourse – and indeed poetry itself – come in for some elegant ribbingBut Those UnheardThe next poem we can’t actually see.In fact it may not be there at...
View ArticleDiamanda Galás review – a shriek at death by goth's high priestess
Barbican, LondonThe American singer stretches her voice from mirror-shattering highs to demonic lows in an intense spiritual communionIn 1990, Diamanda Galás appeared on stage in the world’s...
View ArticleDerek Walcott museum closes amid row over Caribbean tourist developments
St Lucia National Trust says government funding cut forced closure of museum, housed in reconstruction of Nobel-winning poet’s former homeA museum on the site of the boyhood home of the poet and...
View ArticleFair Field: Piers Plowman's dreamworld - books podcast
In episode one of a three-part series, the medieval ‘poem of crisis’ reveals a world of inequality, corruption and spiritual malaise that is all too familiarSubscribe and review: iTunes, Soundcloud,...
View ArticleFair Field: Piers Plowman's world of work - books podcast
In the second of three original podcasts, William Langland’s 14th-century poem is brought into focus against a contemporary backdrop of precarious labour Subscribe and review: iTunes, Soundcloud,...
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