Black talent takes centre stage at Lyric Hammersmith theatre
Festival to celebrate black culture and creativity, with Lemn Sissay and Shingai as headline acts The Lyric Hammersmith theatre is launching its first festival celebrating black talent, culture and...
View ArticleFragment of lost 12th-century epic poem found in another book’s binding
Scholars knew the work about Guillaume d’Orange and the bloody siege of his city existed, but until now believed it had been lost completelyA fragment from a 12th-century French poem previously...
View ArticleThe Lyrics by Paul McCartney review – the stories behind the songs
The former Beatle traces the origins of his creations in two sumptuous volumes edited by Paul MuldoonIf he hadn’t become a musician, Paul McCartney says, he would probably have been an English teacher....
View ArticlePoem of the week: Rest by Christina Rossetti
This serene vision of death reads rather like the dream of a good night’s sleepRestO Earth, lie heavily upon her eyes;Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching, Earth;Lie close around her; leave no room...
View ArticleAward-winning American poet Robert Bly dies aged 94
Bly was an opponent of the war in Vietnam and author of Iron John, the manifesto of the ‘expressive men’s movement’The American poet Robert Bly, who counted the National Book Award and the Poetry...
View ArticleShoulder Tap by Maurice Riordan review – a wry look in the mirror
The Irish poet attempts a ‘selfie’ of his 60s, with frank humour and universal connection Maurice Riordan, in one of his poems, describes a “shoulder tap” as a practical joke. I was not altogether sure...
View ArticleRobert Bly obituary
Influential American poet with an abiding interest in mysticism and the nature of masculinityIn 1986 the New York Times review of Robert Bly’s Selected Poems was headlined “Minnesota...
View ArticleCosta prize 2021 shortlists highlight climate anxiety
Jessie Greengrass’s novel The High House, set in a flood-devastated Suffolk, was one of several of the nominees to focus on global heating, said judgesJessie Greengrass’s vision of a near-future...
View ArticleLetter: Nicolas McDowall obituary
Meeting Nicolas McDowall in 1967 led to 20 years of creative collaboration and 54 of close friendship. For secondary school English departments we worked together on anthologies of contemporary poetry,...
View ArticleDavid Craig obituary
My father, David Craig, who has died aged 89, was a pioneering creative writing teacher, a poet and a prolific writer on landscape, literature and social history.Born in Aberdeen, to Margaret (nee...
View ArticleEtel Adnan obituary
Poet and artist who maintained her links to the Middle East throughout her lifeIf Etel Adnan’s poetry and prose was characterised by its mournful evocation of her native Lebanon’s turbulent history,...
View ArticleRobot artist to perform AI generated poetry in response to Dante
Ai-Da used data bank of words and speech pattern analysis to produce and perform a work that is ‘reactive’ to the Divine ComedyDante’s Divine Comedy has inspired countless artists, from William Blake...
View ArticleA Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa review – incandescent treasures
In this dazzling prose debut, the poet presents a reimagining of 18th-century life entwined with her own existenceThe 18th-century Irish poem Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire is a “keen” written by Eibhlín...
View ArticlePoem of the week: Homesick by Hugo Williams
As a patient in a British hospital, the poet observes nursing staff from overseas who may be longing for home as much as he isHomesickThe little scars on their facesare the names of their villages,put...
View ArticleChristina Rossetti deserves to be No 1 | Brief letters
Christmas carols | Delivery apps v the milkman | The joy of kissing | Garden wordsearchDescribing the Church of England’s Christmas single, In the Bleak Midwinter (Christmas No 1: LadBaby and Adele...
View ArticleCharities watchdog set to be led by poetry and finance specialist
Nadine Dorries promotes Forward Arts Foundation trustee Martin Thomas for politically sensitive roleThe chair of National Poetry Day, Martin Thomas, is expected to be awarded the politically sensitive...
View ArticleThe best books of 2021, chosen by our guest authors
From piercing studies of colonialism to powerful domestic sagas, our panel of writers, all of whom had books published this year, share their favourite titles of 2021Author of Klara and the Sun...
View ArticleThe best poetry books of 2021
Michael Rosen’s unflinching account of surviving Covid, a celebration of inner-city teaching and a fresh take on Shakespeare in the year’s standout collectionsDespite everyone’s hopes, the shadow of...
View ArticlePoem of the week: Wherever I Go … by Jennifer Rahim
The Trinidadian poet reflects on leaving the island – and always carrying it with herWherever I Go …there will be an island,and an ocean will bewhat rings me.Continue reading...
View ArticleRobert Habeck: from translating English verse to German high office
Ted Hughes felt the soon-to-be minister for economy and climate was ‘on the same wavelength’The man who will spend the next four years trying to bring about a green transformation of Germany’s...
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