It is now several years since I did a blog post on this site, to the point where I wondered whether I should just give up the idea. As I mentioned a while back, our move to Bexhill took up a lot of headspace and although I continued with some ad hoc writing, and immensely enjoyed a year as the resident poet on the Cuckmere Pilgrim Path, I have been struggling to get back to where I was.
However, wheels turn full circle, and in recent weeks I have noticed a change, as if the needle of a compass is swinging in the old direction. One of the factors that has inhibited me in recent months has been a resistance to the relentless self-publicising of some in the poetry world – the announcement on social media of every poem published, however obscure the journal, with gushing gratitude to the editors. At the same time, I have felt alienated from what seems to be fashionable poetry at the moment, where obscurity of expression and/or linguistic ingenuity for its own sake mask an absence of underlying emotion.
Nor is poetry a world insulated from what is happening around us. So many people I come across are so depressed by the news and so anxious about political developments that they are ceasing to watch news programmes or read the daily press. But we can’t simply ignore the terrible things that are happening in Gaza and Ukraine, let alone the emergence of antidemocratic figures such as Trump, Putin and Orban. Nor can poets remain detached from more local events such as the scandal of the water industry, the hushing-up of data leaks regarding Afghans, the failures of the National Health Service etc. etc.
What poets have I been reading recently? I have greatly enjoyed my friend Robin Houghton’s debut collection The Mayday Diaries (published by Pindrop Press). I have also started Timothy Adès’ translation of poems by Ricarda Huch (published as Autumn Fire by Poetry Salzburg). Huch was described by Thomas Mann as “the first lady of German letters”, but is virtually unknown in this country.
I am keen to escape the Anglocentric view of much of the poetry world, so am happy to venture into foreign territory. I have recently been revisiting Pierre de Ronsard (1524 – 1585) with a view to translating some of his sonnets, which are wonderful. Again, Ronsard is largely unknown in this country in spite of the fact that he was tutor to Mary Queen of Scots and accompanied her on her return to Scotland. He wrote far more sonnets than Shakespeare, and although volume is not a guarantee of quality I have found his work a constant delight.
But poetry is not the only thing. Recent discoveries in the world of fiction have included people as diverse as Bernhard Schlink, Pamela Frankau and C Pam Zhang, all of whom have been inspirational in their different ways.
So the page has turned, hopefully, and I shall return to posting things here. Happy reading, everyone!