Morts Division Street wins the distinguished Fenton Aldeburgh First...
Morts Division Streetwins the Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection prize 2014Read a poem from Division StreetA poet whose first visit to Aldeburgh poetry festival was as a volunteer returns this weekend...
View ArticleThe Saturday poem: Or Take Mrs Salim Sheikh
by Arundhathi SubramaniamWho ripples hospitablyout of her halwa-pink blouse and sari (Synthetics are so practical to wear on trains, na?). Who invokesthe protocol of Indian railways to askfor your...
View ArticleThe poet, the soldiers and a unique portrait of war for these times
Poet Andrew Motion talked to returning Desert Rats about their experiences in Afghanistan for a series of collaborative poemsOne hundred years after the war to end all wars, young British soldiers are...
View ArticlePoem of the week: Peasants by Marin Sorescu
A fictional government report on the most benighted citizens of Ceauescus Romania, this is satire written in a time when all hope of change seemed futileMarin Sorescu, one of Romanias most widely known...
View ArticleDay of the Imprisoned Writer: Mahvash Sabet
Alberto Manguel writes an open letter to the poet, imprisoned in Iran for her defence of the Bahái FaithNews: Leading authors mount international protest to defend persecuted colleaguesDear Mahvash...
View ArticleBruce Killeen obituary
My father, Bruce Killeen, who has died aged 86, was a painter and poet, and a passionate man. He loved vermilion and the ember colours, raw umber, burnt umber, burnt sienna, cadmium red, chrome yellow,...
View ArticleMercury nominees 2014: Kate Tempest
Bookies favourite Tempest has awards for her poetry but with hip-hop album Everybody Down she has moved towards the mainstream and the Mercury judges love a female MC Mercury nominees 2014: Jungle...
View ArticleEzra Pound: Poet Volume II, The Epic Years, 1921-1939 review
In this second volume of A David Moodys biography, the controversial poet, creator of The Cantos, is preoccupied by music and MussoliniTheres a gut-wrenching moment about 100 pages into this latest...
View ArticleTS Eliot prize shortlist joins conflict and reconciliation in the Middle East
Ruth Padels exploration of religious understanding, Learning to Make an Oud in Nazareth, and Kevin Powers Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting, drawing on his Iraq war service, among the...
View ArticleFrank Miller obituary
Frank Miller, who has died aged 86, was a well-known poet and jazz musician in New York, although wider public recognition evaded him. Whereas his contemporaries and, in some cases, his friends, such...
View ArticleCerys Matthews on setting Dylan Thomass poems to music
It was a Christmas in South Carolina that reawakened the musician and Radio 6 DJs love for Thomas and inspired her to mark his centenary with her most ambitious project yetDylan Thomas, whose centenary...
View ArticleHappy 100th birthday, John Berryman
Despite a lifetime of chaos and alcoholism, John Berrymans poetry is brilliantly funny. Sam Leith toasts his pal, whose work he has adored since he was a teenagerThe great American poet John Berryman...
View ArticleKristen Stewart will take acting break to 'make some stuff with my hands'
One-time highest-paid female actor in the world has announced shes swapping front of screen work for a stint pursuing other creative endeavours such as directing and poetryKristen Stewart, the Twilight...
View ArticleWars of words: literatures most powerful portraits of the battlefield
On St Crispins day, historically a day of battles, we look back at some of the literary canons most vivid depictions of the heroes and hell of combatToday is St Crispins day and, as such, the...
View ArticleBedouin of the London Evening review Rosemary Tonkss lost poems
Influenced by Baudelaire and Rimbaud, the late poet made her name in the 60s then disappeared from the world of literature thankfully, her poems are backThe photograph of Rosemary Tonks on the cover of...
View ArticleThe Saturday poem: Should lanterns shine
by Dylan ThomasShould lanterns shine, the holy face,Caught in an octagon of unaccustomed light,Would wither up, and any boy of loveLook twice before he fell from grace.The features in their private...
View ArticlePoem of the week: Hydromaniac by Rosemary Tonks
A poem that first appeared in 1967 explores the thirst of desire, necessary as wine, water and gin-fizzRosemary Tonkss two collections of poetry excited many young English readers in the 1960s. So...
View Article100 years of Dylan Thomas quiz
Welsh wordsmith Dylan Thomas was born on October 27 1914. Celebrate the 100th birthday of the author of Under Milk Wood by testing your knowledge of his life and work Cerys Matthews on setting Thomas's...
View ArticlePoetry Brothel puts the bawd in bard
A party where you pay to have verse read to you in a bordello-style setting is packing in the punters. Are poetry and sex work really comparable?I am in the back room of the Backroom cocktail bar in...
View ArticleMichael Hofmann Q&A as it happened
Michael Hofmann is an essayist, poet and translator of over 70 books. Answering your questions on countless topics: poetry, writing, the politics of translating, Kafka... read what he had to...
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